From the screams and howls that rang outside the window, Kayla was certain that somebody had died. She blasted nursery rhymes as loud as she could to keep Mikayla from hearing, but it was doing no good. Mikayla pressed her face into her mother's arm, crying and shivering.

When a chorus of howls burst from outside, both mother and daughter jumped. Kayla's head swiveled to the window, and it was only because she was holding Mikayla that she didn't rush to it. What had happened? Was Eric okay?

Moments later, everything went silent. Kayla didn't dare turn down the nursery rhymes, though her heart pounded and her ears strained for anything other than the music.

When there was a knock on the door, Kayla jumped. Mikayla screamed. The door instantly burst open and Quin bounded in. With a single leap, he landed next to them and glanced wildly around the room, fists risen in the air.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice deep with a distinctive growl to it.

Kayla pressed a hand to her heart and nodded. "We're both fine. What happened?"

A second Wolf stepped in. She was a strongly-muscled woman with a waist almost as thick as Kayla's herself. Kayla had seen her around a lot, though her name escaped her for the moment.

"Nothing bad," Quin said. "But Eric wants to see you. Daisy here will look after Mikayla until you're back."

Mikayla buried her face into her mother's shoulder and whimpered. Kayla's own heart sank. She could tell by the look in Quin's eye and the way he had burst into the room that it was bad. Really bad. He was lying for Mikayla's sake when he said it wasn't.

Almost robotically, Kayla shifted her daughter to Daisy's hold. Her heart hammered. Mikayla curled into a ball, still whimpering. Light gray fur began to sprout along her arms and legs.

"Hurry," Quin urged.

It was only halfway down the stairs that Kayla found her voice again. "How bad is it?"

"Bad. It was all a ruse. The vampire that was fighting started to tell us what was really happening, and he was killed. Eric was shot with a silver arrow. We're lucky that it went through a lung rather than his heart, but he might not make it."

"And I need to say goodbye."

"No."

Kayla shivered, not knowing what else Eric would need from her.

"They say if a Wolf's mate calls him three times, he can come back from the brink of death."

"But I'm not his mate," Kayla whispered. Tears blurred her vision.

"Yes, you are. You might have fought against it, Kayla, but the fact is there has never been another woman for him. And I think you feel the same way." Quin's voice was grim. "You still love him. It's obvious to everybody."

Kayla couldn’t deny that. She had never stopped loving him, despite the years and silence between them. If she could change the past, she never would have listened to his parents.

She was silent as Quin, with a healthy guard of Wolves surrounding them both, led her to a building that was equivalent to a hospital in human centers. There, in an underground room lit with various sizes of Himalayan rock salt lamps, was Eric. Even the golden-pink glow from the lamps couldn't hide how pale his normally dark olive skin was. A sheen of sweat covered his face.

Quin squeezed her shoulder once before he left her there alone.

"Eric," she whispered.

He didn't stir. Kayla wanted to rush to his side but found herself moving slowly, like she was stuck in the mud. There was no chair to sit on, so she climbed into the bed next to him and wrapped an arm around his chest.

"Eric," she whispered again. "Eric. Eric."

No change. What if Quin was wrong? What if they weren't mates? What if what Quin saw was just a tangle of emotions? Or maybe they were mates, but the old tale about Wolf's mate that brought him back from the brink of death was just a tale. She couldn’t see how saying his name would heal a wound created by silver, the most deadly poison known to Shifters. Tears dripped down her face.

Kayla touched his lips. "Come back to me."

Eric stirred. His lips parted slightly.

"Eric?" Kayla pushed herself to her elbow, heart jumping to her throat. "Eric, can you hear me?"

No movement.

"Eric come back to me."

He sighed, a hand reaching weakly for her.

"Come back to me," she whispered again.

Eric's eyes fluttered open. His eyes focused on her face and a smile spread over his face. His fingers brushed against her cheek, and then he sank back with a sigh. Kayla clutched his hand tightly. The rise and fall of his chest was more regular, and the pallor of his face faded slightly.

"I love you." Kayla kissed his forehead gently. "I love you."

