Nick felt fine. Better than fine, really, although no one believed him. From the little he remembered, he benefited from some of those green-blue sparkles that fell out of the sky, while there were others far worse off. Like Eloise and the cut in her wrist, or the witch who still didn’t move from where Lacey dumped her behind a bush, or Carter limping along as he tried to help Smith get up from the stone patio.

Sirens rose in the distance, and Nick squinted as he looked around the backyard and the several yards they’d destroyed with the oak tree and magical shrapnel. He leaned against Lacey as someone from Rafe’s pack called back that the SUVs were there to take everyone to the hospital. Nick walked on his own, holding Lacey’s hand, even though he didn’t need the hospital. The way she looked at him, though, he knew she was worried. And he didn’t want her to worry.

So sitting around in a hospital gown for a little while would be worth it, if it meant Lacey didn’t worry.

They piled into the SUV with the semi-conscious witch and Eloise as she told Benedict to knock it off as he muttered about her taking stupid risks, and Nick leaned his head back against the window as a smile played across his lips. Lacey nudged closer against his side, poking a bruised spot on his ribs. “Stay awake. You might have a concussion.”

“I’m fine,” he said. He moved to drape his arm over her shoulders and pull her closer, giving himself a deep inhalation from her hair to reassure the wolf. “You’re the one who looks pretty rough.”

“I had a lot on my plate for a little while there,” she said, giving him a narrow-eyed look. “Keeping your ass alive, for one. Did they get Smith in the other SUV?”

“Yeah,” Carter said from the driver’s seat. “He didn’t want to go but Meadow is with him. He’s physically fine but his mind is still a little... wild.”

Nick snorted; that was a fucking understatement if he’d ever heard it. He’d never thought to see Smith in full antlers again. He looked like a pagan god. Hell, he probably was a pagan god, come to think of it.

Lacey craned her next to see the witch’s limp form in the seat behind them, checking her pulse and frowning at Benedict as he focused on his mate. “We wouldn’t be here if not for the witch. She needs to make it.”

“She’ll make it,” Nick said. He wasn’t terribly concerned about Deirdre; she knew her limits, chances were, which was why she’d been clear about not helping them once she freed Smith and Ray. Nick reached back to jostle Deirdre’s ankle, raising his voice so she could hear. “I can call Estelle to come and pick you up, witch. If you want.”

“Fuck. Off,” she wheezed, barely audible. Nothing but her lips moved.

Nick smiled and faced forward, riding a wave of euphoria from the miraculous healing. He felt like he could do anything. And with Lacey beside him...

He blinked and looked at her. “You’re not pissed at me anymore?”

Her lips thinned and she sat facing forward, a hint of color rising in her cheeks. “Maybe we should wait to talk about this until we don’t have an audience.”

“So you pulled your head out of your ass,” he said cheerfully, putting her in a headlock so he could kiss the top of her head. “And finally admitted that you love me. Finally. It only took near-death to do it, huh? I’ll have to remember that.”

It was lucky they were close to a hospital, because Lacey would have ripped him limb from limb from the look she gave him. Carter coughed, a sound suspiciously close to a laugh, and pulled the SUV up to the shifter hospital that his brother bankrolled. “Lacey, just let me get the bystanders out of the way before you deal with him. I’d rather not have blood all over the inside of this car.”

“Sure,” she said, gritting it between her teeth.

Nick smiled winningly at her and leaned in for a kiss, and it was a testament to how worried she was about him that she didn’t pull away.

A team of nurses and doctors swarmed around the SUV and the one that rolled up right behind them, and Nick stood aside as they put the witch on a gurney and rolled her inside, as Benedict carried a loudly-objecting Eloise through the sliding automatic doors, and as the nurses brought a wheelchair and looked at him like he’d sit in it. Nick laughed, shaking his head. “I can walk.”

“He’ll sit,” Lacey said, and dug her nails into his arm so he knew she was serious.

Nick sighed and flopped into the chair, holding his legs out of the way so they could put the foot rests down, and held Lacey’s hand as the nurse wheeled him into the hospital.

He really hated hospitals. It was a small comfort that Smith hated them more.

He ended up in a double room with the ErlKing, even though Meadow didn’t want to be in the same room as Nick, and it wasn’t until far later that night — closer to morning, technically — that he and Lacey were alone. From what Rafe and Ruby said, and the bears when Kaiser finally arrived, they’d gotten everyone out of the BadCreek compound who wanted to go. There were a lot of injuries but none killed, and the BadCreek enforcers had been informed of Ray’s death, the freeing of the djinn, and the ErlKing’s delayed but impending fury.

Kaiser had apparently offered them a chance to leave BadCreek and start over elsewhere, although there would be ways that the shifters would track them to make sure they didn’t start the same shit under a different name. Nick drifted in and out as he watched people come and go, though the only time he tensed was when Lacey got up to investigate why Eloise was screaming at Benedict for being an overbearing asshole.

When the hyena queen slipped out, Kaiser took up most of the space next to Nick’s bed and frowned down at him. “So you lived. The way you were acting, I didn’t expect to see you again outside of a body bag.”

“Prepare for the worst, hope for the best,” Nick said. He laced his hands behind his head and smiled up at the alpha bear, for once his wolf not minding being under the man’s stare.

Kaiser grunted, glancing over at the door. “Your sister is beside herself with worry, even if she won’t tell anyone. I informed Owen that you survived, so at least she knows you’re not dead. Now tell me the truth, wolf — do you intend to stay? Or are you going to disappear in the night?”

