Sawyer winced at her whispered question. Since she hadn’t mentioned anything he’d said in her final moments of consciousness, he’d assumed she’d either forgotten or never heard. Apparently he’d been wrong. There’d been no doubt that when she woke he would have to face the consequences of his actions, but a little more time with her not hating him would have been nice.

“First,” he started. “Tell me how you feel. I’ve been worried sick and no one would tell us anything.”

She laid her head back on the pillow and shuttered her eyes. “I don’t know for sure. For some reason my stomach doesn’t seem to hurt at all, but my head feels like it’s going to explode. And everything is so loud. You’re the only one that sounds normal.”

“That’s because I knew that I needed to speak softly during this time. Your senses are going to be overwhelmed until you can learn to adjust.”

She looked at him curiously. “What does that mean?”

“Back on the island, you were dying. I could hear your heartbeat slowing. There wasn’t enough time to get you to a hospital before I lost you.”

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What did you do? How am I here?”

He looked away from her for a moment, gathering his thoughts before again meeting her gaze. “I did what I had to to keep you alive. You, Penelope Bishop, have charmed me. I couldn’t bear to lose that.”

Her eyes narrowed, worry lines creasing her forehead. “What did you do?”

“There was no time to get your permission first. So, I made the call.”

Her hands balled into fists, gathering the sheets around her as she pulled away from him. “What the hell does that mean, Sawyer? I want a straight answer in plain fucking language,” she hissed at him.

“I bit you,” he blurted, wishing he could handle this with more finesse in a better place than a hospital bed.

For a moment she sat there just staring at him, her mouth set in a firm line her eyes glued to him with what seemed like a lack of emotion.

He held his breath, waiting.

She didn’t make him wait long.

“And what exactly does that mean?” she asked, seething between nearly compressed lips.

“Penelope, you’re a smart woman, I’m sure you’ve got a pretty good idea exactly what I’m saying. Your sensitive hearing, the itching skin, and I’ll bet the lights in here are driving you crazy too.” He stood to find the switch and turn them off.

“Don’t patronize me. And don’t lie to me either. You and your friends have already put me in an impossible position, it’s not necessary to lie to me.”

He turned back to her. “I would never lie to you.”

She scoffed at him. “Bullshit. I think you and the rest of your gang will do or say anything if it means I will keep my mouth shut about what I saw out there.”

A sudden burst of anger flashed through his veins. “We are not a gang. We are a family and that now includes you. And yes, I will do everything I can to protect them—us. But I will always draw the line when it comes to you. I won’t throw you under the bus for anyone. If anything, I will take the brunt of any problems we have created for you. You tell me what you need and I will do everything in my power to see that it’s done. We have resources.”

She turned away from him and stared at the wall, leaving him unsure what to do next. He’d been waiting for her to yell and scream, maybe even throw shit at him. But this silence—it gave him chills.

“I think I would know if someone bit me,” she whispered, her voice sounding distant.

“Your neck, just below your right ear. I’m not surprised you don’t remember. You were in my arms, fading into unconsciousness. All I could hear was the fading sound of your heart beat. I couldn’t allow it, Penny, I just couldn’t.”

His throat clogged with all the emotion of that moment flooding back into his mind and ripping through his gut. He hoped to God he never heard that sound again.

She reached for the spot and froze when her hand encountered a small bandage. “Does this mean I’m now a—” she stopped, her face going stark white as her brain connected the dots.

The pain in her eyes hit him somewhere deep. A place where he couldn’t protect himself against her. He gasped for air at the white-hot sensation.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Probably. It’s not an exact science. It’s a little hard to explain.”

“Try,” she demanded, her voice rising.

“A wolf bite is how it can start. But—” He hesitated, not anxious to tell her the other outcomes.

Her nose flared, an obvious sign of her impatience with him.

“A wolf’s bite has the power to heal some people without a turning, depending on certain factors. An older wolf in human form usually has enough control to limit the effects to a human. Whereas a bite from a wolf in transition almost always carries too much venom for a human to handle.”

“And? Is that it?”

He shook his head. “Humans can sometimes be turned. During what we call our mating season, the magic within us drives us to find and claim a mate. A bite during that time almost always results in a turning.”

She had that look of suspicion on her face again. “Now that’s a word I do remember hearing a lot. Is that what this is all about? Your mating season? Am I supposed to be your mate now?”

He winced at the disdain he heard in her voice. She clearly didn’t like that idea.

“Technically, we are on the cusp of mating season. So it is possible.”

