She didn’t move. She ate whatever was given to her. She drank when she was asked.

And she waited.

Jessie called, and Gabe helped her set up the mansion’s security.

“Here they come,” James whispered from the door. “They are bringing both at once.”

“Thank God,” Brenton sighed.

Riley swallowed and tensed as the door opened, and she saw Zachary first. Tubes and wires were everywhere. He was paler than she could have imagined. He looked battered, and Riley couldn’t imagine he was having a peaceful rest.

She stood up slowly as they positioned his bed and hooked everything back up in his new location.

“Oh my God,” Troy mumbled, and Riley turned back to the door as Andrew was brought in.

He was a mess. There was bruising over his entire forehead, and the area around his left eye was swollen to the point she wondered if he could open it. The same bruising went over his nose and across one of his cheeks. It was such a mess that she nearly didn’t want to recognize him. The man in that bed couldn’t be her Andrew.

“If they wake up, please call us immediately,” a nurse told Brenton quietly. She was a wolf shifter, as well. “I’ll be giving you a schedule of their regimens, when and who will be delivering their medications. We want you to feel safe here while they heal.”

“Thank you,” Brenton told her, but Riley could tell he wasn’t really paying attention. He sounded distracted.

She stumbled over to the space between the beds and looked between the two pieces of her heart. Two battered, broken, pieces.

“Can I have a chair?” She asked softly and waited. Thomas brought her one without bothering to say anything. She positioned it so her back would be to the wall, and she sat down, curling her knees up to her chest.

Back to waiting.

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked her as she started to zone out, ready for another long battle against her own tears.

“No,” Riley whispered. There was no point in lying about it. “Look at them, Thomas. Look at them. After everything, after what we did in Texas, we are still here… with them, hoping they live through the day.”

“The doctor said Zachary should be fine, if he takes it easy,” Thomas reminded her, kneeling in front of her. “And if you or your guys need anything, you tell me. Ya hear that?”

“You’re a good guy, Thomas,” she sighed. “You know that?”

“I like to think I have good friends, and they deserve the best from me,” Thomas said gently, with a small smile. “Me and the guys don’t know how we got so lucky to meet you all in that nightmare. We’ll do whatever is needed.”

“Keep an eye on my boys?” She asked, searching his face.

“Which ones?” Thomas whispered.

“The ones who can walk and go get themselves hurt, too,” she groaned. “I… I need to stay here with these two. I can’t miss them waking up.”

“I’ll do my best,” Thomas sighed.

“We are not going to do anything stupid,” Brenton said from his spot across from Riley. He sat at Zachary’s side, in the back corner of the room where he could see everything. “We do not even know what we are going to do next.”

“That is a problem,” Thomas grunted. “The boys and I would fight for you, but we need a target. We need the who.”

“If they went through all of this,” Troy spoke up from Andrew’s side. “They will try again. We’re two Pride members down…”

“If we weren’t on our knees before this,” Gabe whispered. “We are now…”

Brenton’s growl shocked them.

“I go to my knees for no one,” he snarled. Riley looked back over to him slowly. There was a fury in his eyes that she could relate to, and yet it was deeper than she could muster.

She was tired. She understood it now, what Brenton, and Gabe, what they all had told her. It was exhausting, holding on to the fight, the rage, to see the next day. The constant battering from outside forces coupled with the need to continue moving forward to survive.

“I bet that isn’t true,” Thomas growled back. “And you can’t fix this if you don’t admit it’s all gone to hell.”

“Thomas,” Troy snapped quickly. “Do not push him.”

“He’s right,” Riley sighed, and they all turned to her. She met Brenton’s eyes. “We’re on our knees, Brenton. We could soldier on through Cameron, and hunters, and politics… but we can’t soldier on through this. We’re on our knees. The ground we had has been yanked out from underneath us.”

“Riley,” Brenton growled softly.

“No, Brenton,” she hissed. She pointed at Zachary between them. “Look at him. Then look at Andrew. Then you tell me how we haven’t been brought down to rock-fucking-bottom. Because, let me tell you, I am. I thought I had reached the lowest point of my life in that fucking compound… I had no idea how much worse it could get, and I’m not even the one hurt.”

She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. She placed her head on her knees and cried. No one said anything. No one judged it.

Her heart was shattered at the lifeless-looking bodies that surrounded her. Andrew may never come back. Zachary may never be the same.

Thomas backed away from her slowly. One didn’t touch another Alpha’s lover when the lover was emotionally vulnerable like this. It was Troy who ran his hand through her hair, comforting her. She could smell his own tears now that he was close.

“We need a plan,” Gabe whispered to someone. “We need to figure out how to survive this. We can’t hide in a hospital until these two have hopefully healed then figure it out. The likeliness that we’re all dead before either of them wake up is only growing.”

“Every shifter on the planet is now watching,” Thomas mentioned, as he retook his seat. “Every single one. Even though you kids are young, you have a name and a reputation. You also have the history of the Kingson Pride behind you. Everything you do, until this is resolved or you fall, will be watched.”

“You are right,” Brenton sighed. “It’s six in the morning? I’ll head to the condo, clean up, address the press and get back to business.”

“You could get hurt,” Riley growled softly. “I don’t want you out there.”

“I do not have another option, Riley,” Brenton growled softly.

“Stay here,” she whispered.

“He can’t” Sheriff groaned from his spot. “He just can’t. It’s one thing to hide in the hospital while waiting on word for Zachary and Andrew, but he can’t hide now. The longer he hides, the weaker you all appear to be.”