A good question. He frowned up at the ceiling and pondered, then tilted his head at the door where Lacey had gone. “It depends. A couple of hours ago I would have said you wouldn’t even find me here, and there would have been a trail of smoke behind my ass as I got to the airport. But things might be different. I don’t know yet.”

Kaiser snorted and rocked back on his heels, also looking at the door as Eloise continued her tirade. “Interesting. Fine. I won’t disinfect your room just yet. Make sure you say good-bye to your sister before you leave, and Josie requires a good-bye as well. She was quite adamant about that.”

Nick smiled with half his mouth and rubbed at his eyes. “For a wee little thing, she’s fucking terrifying, man.”

“Yes, she is, and I get to live with her, so don’t make me pay for your poor decisionmaking.” Kaiser scowled at him and smacked his arm hard enough to leave a bruise. “You hear me? Happy wife, happy life — don’t fucking mess with that equation.”

“He won’t,” someone said from the doorway, and both men looked to see Lacey standing there. She paced into the room with deliberate steps, a bit of uncertainty in her expression. She didn’t wear it well. “We need to talk, but I won’t let him skip town without saying proper good-byes.”

“Good.” Kaiser nodded to her and glared at Nick, then disappeared out the door to check on someone else.

Lacey took a deep breath as she returned to her chair next to his bed. “The witch is conscious, although she’s not moving or speaking much. The doctors don’t know what it is. She said something about her energy being drained, and since she’s not very concerned, they’re going to observe her overnight and see if things improve. She wasn’t happy about being in a hospital, even a shifter hospital, but she’d have been less happy to wake up in Smith’s backyard.”

Nick winced, thinking of the kind of favors he’d owe Deirdre for exposing her to so many supernaturals. There was the chance that Estelle wouldn’t allow Deirdre back into the cover, for fear of exposing the rest of them to anyone who might recognize Deirdre. And he’d have to cover her hospital bill, too, just in case the Chase charitable foundation didn’t cover it.

Smith snored in the other bed, and it was the most alone they’d been in hours. Nick caught Lacey’s hand and tangled her fingers with his. He studied her hand, not her face, as he spoke. “So catch me up, girl. What the fuck is going on? You didn’t even look at me in the Alphas Council and I get knocked around a bit at Smith’s place and you’re trading wishes to save my life. Care to fill me in?”

She frowned but didn’t pull away. “I thought I lost you. It hurt. So I asked the djinn to save you.”

“Does that mean you believe you’re my mate?”

“Maybe,” she said. She took a deep breath and leaned forward until her forehead rested on the mattress next to his hip.

Nick rested his free hand on her head, massaging her scalp until she relaxed and sighed and moved so he could reach a spot behind her ear. He took a deep breath and imagined a life with her in it. Every day, every night, all the time. His voice came out rusty and a little uncertain, since he still didn’t know what she wanted. She hid too much of herself from him, even after being together and fighting and nearly dying together. “Lacey Szdoka, you’re mine. I’m yours. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I do, as long as I’m with you. If that means I’m the hyena queen’s consort for the rest of my life — great. I’ll learn to speak hyena. Whatever it means, Lacey — I’m with you.”

She looked up at him, her expression unreadable, and held his hand a little tighter. “I abdicated.”

Nick went still, almost certain she was fucking with him. “What?”

“I had a family meeting before I left for Smith’s house, and I told the cackle I was leaving. Savannah will be the new queen for a while, and eventually she’ll hand it over to someone else.” Lacey took a deep breath, her eyes swimming with tears that didn’t quite spill over her lashes. “I told them I wanted better for all of us, and that it was time the Szdoka reign ended. So I’m ending it. I don’t want to be hyena queen anymore, Nick. I don’t.”

“Oh, baby, thank God,” he said, leaning down to grab her arms so he could drag her onto the bed with him. He wrapped her in his arms and legs, holding her as close as possible while keeping their clothes on, and buried his face against her neck. “Thank you. That’s perfect. That’s wonderful. Savannah will be a great queen.”

“Now I don’t know what to do,” Lacey whispered. “I hardly know who I am or what I want or what I like or where I should be, and it all just — I didn’t really expect to live through this, and now that we have, that we all have... what the hell am I going to do?’

“Oh, that’s easy,” he said, and she twisted enough to glare at him. Nick smiled and took the opportunity to kiss her, even though the angle wasn’t conducive to much more than a quick little peck. “We’re going to do everything.”

“We?” Lacey walked her fingers up his side, hitting a ticklish spot that made him twitch. “Everything?”

Nick grumbled and held her tighter as she did it a second time. “Yes. In order to find out what you want and what you like and where you should be and who you should be, we’re going to try everything. Everywhere. Multiple times. As much as it takes, as long as it take, until you know. Until we know in our bones who we are and where we want to be.”

Her gaze lingered on his, and for once the wolf didn’t try to shove him aside. The beast waited, content now that they had their mate close. Lacey’s expression softened and she worried her lower lip in her teeth as she studied his mouth. “Really?”

“Really,” he said. Nick didn’t care if he got a crick in his neck; he kissed her and did a damn fine job of it.

They were still entwined, breathing a little heavy, when a creaky voice rose up from the other bed as the ErlKing turned away. “At least draw the curtains if you’re going to do more than kiss.”

Then he grumped back into silence. Nick started laughing hard enough to shake Lacey, who clapped a hand over his mouth so the ErlKing wouldn’t know he laughed, but Nick didn’t care. He hadn’t felt like laughing in forever, and there wasn’t much funnier than having an old pagan idol tell them to keep it in their pants. Lacey finally gave up and laughed with him, and Nick held her tighter, just to make sure she knew he, at least, knew who she was: his mate.

The rest of it they could figure out on the way.