15
Ryder
We spentthe night upstairs in Ness’s old bedroom. She didn’t wake when I carried her upstairs or when I set her on the bed and curled around her body. The acrid smell of burnt hair nearly covered the scent of ozone in her fur.
Even if Bruce hadn’t explained what’d happened, I would have known. There was no denying that smell. It’d been the same when she’d hit Harvey with lightning. Somehow, she’d survived the same attack.
It was possible. Some people survived lightning strikes. Perhaps her own affinity for electricity had saved her.
A darker thought rolled through my mind. There was a possibility that she’d died. Ness hadn’t survived at all. I had no way of knowing if she’d died and come back again. Worse, even, there was a chance that she’d died, and I hadn’t been there.
These hands of mine were fucking useless. I’d stuck around to watch over the pack while Ness had suffered again. Alvin chipped away at my mate. How much of her would be left when we finally defeated Alvin?
If I wasn’t careful, Alvin would break her while my back was turned. I knew I had a lot on my plate as the new Alpha, but I wouldn’t have anything without her.
That witch in Nevada had said that the Barghest would be my salvation. I didn’t think that’d meant I would find my mate. Was the witch’s prediction right? Would I be able to keep Ness?
In my arms, her form changed. She didn’t wake. Hell, she didn’t even stir. Her body expanded, fur falling away and disappearing as the magic that’d created it disappeared, too. I tightened my grip on her. She snuggled into my chest and let out a soft snore.
My heart clenched.
I couldn’t lose her.
My beast’s warning growl rumbled in the back of my mind. I could already feel it’s control wavering. The dragon clawed at me. It warned me that there would be hell to pay. A storm raged within the dragon, a storm that threatened to level everything. If she died, I would lose my grip on the creature. My mind would crumble, and I would become my father.
I would be a danger to all those I’d promised to protect.