“But you don’t have to go out alone,” Antonio spoke up softly. “Take the brothers.”

“And leave Riley here by herself?” Brenton snarled. “Are you mad?”

“She’s not by herself,” Thomas snapped. “You think we would all just leave her here in the hospital while you go out and do what you need to do? Don’t be daft, Brenton. It doesn’t look good on you.”

Riley felt that verbal tongue lashing from across the room.

“This is why I’m not friends with other Alphas,” Brenton hissed. Riley bit her bottom lip. Was Brenton’s stubbornness going to chase off their only allies? Thomas was a friend, not just to her, but also to Zachary.

“I’ve got age and experience on you,” Thomas growled. “And military training to protect her. I’m not stepping on your toes by being the ally that I promised to be. Or a friend to her. Quit your shit.”

“Men,” Riley mumbled, looking to Troy.

“Men,” he muttered back in a deadpan tone meant to amuse her. It nearly made her smile.

“Cute,” Brenton growled at them. She met his gaze and watched his eyes soften. “Okay.”

“Good. I wasn’t intending on leaving unless you killed me first,” Riley huffed. “I’m going to be here when they wake up.”

“I know,” Brenton sighed, running a hand through his hair. “They wouldn’t want it any other way. Troy, Gabe… let’s get back out there.”

“I hate all of this,” Gabe grunted. “Let’s go look like nothing's wrong.”

“Impossible,” James threw out. “But definitely try.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Troy groaned, kissing Riley after he sent a glare at James. James only shrugged.

“We can hold things down here, but what goes on outside this room is more important. You aren’t just down two Pride members, you’re missing your Alpha’s two closest. This is bad shit.” James sighed. “We’re all going to die. The other felines will never forgive us for being Kingson allies as the Kingson Pride fell.”

“Probably,” Thomas snorted. “Let’s die on our feet though.”

“So much confidence,” Gabe bit out, shoving his laptop away. “I’m so happy to have the wolves around. Troy, let’s get the fuck out of this stuffy ass room before I try to murder them.”

“Good idea.” With that, Riley watched the leopard brothers exit, both mumbling angrily about how the wolves were pushing buttons. She looked over to Brenton, whose narrowed eyes on Thomas concerned her.

“Funny,” Brenton snarled. “Keep her safe, Thomas. Sheriff, I’m counting on you too.”

“Will do, Brenton,” Thomas chuckled.

“We got it from here,” Sheriff confirmed, throwing a hard look at Thomas.

Brenton walked over to her, swooped down for a goodbye kiss and left without another word.

“I don’t need all of you being assholes,” Riley hissed at the wolves. “What the hell?”

“They would have dragged their feet if we made it easy for them to be here,” James sighed.

“And you want them going out there pissed off and ready for war, not down and defeated,” Thomas added. “You just worry about these two. Let those three do what they do best.”

“What’s that?” Riley growled.

“Play the game,” Thomas whispered.

She didn’t converse with any of them after that. The wolves made a schedule to be guards outside the door. Sheriff spoke to his wife about remaining in Denver. He also called his deputies about Jonathan Slater’s body. Andrew had legal problems as well. No one knew what happened in the trailer except him and Jonathan. Jonathan was dead.

She looked over Andrew and gently touched his unbruised cheek. A tear rolled down her face at the sight of him. She didn’t want to imagine what Jessie had found. What he might have looked like on his way to the hospital.

“Be okay,” she whispered to him. “You both have to be okay for me. The Pride needs you, love.”

Her words were ignored by the other shifters in the room. She could only hope Andrew heard them. She wanted the rage back, she wanted the anger. She wanted to be furious and fight, but Andrew’s battered face was a stark reminder of failure. Zachary’s still body was a constant reminder of their problems.

She was tired of it all. She just wanted things to be normal again. She wanted concerts and picnics and new piercings. She wanted new tattoos and races cheering on Gabe. She wanted coffee in bed with whomever else was there. It could be one of them or just her and Star.

“Shit, Star,” Riley groaned. “That poor cat.” She turned to everyone else. “Do any of you have Jessie’s number from Gabe? I want to make sure my cat doesn’t starve.”

“It’s good,” Thomas told her with a smile, “that you remember the world keeps spinning through all this. Gabe told her about Star. You must have missed it. Your cat is fine and happy. She apparently likes Jessie more than the guys.”

“My cat has her priorities right,” Riley chuckled, laying her head down on Andrew’s bed. She would give him a load of attention before turning to Zachary. “She knows that all my guys seem to be bad news.”

“Boys are bad news, period,” Sheriff grunted.

“Mmm,” Riley smiled to herself. “But they lead to such good times.”

“Things I never wanted to hear,” Sheriff growled. She gave a weak laugh, while the wolves snickered at Sheriff’s uncomfortable muttering over never needing to hear about Riley’s personal business.

“I love them so much, it hurts,” she whispered after a few moments. The laughing died down, and one of the wolves left the room.

“I know, Kitten,” Sheriff said gently. He rubbed her back, and she sat up and looked at Zachary’s bed. She turned her chair, so she could finally give him some attention.

Looking at him, there, she realized he could have just been asleep. The bullet wounds weren’t visible. He seemed to just be in a deep sleep. She took his hand and squeeze gently.

“I need this to stop,” she mumbled, too full of emotion. “I need this to end up okay.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Sheriff lied to her. Never had Sheriff lied so blatantly. It was all over his scent, all over his posture, and filled the words.

She didn’t call him out on it because she wanted to believe the lie. She needed to believe the lie.