Well, that was the fanciest fucking experience she’d ever had in her entire life.

Lynn stood on the side of the airport runway and stared at the small private jet Damon had chartered for her to get back to Red Havoc territory. They’d landed a while ago, and then she’d just stood here for probably the last five minutes trying to wrap her head around the experience she’d just had. They’d fed her caviar, like in the movies. And she had sipped champagne like a fancy lady and even remembered to hold her wine flute with one pinky up so she could take a selfie for Eden, her best friend. She’d texted it to her, and the only response she’d gotten was, OMG, wherethefuckareyou and is that a smile I see?!?!!!!!!! Lynn?!! YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU AND SERIOUSLY WHERETHEFUCKAREYOU????

Eeeeh, she hadn’t been the best at keeping her crew updated on her progress apparently. Now she felt really bad for worrying them. She definitely needed to work on her friendship skills.

Damon had probably put her on a private jet so she didn’t Change in a human flight and bite people. She hoped Monster wasn’t capable of that, but she might be. Caviar. That was crazy. And awesome. And before they served her a lavish dinner, they’d even given her a hot towel. She hadn’t known what to do with it, but the stewardess told her to wash her hands with it. She put it on her face when the lady wasn’t looking though, because it felt good. She probably shouldn’t have worn booty shorts and a faded red T-shirt that said aliens exist with little cartoon extraterrestrials on it, but then again, she hadn’t known Damon had hooked her up with this fancy flight either.

The airport must be a private one, because it was tiny, with just one runway, and only a few small planes that looked like the one she’d just landed in.

After she rounded the corner, adjusting the strap of her duffle bag, she spotted Ben beside his truck at the edge of the parking lot. There was no smile on his face. There was worry, trepidation perhaps. He looked wary and weary, his eyes the bright gold of his panther. She hesitated, faltered a few steps, then made her way to him.

“Tell me you’re upright again, Lynn,” he said in a low voice. His eyes were hollow. They looked like Barret’s in that vision, as though he hadn’t slept since she’d left Red Havoc Territory.

No tears. Time to find your backbone.

Lynn straightened up and lifted her chin. She wished she could say yes, but he would hear her lie. So instead, she said, “I’m getting there.”

Benson Saber, the previous alpha of the Red Havoc Crew, now the Second of the Red Havoc Crew, the man who took her in, took her under his wing, deflated with a huff of emotional breath. “Thank God,” he murmured and pulled her against him roughly. She couldn’t breathe but she didn’t care right now. She hadn’t allowed touch in the year before Jathan, and it had hurt her. She hadn’t realized that until now. Ben holding her, his relief wafting from his body into hers in waves, was doing something healing to her soul. It sewed a single stitch where she’d been ripped. A single stitch that put some of the gash back together and made all the difference. Slowly, she hugged him back.

No tears. He needs to see how strong you’re getting.

“Get in the truck, so I can light into you properly. You scared the shit out of us. All of us.”

“Where’s the crew?” she asked, a little disappointed they weren’t here to greet her so she could see them sooner.

“Greyson ordered them to stay home. He was afraid if you weren’t okay…” Ben swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple dipping into his muscular throat.

“What?”

A frown marred his features, and Ben wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he kicked at a pebble on the ground. “You feel different, Lynn. Not as sick, but…” He finally lifted those gold eyes to hers. “You’re a dominant now, aren’t you?”

“Not on purpose. It’s just how the monster ended up. Now, what were you going to say? No sugar coating anything anymore. I want to know everything.”

He bit the corner of his mouth and crossed his arms over his chest. With a resigned sigh, he admitted, “The crew isn’t okay, Lynn. It’s not like when you left. We thought we were gonna lose you, and it did bad things to everyone. There are holes in our bonds. Greyson took the crew just fine, but he was doing it while he was limping. You know? His first big act as alpha was going to be to put you down. He’s not okay losing a crew member. None of us are. If you were as bad off as when you left? Greyson didn’t want the crew to even see you. They would fold. Their animals are already seven shades of fucked up and unmanageable right now.”

“But you’re here.”

“I asked to be the one to see you first. In case you asked me…”

“To put me down?”

Ben spat and gave her one jerky nod, and then was back to kicking the pebble with the toe of his work boot.

“I’m not asking for that anymore,” she said, allowing steel into her voice. She leveled him with a look. “I’m fighting.”

Ben rocked off from where he leaned on the front end of his truck and strode to the driver’s side. “Good, because Beaston says war is coming, and no one in our crew is ready. You need to get them fighting, too.” He yanked open his door and locked that intense gaze on her. “Time to do work, Lynn.”

As he climbed into the cab of his truck, Lynn’s phone dinged with a text message. Jathan’s name popped up on the caller ID. The message was simple. It was perfect for this moment. He’d taken a picture of her brawling with Nox, son of the Cursed Bear. She looked like a fucking warrior, claws sunk in, teeth sunk in to his shoulder. Nox’s huge, blond grizzly had his head thrown back in a roar of pain, and in the picture, her eyes were gold and focused right on the camera.

Be the badass, was all Jathan said.

A slow smile stretched Lynn’s lips as Monster purred happily at his acceptance of both sides of her—flawed human and damaged animal.

Lynn made her way to the passenger’s side of Ben’s truck and climbed in.

Be the badass? Two weeks ago, it would’ve terrified Lynn to be that animal, but now Monster wasn’t as scary.

Now she suspected Monster was part of the reason she was still standing.