“Go away, Nathaniel.”
I cringed at the sound of her calling me by my name. In greeting, it was different. But this delivery? It was meant to hurt. And she succeeded in hurting me.
“Come along,” I urged. “She needs to sleep.”
“What if she doesn’t wake up?”
I tugged Julia into my arms, hugging her as tightly as I could without breaking her bones. She resisted at first, slapping my arms as she started to sob. After a moment of struggle, she gave in, clinging to my waist like a lost little girl.
I quietly drew her to the hallway where I sat her down in a chair, kneeling in front of her. “We can’t help her timeline. She’s going to go whenever she’s ready to go.”
“I can’t . . . I don’t…”
“Want it to happen? I understand.”
She wiped her eyes. “How many deaths have you seen?”
“Too many.”
“Why can’t you help?”
I shook my head, sorrow in my gaze. “Sweetheart, some things can’t be helped my modern medicine. When it’s time, it’s time. That’s it.”
“I hate it.”
“You can hate it as much as you want. That’s allowed.”
She met my gaze, leftover tears brimming in her eyes. “You’re not going to try to change my mind?”
“Why would I? This is how you feel. You should feel it all you want.”
She sniffled as she dropped her gaze to her hands. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes, okay. I said OKAY.”
I smirked as I stood up. I fished my phone from my pocket, curious as to who was texting me after midnight. When I noticed it was Geraldine, I groaned.
“Shit, I forgot about her.”
Julia arched her right eyebrow and crossed her arm over her chest. “Does your mother let you speak like that?”
“Never,” I retorted. “Excuse me a moment.”
After taking a few steps away from my daughter, I read the message, my eyes going wide when I realized its contents.
Geraldine never wanted to see me again.
Instinct took over. I swept into the hospital room to kiss Elsie on the forehead, promising her that I would return as soon as I could. I collected Julia, tugged her with lightning speed out to my car, and loaded her inside.
“Where are we going?” she asked while strapping on her seat belt. “Why are you rushing?”
“I have to go get my mate.”
Julia didn’t say another word the entire ride back to Savannah.
* * *
The scene I stumbled upon when I barged into Geraldine’s studio apartment set my blood to boil.
A man was hovering over her with a wild expression, his eyes glowing like those of a wolf. I sniffed the air. He was a wolf. And he was uncontrollably aroused.
I growled as I stepped into the room. “Get the hell away from my mate.”
The man turned his wild expression to me, fangs extended with every intention of causing damage—or of trying to lay claim to what was mine. Without my having claimed Geraldine myself, she was at risk of being snatched up.
How could I have been so stupid?
A flash of movement sent me spiraling into the hallway. My daughter screamed, taking cover behind some furniture left in the hallway from one of the other tenants. The man towered over me as his hands cracked and shifted. His claws elongated—he was ready to fight.
But so was I.
I charged the man, knocking him in the opposite direction from my daughter and toward the stairwell on the other side of the hallway. We fell down the stairs, throwing punches and scratching each other along the way, growls and grunts erupting at every turn.
Once we spilled into the hallway below, I stood up and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. He was nearly fully shifted at this point, the seams of his shirt ripping to reveal dark gray fur and pure muscle. I dragged him toward the forest where Geraldine and I had made love.
It was the perfect place to defend her honor.
Without looking back to see if my girls had followed me, I stripped off my clothes and shifted quickly, urging my dragon to appear. He willingly exploded to the surface, gargantuan limbs filling the small space I had chosen for this man and I to fight to the death.
No liquor had touched my system in three days. I was ravenous for a drink, yet unwilling to lift a bottle. Instead, I channeled my rage into attacking the fully formed dire wolf in front of me. Massive jaws parted with razor sharp teeth, a vicious growl accompanying what would have been a lethal bite in my human form.
I grappled him to the ground and beat my wings, wind expanding in every direction and keeping other people from being able to approach. I lifted my giant paw and brought it down to slam the wolf into the dirt. But the wolf wiggled out of my grip, backing up toward the tree line as he settled on his haunches.
Another attack came. He lunged and bit repeatedly, sharp teeth digging between scales and puncturing the soft tissue beneath. I roared and howled as I swatted him, knocking him off balance enough times to cause him some disorientation.
But he just kept lunging. And I wasn’t sure if I could keep up.
My massive stature wouldn’t be enough compared to his quick reflexes. I needed his speed, but I couldn’t move as quickly with my size. I slammed my paws on the ground to rattle him, succeeding very briefly until he lunged for my throat.
The soft spot just beneath my chin was my weakness—and he was going right for it.