As soon as the truck was stopped, I jumped out and went into the cabin and headed back to Doc's bedroom. Light from the open window filled the room. Allan and Ed lay in the middle of the large bed. Allan was lying on top of the covers, dressed for the day, and pressed up against Ed. Under the blankets, Ed lay on his back, probably still not dressed, his left arm wrapped in bandages. He stared at the ceiling.
Allan looked over at me when I came in. "I'm so glad you're here."
Ed had to know I was there, but he didn't react.
Doc had told me that Ed was in a strange mental state, but I hadn't expected him to ignore me. I kicked off my shoes, crawled onto the bed on the other side of Ed, and pressed up against him.
"Hey, you."
He sighed in response. I glanced at Allan. Allan's eyes were wide, and it was clear he didn't know what to do.
"Ed, what's wrong?"
He didn't answer.
I didn't want to do the wrong thing and push him further into his strange frame of mind. He was usually so cheerful, like a giant blond puppy, even in human form. This was so different from normal, I didn't even know where to start.
"Allan, has he ever been like this before?"
He shook his head.
I put my arm across his chest and hugged him close, resting my head on his shoulder. It would have been more comfortable if he had put his arm around me, but he tensed instead.
"Ed, talk to me." Fear colored my voice, and that got him to turn toward me slightly.
He still looked vacant, but he sort of paid attention to me.
"Has he spoken at all since he woke up?"
"A little. He seemed pretty with it until this morning." Allan swallowed nervously.
I kissed Ed on the cheek and snuggled him closer.
Doc and Nikolai came into the room. Doc hung back, but Nikolai came over to us and studied Ed.
He put his hand on the werewolf's chest and pushed a little magic into him.
Ed shuddered, eyes going wide in fear.
"Sofia, maybe you do what I am. He will respond better to you."
Nikolai stepped away before I called my magic, standing back by Doc. Even so, as soon as I touched my magic, I could feel Nikolai as if he were standing next to me, hands on mine.
I gasped. "What the hell?"
"It is resonance," he muttered tightly.
"I didn't feel that when we traded languages."
"No. It takes once or twice for energies to sync." He sounded resigned.
I wanted to look at him, to try and figure this out, but Ed needed my attention, so I tried to tune Nikolai out. It helped that he was across the room, standing next to Doc. As soon as my thoughts turned to him, it was as if I could sense Doc, too.
Doc sank down into a chair, groaning softly. "Fuck." Obviously, he sensed the magical resonance, too.
"Yes," Nikolai agreed.
I glanced at Allan and got up on my knees, leaving one hand on Ed. Allan's eyes widened when I put my other hand on his shoulder and pushed magic into him.
"Whoa," he whispered.
My magic flowed through all of us, connecting us. It was erotic, as if all of them were connected with me, drawing Nikolai's magic into all of us, along with my own, but it was more than that. It pulled us together, joining us, burning through us. I used that connection and focused on the wild energy that belonged to Ed and tugged. He was buried deep, but once I found the way in, he clung to me and I drew him back to us.
Ed took a deep shuddering breath, and I clutched him to me as tears sprang to his eyes.
Doc came over and sat next to me, putting his hand on Ed's arm above the wound. Having all of us touch completed the pack, but not quite. Nikolai was missing. I had joined him to us, and we needed him now.
I looked over my shoulder at the mage.
His eyes were wide, and he looked like he wanted to refuse. We could all sense the acrid bite of his fear through the swirl of magic joining us.
Ed shifted under my hand, and I turned back to him. He stared at Nikolai as if he didn't quite know what to do.
"Ed," I whispered softly. "Talk to me."
He looked at me. "Sofia, I was so lost."
"You're here now. We found you. We'll always find you." Tears wet my cheeks.
"It was magic," Nikolai said. "Evil magic."
Ed winced when the Russian mage spoke, and the queasy unease he felt washed through us, but I wasn't sure what triggered it. Was it Nikolai, or the mention of magic?
Ed sighed. "This is quite the light show," he said, changing the subject. Maybe not ready to talk about it.
My lavender motes danced with Nikolai's dark blue and twirled around the room, darting in and out of us. Ed was right, it was quite the show.
It was beautiful. "What's happening?"
"You used your connections with Ed to bring him back," Nikolai answered, though the hesitation in his voice made me think that wasn't the full answer.
"You should come over here," I finally demanded. I couldn't take it any longer. I needed him to touch me, to touch us, to complete whatever we were doing.
The others agreed, even if it was just because they wanted to the incompleteness tearing at us to end.
"I cannot."
That fear again. It was stronger than Ed's. Did it have something to do with the mage who had nearly killed him?
Though it was one of the harder things I'd done recently, I broke contact with the others, got off the bed and went over to Nikolai.
He backed away when I reached for him.
"This is a bad idea."
"So is dating three guys,
