“I’m not going.” Hope’s bottom lip stuck out like a toddler about to throw a tantrum.

Ivy dumped an armload of clothes into the duffel bag lying open on the bed. “Yes you are.”

“We can’t run away again!” Hope swiveled her wheelchair, blocking Ivy’s path as she headed for the dresser again. “Not now, when things are finally looking up! We’ve got a nice apartment, you’ve got a job, I’m doing well at school, I’ve got friends—“

“Yeah, well, you should have thought of all that before you decided to snuggle up to a shifter crime boss, shouldn’t you?” Ivy said. “Move out of the way.”

“I didn’t know that’s what Gaze was!” Hope didn’t budge. “As far as I knew, he was a nice guy. I looked him up on Facebook! He has a charity helping out homeless shifter kids!”

Ivy snorted. “No, he has a tax-deductible scam that supplies him with brainwashed foot soldiers for his little mafia. Obviously. Why can’t you ever think?”

“Oh, yes, because that’s clearly the reasoning process of a well-balanced and healthy mind,” Hope snapped back. “Excuse me for not wanting to live my entire life like a paranoid sociopath.”

“You’re only alive because I look out for you!” Ivy kicked Hope’s wheelchair out of the way with one booted foot, regardless of her sister’s squawk of outrage. “And if we want to stay alive, we have to clear out. Right now. Tonight.”

Hope’s battered wheelchair jammed as she tried to reverse out of the corner. It hadn’t been in great shape even before it had been dropped down an elevator. Now one of the axles was bent, and kept sticking unpredictably.

“Here,” Ivy said, feeling a stab of guilt as her sister wrestled with the unwieldy machine. “Let me help.“

“I can take care of myself,” Hope snarled.

Hope’s thin hands tugged futilely at the rims. Ivy could only watch for a few seconds before she couldn’t stand it anymore. Without a word, she took hold of the wheelchair handlebars. Hope’s shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t protest as Ivy dragged the heavy device backward.

“Goddamn piece of crap,” Ivy muttered over the groan of protesting metal. “I’m gonna get you a new one, I promise.”

“With what?” Hope’s lower lip was still stuck out mulishly, but now there was a hint of a tremble about it. “Running away and starting over is going to wipe out every penny of our savings.”

Ivy flinched from the uncharacteristic bleakness in Hope’s voice. She knew the reason.

After nearly two years of scrimping, they’d almost saved enough for the down payment on a basic electric wheelchair. Hope never complained, but it was painfully obvious that she’d been finding it harder and harder to manage the manual one.

At the rate she’s been slowing down, she won’t be able to move herself at all in a matter of months.

Her wyvern stirred, and Ivy quickly shoved the grim thought to the bottom of her mind. There wasn’t anything either she or her beast could do about her sister’s degenerative, fatal condition. But her animal didn’t understand that.

Her wyvern would burn down the world, because nothing mattered without Hope.

“I’ll figure something out,” Ivy said, trying to sound confident enough to convince even herself. “One problem at a time. Let’s just concentrate on getting out of here.”

“Do we really have to go?” Hope said plaintively, as Ivy started packing again. “You got off last time with the police, with the plea-bargain and giving testimony against that awful pegasus Killian. Couldn’t you, I don’t know, offer to turn Gaze in?”

“For what? Throwing a Christmas party?” Ivy made a face. “He never flat-out said he did anything illegal. Even if he had, it would just have been talk. I’m the one who committed actual property damage.”

“It was self-defense. He did attack you first.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure any jury is really going to take my word for that. Besides, the police are the least of our worries. Think, Hope. I defied an alpha crime boss in front of his own gang, and destroyed half his apartment to boot. You think someone like Gaze is just going to let that slide?”

Hope bit her lip. “We could…we could ask for help.”

Ivy let out a bark of disbelieving laughter. “From who? The police?”

“From Alpha Team.”

Ivy jumped as if Hope had zapped her with a taser. Underwear cascaded out of her hands, scattering over the bed.

How did she guess? What gave me away?

