The plan to turn his pack into fucking hybrids.
He exhaled, and immediately every shifter in the room was leaning over him.
“Derek!” That was Roman’s voice. “You’re awake.”
He tried to talk, but his voice was stuck. Dammit, how long had he been out of it? Someone helped him sit up and stuffed a few pillows behind him. Roman handed him a glass of water, and even helped him drink it.
He tried again. “Kyra…” he said. His voice was hoarse, but Roman would understand.
“She’s fine. She’s actually outside the gates, waiting for you to wake up.”
She was outside the compound? Why? “Not injured?”
“No. She was fine after our encounter with the vampires,” Roman said.
He closed his eyes briefly as the memories came flooding back. While he was unconscious, he’d had constant nightmares that she had been harmed by the coven.
He exhaled. None of them were true, thank God. She was alive, and she hadn’t been turned.
“The vampires?” Derek asked.
“All of them are locked up in a cave near the coast. We have one of the witches’ groups we trust helping fortify the bars.”
“Good,” he said. “Thank you.” They had a lot of decisions to make, but first he had to talk to his mate.
They might not ever be able to be together, but she was his, and he was hers. They belonged to each other. It was cheesy, and it was over the top, but it was true. Every story he’d ever heard about mates was true.
He could feel her inside his head, like a warm glow. She’d been speaking to him the entire time he was unconscious, trying to keep the nightmares at bay.
He drank about a gallon of water and tried to unclog his thoughts. He couldn’t afford to sit around while she wilted outside the gates. He wasn’t willing to bring her onto pack land though, so he was going to have to get well enough to walk. In the meantime, he had plenty to discuss.
Roman brought him a steak, and he felt better instantly, once he had a little protein in his system.
“What have you all decided about the vampires?” he asked, once Jameson, Tristan, and Roman were all in his room.
“Nothing permanent yet. We were waiting on you. But we’re thinking they’ll be banned from living anywhere but the Northwest Territories, in a certain radius where there are no humans. They’ll be imprisoned there for life, and they’ll have to live on wildlife. We have a group of local witches there who are willing to supervise them and put up a magical barrier so they can’t escape.”
“If they do escape, they die,” Jameson said, with a glint in his eyes. “This time permanently.”
Tristan nodded. “They’ll be free to use their money, but their online activities will be monitored. They’re so rich that they were conducting studies on how to make shifters into vampire hybrids for years in Iceland.”
“Pretty twisted,” Roman said.
Derek agreed. “Thank you all for handling this.” He knew that they’d been responsible for Jesse’s murder as well, and that was what tipped him over into being glad they’d be locked up for the rest of their days, no matter how long that way.
“Well, it’s not over yet. We still have to get there. That will take quite a few of us, plus some of the witches.”
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Derek said.
His brothers all whacked him on the back. “It’s okay. It’s a weird situation. And we don’t envy you,” Jameson said.
“Yeah,” Roman said. “Just get better.”
“I plan to,” Derek said. “Help me up.”
Tristan pushed him back down. “It’s too soon. You need to sleep.”
“I’ve been asleep.”