survived, and with all of us pulling for him, he can’t lose.”
“Thanks.”
“Sure. Let’s go see him.”
They walked the short distance to Micah’s room and went inside. Rowan approached the bed, hating how fragile her brother seemed lying there. It wasn’t fair that someone who loved life as much as he did had been reduced to a catastrophic disaster. Rage wrapped in layers of pain, and then drugged so that it all boiled under his skin, ready to break free and level everyone around him.
Lowering herself to the chair beside him, she scooted close and took his hand. “I’m here, little bro. Come back to us, please.”
She hadn’t expected a response, but his lashes fluttered and she found herself looking into glazed, dull brown eyes.
“S-sis?” he croaked.
She swallowed the cry that almost escaped. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him. “Hey, trouble,” she said, a catch in her voice. “It’s good to see you awake.” And not feral, but she didn’t want to remind him if he couldn’t remember that detail.
“What… where am I?”
“At the Alpha Pack compound. Your team rescued you.” She stroked his hair, his confusion tugging at her heart. “You’re safe.”
He looked confused. “How are you here?”
“It’s kind of a long story, so we’ll save it for when you’re feeling better, okay? I’m here, I’m staying until you’re better, and that’s all that matters.”
“Okay.” His expression saddened. “Sis?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“They… hurt me.”
“I know about the experiments, the shifters and the supernatural stuff. You don’t have to explain.”
“No, I mean they
Ice flooded her veins, and damned near froze her vocal cords. “Are you saying they raped you?”
Shame flooded his face, and a tear traced down his cheek. “Don’t let them hurt me anymore. Please…”
“Shh. I won’t. Nobody’s going to let those sleazy bastards near you again,” she soothed, wiping away the moisture. “Do you hear?”
“Yeah.”
But she wasn’t sure how much he actually registered of their exchange, or what he would remember. His lids drifted closed, and in seconds his chest was rising and falling in steady rhythm, the drug doing its job.
“He’ll be all right.”
Rowan started. She’d forgotten about Mac’s presence in the room. “When was someone going to tell me?” she hissed angrily.
To her credit, the doctor didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I planned to counsel him first, let him talk to you about it when—and if—he was ever ready to share. I’ll still hold sessions with him, of course, and any details are his to divulge to you. I’d never break a patient’s confidence.”
“I understand that, but someone should’ve told me the full extent of his abuse in that horrible place. Is there anything else I should know?”
“Not that I’m aware. For what it’s worth, I am sorry. Both about not telling you, and the fact that it happened in the first place,” she said sincerely. “Micah is very much loved by his team and all of us here at the compound. We only want the best for him, same as you.”
Rowan forced her anger into a tiny box. What had befallen her brother wasn’t Mac’s fault. “I can see that. Thank you.”
“I’ll leave you two alone for a while.”
The doctor left, closing the door softly.
Leaving Rowan alone with a broken wolf shifter and not a clue how to help him recover.
Aric heard the door to his room swish and he opened his eyes to see Rowan walk in, giving him a tentative smile that softened her features. It was amazing how his heart stuttered in his chest, just being in the same room with her.
“Hey,” he croaked.
“Hey yourself.” Taking a seat, she patted his arm. “I’ll ask the stupid question—how are you feeling?”
“Better, thanks.” He still couldn’t believe he’d passed out in front of her, and he tried not to let his embarrassment show. But her tantalizing scent hit him hard, shot straight to his cock, and went a long way toward making him forget anything else.
“I’m glad. Did they figure out what’s wrong with you?”
“I’m still waiting, but I’m sure it’s exhaustion or something from my time in Motel Hell.” He shrugged. “No big.”
“I don’t know how you can be so nonchalant about that,” she said, frowning. “It’s definitely a big deal for Micah.”
“Damn, that’s not what I meant at all.” Sitting up straighter, he took her hand. “I’d never make light of what he’s going through. I hope you know I’m not that much of a jerk.”
She blew out a breath. “I do. It’s just hard to see him hurting. He’s nothing like the man I remember… not that I believe I ever really knew him.”
“Who was the Micah you knew?” he asked quietly.
She thought for a moment. “Fun-loving, always laughing. He had a great sense of humor, and even though he knew the world wasn’t perfect,
“Yeah, that’s how I saw him, too. How everyone saw him, as far as I know. Even after we were turned into shifters, he was determined to help all the guys see the good that came from the bad. He had his work cut out with me, because I hated what I’d become.”
She squeezed his hand, her expression warm with concern. “Do you still hate it?”
“Not like I used to, and Micah gets a lot of the credit,” he said honestly. “He’d spend hours talking to me, spinning what had happened to us into a positive thing. We were alive and more than human, and we could use that to do good, et cetera. He started getting through, too, and then…”
Her voice was almost inaudible. “Then he was gone, presumed dead.”
“Yes.”
She fell silent for a minute, studying their linked hands. “Would you do something for me?”
“Anything.” The word was out before he thought, but he realized he meant it. Something about this woman compelled him to want to make her happy, though he didn’t know why, except for the fact that she was Micah’s sister and he genuinely liked her.
“Tell me what it was really like the day your SEAL team was attacked and turned,” she urged, leaning forward to clasp his hand even tighter. “I need to hear the story of what happened to all of you.”
Aric blinked at her. He wasn’t surprised that she wanted to hear the account, since it had changed her brother’s life, but she couldn’t possibly have made a more difficult request of him. Hell, he didn’t know anyone who’d want to relive those hellish few minutes in Afghanistan. But if he refused to tell her, she’d simply go to one of the other men.
And for some reason, that didn’t sit well. Better him than having her turn to someone else.
“All right. I can do that.”
“Thank you.”
Taking a deep breath, he began. “It was so fucking hot that day, we thought we’d die. Little did we know that half of us
“Jesus Christ, I’m rank,” Raven bitched, scratching at his crotch. “When I finally get to change this underwear, it’ll probably walk off.”
Micah grinned. “With assistance from the crabs you caught from that woman in the last village.”
