9. Shay

NINE

Shay

I t was even harder leaving Dirge in the cell the second time, but I did it with renewed determination.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd have called you a liar," Julius said as we walked through the door into the monitoring room.

"Can we let him out?" I didn't wait for a lengthy discussion or for people to start second-guessing what they'd seen. I needed him out. I needed him with me.

"We will vote on it," Kane said, laying a gentle hand on my shoulder before crossing to Brielle's waiting arms. She stared up at him with adoration.

"Have I told you lately that I don't like it when you put yourself in danger? That was terrifying to watch."

"I know, baby, but I could cow his wolf if I had to. This is part of being Alpha." He stroked her cheek reverently, the tender sight making my stomach tighten with jealousy. I was so proud of my friend for overcoming the odds and claiming her mate. But I wanted that for myself too, so badly it hurt.

Brielle leaned into his touch, even as the two of them turned together to face the rest of the group .

"All in favor of allowing a trial release period?" Kane posed the question with no further fanfare.

Reed and Brielle lifted their hands immediately, and I did too, though I likely didn't get a vote. Technically, I wasn't even part of Pack Blackwater, but I didn't care. The rest of the hands were slower to go up, but in the end, every one went up, except Julius's.

"I'm not saying no, but he needs a guard at all times until he's no longer feral and they're bonded."

"I will personally take responsibility for him." Gael stepped forward, shocking me in the process. I didn't know him well—only observing the crazy, angry chemistry between him and Leigh—but the grateful look Reed sent him told me everything I needed to know. He was no hopeless romantic, but he'd do anything for his pack.

Julius nodded, then lifted two fingers to signal his consent.

I headed straight for the hall, not waiting for anyone to change their minds.

Kane called after me, "Five, eight, two?—"

"Six, eight, nine, I know!" I called back over my shoulder, already punching in the code.

They didn't need to know that Dirge was getting out tonight, whether they voted for it or not.

An hour later, I was back in bed, Dirge lying plastered to my uninjured side and growling lightly at John Henry, who wanted to check my wound since I'd escaped my room earlier.

"I feel okay, just tired," I reassured the displeased healer.

"I understand, but your body can't process wolfsbane, and you're not healing at normal speed. Things like pulled stitches matter when you're healing at human rates."

I lifted the bottom of my shirt and frowned down at the bright red bloom of blood on my bandage. I hadn't even noticed, but it probably needed changing. I cast a glance at Dirge, whose hackles were raised as he tried to engage the man in a staring contest. John Henry was carefully keeping his eyes averted, and the whole thing would've been comical if I didn't need his help.

"Can Brielle check it?" Leigh asked from her post in the corner chair. "She was grabbing our lunch, but she's trained, and maybe Fido will be a little less touchy about a female doc." Her pose was casual but alert, one arm slung around her knee, the other foot bouncing on the ground with boredom. She didn't fully trust Dirge yet, and I couldn't blame her, really.

The glowing red eyes were unnerving.

"Don't call him Fido, Leigh." I stroked down his back again, ignoring the filth in favor of connection. But we'd have to get him cleaned up somehow, and soon.

"We can wait for Brielle, yes. But if he doesn't allow her to help…" John Henry pressed his lips into a grim line.

He didn't have to finish the sentence; I already knew. They'd take him back to the cell. My grip on his fur tightened reflexively.

"Don't stress, Shay. It's all going to work out, because Dirge "—she said his name with a heavy dose of censure—"wants you to be healthy, and he won't stop the doctors from helping you. Will he?" She squinted over at him, making eye contact and not shying away when he returned it. Even from her seated position, her wolf rose to the surface, eyes glowing a stunning gold as her wolf pressed forward.

To my surprise, though, he didn't growl at her or take offense. It was like he knew that she was family.

"I'll wait in the hall until Brielle returns." John Henry ducked his head politely and then stepped out of the room. As soon as it clicked shut, Dirge visibly relaxed, letting his tongue loll out and wagging his tail .

"You're a real piece of work, dude," Leigh muttered, but the corner of her lips twisted up. "There might be something wrong with us, Shay. Why do we like assholes?"

"We? Do tell. I haven't heard anything since Gael carried you off the dance floor." I waggled my eyebrows at her in a move I'd seen her do hundreds of times over the years when she was ribbing me or Brielle about our nonexistent love lives.

Payback's a bitch.

My loud, brash friend blushed. Blushed . "There's nothing to tell," she said, trying and failing for a casual tone.

"The heat between you two is enough to melt the ice caps. You would really deny me details when I'm laid up in bed, wounded?" I dramatically slouched into the bed, doing my best to look pitiful.

"Stop it. Don't make me feel worse! It's bad enough I was busy— Ahh, shit. Fine!" She dropped her head in her hands for a second, then smoothed her fingers over her long, blonde ponytail. "We hooked up, okay? But he's an arrogant ass, I got him out of my system, and I'm never going there again. Hell, I'm never speaking to him again. I'm through."

I watched all this with barely suppressed laughter. It was so rare to see Leigh ruffled, I hated that Bri wasn't here to see it.

"So, was he that good, or that bad? I know it's one or the other."

She sighed, a wistful admission. "He was great, okay? The best I've ever been with, if I'm honest. But I'm not going to tell him that, because his ego does not need to get any bigger. He's already impossible."

"Fair enough—you know I'm no snitch."

She smiled at me then, the tension easing out of her shoulders and melting away. "You? Never." There was a comfortable pause. "It's still early for lunch, and Bri was going to get something special. Why don't you try to rest."

As soon as she suggested it, I yawned, a wave of exhaustion I'd been studiously ignoring washing over me and making my eyelids heavy. I still had questions about what had happened between her and Gael, but they could wait for another time.

Leigh smiled, pulling her phone out of her pocket and waving it at me. "I've got a book to read, so don't worry about me."

I quirked an eyebrow at her as I scooched down the bed, rearranging my pillows. "Is it at least something good? Or is it another one of those boring, dry?—"

"Hey! Kinesiology and physiology books are informative, not boring."

I yawned again, not buying a word of it, when, to my surprise, a soft rumbling came from Dirge, where he lay pressed against my side. He was still facing the door, on alert even as he soothed me. He was a good wolf and, I hoped, a good man underneath.

"But if you must know," Leigh continued, "I'm reading the new Lindsay Buroker. She's the only one who gets the dragons right. Pompous asses, every one of them."

"Good," I murmured, sleep pulling me under with a smile on my lips and my hand wrapped in Dirge's coat. Even as I thought that Leigh was full of bullshit. She'd never met a dragon .