“No. Definitely not. No way.” Ivy scrabbled for the fallen pants, keeping her back turned to hide her expression. “You heard him, he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“What?” Hope sounded baffled. “You mean Hugh? Never mind him, from what I’ve heard he’s rude to everyone. I was talking about Griff. He’s always been nice to us.”

“His name’s Hugh?” The words slipped out before she could catch them.

“Well, I don’t think there can be two white-haired shifter paramedics in Brighton, so yeah, I’m betting that was Hugh Argent. Griff’s told me about him.”

Ivy battled herself, but couldn’t restrain her raging need to know. “Did Griff, uh, happen to mention what sort of shifter Hugh is, by any chance?”

“No.” Even with her back turned, Ivy could feel Hope’s narrowed eyes boring into her neck. “Why are you so interested?”

Ivy’s face burned. “Uh, no reason.”

“Ivy…” The pitch of Hope’s voice rose in a delighted, disbelieving trill. “Do you liiiiiiiiike him?”

“No!” Ivy whirled, fists clenching in handfuls of underwear. “Of course not.”

“You do! You do like him! You never like anyone!” Hope’s eyes widened. “Is he your mate?”

Ivy opened her mouth to deny it… but her wyvern rose up, choking the words in her throat.

He was her mate. She couldn’t claim otherwise. Not even to herself.

Hope let out a strangled shriek of excitement. “He is! Oh my God, Ivy! Why didn’t you tell me straight away? Can he touch you?”

Ivy rubbed absently at her wrist, still feeling the lightning-jolt of those strong fingers closing over her bare skin. “Yeah. He can.”

“Ha!” Hope made finger-guns at her. “See? I was right all along. I knew that your true mate wouldn’t be affected by your venom.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ivy tossed a pair of underpants at her sister’s smirking face. “You also thought an evil basilisk shifter crime boss might be my one true mate, so don’t gloat too much.”

“But this is perfect!” Hope plucked the underwear from her head, throwing it back into the half-open dresser. “If Hugh is your mate, then Alpha Team will definitely protect us from Gaze. And I bet Fire Commander Ash will be able to sort everything out with the police too. We don’t have to run!”

“Yes, we do.” Ivy retrieved the pants, stuffing them into the suitcase. “Because they’ll be selling snowcones in Hell before I ask him for help. You heard him, Hope. He never wants to see me again.”

Hope’s beaming smile flickered uncertainly. “He can’t really have meant that. He has to be a shifter of some kind if he’s on Alpha Team, so he must know that he’s your true mate.”

“Yeah, well. He clearly doesn’t want to be.”

Hope chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “Maybe…maybe he was just in shock. Or—I know! Maybe he was being all snarly because of his overpowering attraction to you. Maybe he had to be rude so that he didn’t sweep you up and carry you off to claim you there and then!”

Ivy gave her sister a level look. “Do you ever actually listen to the words coming out of your mouth?”

Hope ignored this, digging into the side pocket of her wheelchair. “Call him. You have to.“

Ivy groaned. “Hope. Are you seriously suggesting that I dial emergency in order to make a booty call?”

“No,” Hope said, rolling her eyes. She pulled out her cellphone and waved it in Ivy’s direction. “I’m suggesting that you call him at home. Or even better, turn up in person. I have his number and address right here.”

Ivy stared at her sister. “Why on earth do you have Hugh Argent’s home number and address?”

“Griff gave it to me,” Hope said absently, scrolling through her contact list. “In case we ever had an emergency.”

Ivy’s forehead furrowed. “What do you mean, an emergency?”

“You know, with your…” Hope made a vague hand-gesture that encompassed Ivy’s entire body. “With your venom.”

Ivy shook her head, still baffled. “No paramedic would be able to help if I accidentally touched you.”

“Hugh’s not just a paramedic. He’s got healing powers. Really strong powers. Griff made me promise not to tell anyone, but he said Hugh can heal just about anything.”

Ivy froze.

The tingle of his bare skin against hers, the lightning-strike impact of his touch… maybe it wasn’t because he was her true mate. Had he been counteracting her venom?

And if he was powerful enough to do that…

“Hope.” Ivy crouched down so that they were eye-to-eye, her heart hammering against her ribs. “Tell me exactly what Griff told you about Hugh.”