“Annnddd?”

He couldn’t stall any longer. He’d have to lay all of it out for her and hope that he was ready for whatever fallout came from it.

“The wolf inside me is definitely convinced that you are its mate. I’ve been fighting him practically from the moment we met.” He held up his hand to stop her questions before he finished. “Don’t get me wrong. The idea of a mate of my own came out of the blue. I wasn’t searching for one. However, now that you’re here I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“It?” she wrinkled up her nose. “That’s what I am to you? An it? An instinct that you can’t resist? Wow. How romantic.”

He stood and paced across the room. This wasn’t going at all like he’d hoped or expected. What the hell was happening? And where was his supposed charm that normally made women swoon? It figures his mate would not be so easily swayed.

He shoved his fingers in his hair as frustration clawed at his insides. “You’re twisting my words. I’ve wanted you from the beginning and believe me, that wasn’t supposed to happen. My job was to help you get the bare minimum of information that would get you off the island. For obvious reasons we have to maintain privacy. Only that isn’t what happened is it? I tried to call it lust. Lust I understood. But my instincts screamed for more. And every minute we’ve been together since, my resistance continued to crumble. You’re so damned adorable when you get flustered. Did you know that? And that ridiculous suit you wore did nothing to dissuade me. In fact, it drew me in right down to those sensible shoes you favor. I should have known from the beginning that I literally have no resistance when it comes to you. Your tenacity is endearing as is the sadness you carry in your soul. It’s a fucking beacon for someone like me because I’m the same. And hopefully one day you’ll share that pain with me like I have with you. That said, I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve a mate like you, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting you. With every breath. Every breath, Penelope. Yes, it’s instinctual, but we both still have free will. You can deny me if you choose. But if you do…”

He couldn’t put the rest in words. He would never let her go, but she didn’t need to know that yet. He could still see her trying to process everything he’d said thus far. The faint scent of her fear still laced the room and that made him both angry and determined. But for now, her humanity still stood a lot stronger than her potential wolf.

Maybe she would turn and maybe she wouldn’t. “The symptoms you are experiencing are a direct result of my bite. However, they could be temporary. Either way, I’ll never regret what I did. It wasn’t in me to do nothing when I had a way to help you. If given the choice again, I would choose exactly the same.”

Her hand had continued to rub the spot on her neck where his teeth had pierced her sweet flesh. That spot of connection burned between them whether she realized it or not. And the memory of her taste flooded his mouth, making his body go rock hard with need.

“This is all overwhelming. You have to know that. I don’t know what to say. Right now, my emotions are all over the map. I’m curious and I’m pissed at the same time.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Actually you are.”

Both he and Penelope turned to the voice at the door where a doctor and her coworker stood.

“You were told to stay away from her,” Carl said, a mean edge to his voice.

“Agent Phillips,” she cried. “What is wrong with you?”

The man whom Sawyer already hated with every bone in his body turned to Penelope. “Sorry, Agent Bishop. Director’s orders. He is a person of interest in the mysterious goings on on that God forsaken island and his appearance here is highly inappropriate.”

Sawyer growled and the doctor stepped forward. “Maybe everyone needs to give us a few minutes. Now that my patient is awake I need to speak with her—alone.”

When neither he nor the other agent made a move to leave the doctor’s body language went rigid.

“That wasn’t an invitation,” he said.

“Wait. I just need another minute. Then we can speak. Doctor, can you and Agent Phillips wait outside for just one more minute?

Neither man looked happy at her suggestion, but they both reluctantly moved. When he thought they were both out of earshot Sawyer lifted her hand and squeezed. “I really will be right outside. I don’t care who orders me out of here. I will not leave here without you.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Save the Neanderthal moves for another time. I just have one more question for right now.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “How long before we know if it’s permanent?”

He squeezed her hands. “Could be a few days or a few hours. The full moon is rising soon and if you are turning it will likely affect you in some way. At the very least you wont want to be confined to this bed when it does.”

Sawyer cringed when she turned away from him. There had to be more he could say to ease the worry he’d seen in her eyes.

“You can go now.”

He wanted to tell her no. God, how he did. But he’d dumped a lot of information on her and she needed some time to process. And if he didn’t go now, the doctor and the agent he wanted to choke would return and give him shit.

He squeezed her hand. “I’ll be right here for whatever you need.” She didn’t respond or turn to look at him. She didn’t have to. If he hadn’t already scented the deep sadness engulfing her, the lone tear tracking down her cheek said it all.