***

Several days later, Kayla slipped out of Mikayla's room, grateful her daughter was finally asleep. Since the vampire attack, things had been noticeably more tense within the pack. Mikayla was still nervous and jumpy, but as long as Kayla or Eric – or sometimes both – stayed with her until she fell asleep, she usually slept through the night.

There had been no incidents with the vampires since their attempted assassination, either. It took Eric a day to regain consciousness and, in that time, Quin had withdrawn the pack from direct contact with the vampire coven. After Eric woke up, he agreed that they needed to formulate a new plan to deal with them, though both brothers were still against any sort of violence. It was amazing to Kayla that they still wanted a peaceful solution. If it were up to her…

But then, that was probably why she wasn't an Alpha.

Kayla padded down the hallway to Eric's room. He was sitting up in bed, looking none the worse for wear except for the scar on his chest. He grinned when he saw her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, sitting on the bed next to him.

"Like I could run a marathon. And I'm tired of the healers insisting that I take extra rest. I don't need it. We Wolves heal like that." He snapped his fingers.

Kayla frowned. "Listen to the healers. They know what they're talking about. You went through something traumatic—"

"And you brought me back. That counts for something, doesn't it?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. "I am supposed to do some vigorous exercise every day, though, to help increase my lung capacity."

Kayla knew what he meant. Instantly her face was on fire, but then so was the rest of her. It was something she had been fighting since she first saw him again, her desire for him. And being this close to him certainly didn't help matters. The warmth from his bare chest seeped through her top onto her skin. She shivered with anticipation.

"Well? Feel up to some cardio?" Eric raised a single brow, a wicked smile on his face.

She chewed her lip. "I don't think it's a good idea. Not when you're still recovering."

Eric nestled his face into her neck, making tingles shoot down her spine. She repressed a moan as the heat built higher in her core.

"Ah, but you're forgetting that endorphins help people heal faster…" The Alpha growled in a way that made her stomach tighten. "And I think, after all this, you might be in need of a good dose of endorphins as well…"

He nipped at her neck, making her gasp, and she knew he had won. Her whole body ached for his. Her arms threw themselves around him, and the next thing she knew, she was pressing him into the headboard while she straddled him. She ground her hips to his, feeling his arousal through the many layers that separated them.

"We have to be quiet," Kayla whispered. "And quick. I don't want to chance Mikayla finding us. That's not something I want to explain to her when she's only three years old."

"Understood," Eric grunted.

He quickly pulled off her shirt and pulled her back tightly against his naked chest, her bra the only thing between them. Kayla groaned, her head falling back as he dove into her neck again. He had always known that was the move that would get her screaming for more. His mouth on her neck was the best feeling in the world. She moved the blankets out of the way and reached into his pants. He was already ready for her, and feeling his size against her palm again after so many years made her groan.

"How do you want to do this?" Eric asked, pulling back to help her remove her pants. "Like old days or something new?"

"Hmm…" Kayla's face went red. "Well, I've done research, and there is a position I want to try."

Eric's eyes brightened and his grip on her tightened even as one hand slid between her thighs. A shiver went down her spine; her head fell back once more. The Alpha kissed along the top of her lacy bra. "What sort of 'research?'"

She clung to him, panting as her arousal built. It was difficult to keep her mind straight. "Not telling. But maybe this time we should go back to old days… It's been years. I don't want to assume things are going to be the same. We have to learn each other's bodies all over again."

Eric beamed. "You mean it?"

Kayla smiled uncertainly. "Mean what?"

"This isn't going to be a one-time thing."

He made a swirling motion with his finger and everything went black. "No. I mean yes," she managed to gasp out. "I mean this will be the first of many, many—"

His mouth captured hers. Their movements became more frenzied until neither could stand it again. Eric laid her down, parting her thighs with his hips, and entered in one motion. They fell back into a familiar rhythm quickly, as though it had been hours and not years since they had last done this.

Kayla clung to her Alpha, her face reddening as her body got hotter and tighter, every inch of her screaming in delight and crying for mercy at the same time. As she looked into Eric's eyes, she knew that this was what they were always destined for. This moment of connection.

And she was never going to give it up again.