When Ryenne got back to the waiting room, Lucien was sitting with his head down and his forearms on his knees. As soon as he saw her, he jumped up. “How is she?”

“She’s in pain and we still don’t know if her brain will be the same, but otherwise, she’s doing okay. She drifted off to sleep again, so here I am.” She plopped down on a chair near Lucien. “Really, you guys should go home, get showers, and eat proper food. I’ll stay here with Mom. When you come back, maybe I’ll go home and shower, too.”

Gavin stirred. “I’m not going anywhere if you don’t go anywhere.”

“Someone needs to stay here with her,” Ryenne said. “I’m not trusting Mom’s security to this hospital. Even with their badges and scanners. For all we know, there could be Fangs working here.” She pointed at Gavin. “Your Doctor Hottie could be one.”

Gavin scoffed.

She paced around the small room. “I just don’t get this. I thought the Fangs wanted her expertise for the anti-healing gunk or something else chemistry related. Why would they kill her?”

Gavin and Lucien shook their heads.

It didn’t make any sense.

“Maybe they decided they can’t kidnap her because of all of us, so instead, they will try to kill her,” Lucien suggested.

“How is that easier for them?” Ryenne asked, frustration evident in her increasing volume.

“Because kidnapping has to be up close and personal. Killing doesn’t.”

Ryenne threw her hands up in the air. “Great! So now I have to worry about snipers in the building across from her hospital room?”

“I’ve never heard of a rogue who used a sniper rifle,” Gavin said.

“I suppose it depends on how desperate they are,” Lucien said.

“Ugh, I need to run,” Ryenne said. She raked her fingers up her jeans as if her skin was itchy. She felt like crawling out of her skin. Her wolf wanted to leap out of her body and pounce on something. But not in a fun way this time. It just wanted to hurt something. And Ryenne wanted to hurt something, too. She wanted to hurt whoever had just landed her mother in the hospital.

“We know who has answers,” Ryenne said, jumping up from the chair. “Tess. I saw her across from Mom’s building just before the accident. I chased her away and she jumped into a van a couple of blocks away. It’s almost like she was leading me away so Mom would be left alone in front of the building long enough for them to drive a car into her. Tess knows what this is about. I have to go see her.”

Ryenne patted her pockets and the sheath at her back to make sure her weapons were all in place, out of habit. She only had her dagger at her back, not her former arsenal, now that she was a shifter. Once reassured she had her favorite weapon, she marched toward the door. Lucien scooted in front, blocking her exit.

“What are you doing, Lucien? Get out of my way.”

“No. You can’t run off like this and confront Tess.”

She wanted to scream. She hated when he had a point. Yeah, going off like this to attack the Fangs in Paris hadn’t gone well. She had temporarily lost Gavin to the Fangs and gotten Lucien’s sister injured. And the other night, she hadn’t been very effective against Tess by herself.

“But I can’t just sit here and let them plan the next move. I have to stop them,” she said.

“I understand that,” Lucien said, holding her upper arms. “But you flying out of here on little more than adrenaline isn’t going to help anything, and you could get yourself seriously hurt. Remember, they have that gunk. They’ve already used it against you twice. What’s to stop them from using it again?”

Shit. He was right.

She should’ve learned her lesson in Paris and yet she’d done it again the other night, chasing after Tess and her brothers, like it was no big deal. But it was a big deal. If she’d been able to get answers out of them the other night, maybe her mother wouldn’t be lying here.

Lucien rubbed his hands up to her shoulders. Heat zapped through her. It had been too long since she had been physical, and her wolf wanted out.

“Look, Ryenne. Why don’t you go back to your apartment, work out, get some of this excess tension out of your body, shower, and come back. Gavin and I will stay here with your mom.”

Ryenne shook her head. “No, I can’t leave her. Not even to go after Tess. I was just running my mouth off.”

“It’s okay,” Lucien said. “We won’t let anything happen to her.” He looked to Gavin, who nodded.

“We promise, Ry.”

“And neither will we,” said a voice from the door.

“Dr. Nakamura,” Ryenne said, “you’re still here.”

He stood in the doorway holding a tray of disposable coffee cups. “I was on my way out but decided to bring you all some real coffee from the café across the street from the hospital. It’s better than what we’ve got here in the waiting room. You’ve been here for a long time. You’re probably tired of that stuff.”

Ryenne couldn’t help but wonder who he was trying to impress: Gavin, because he was interested in him, or was he trying to ease Ryenne’s mind since she had already shown suspicion about him being a shifter?

The coffee worked on Gavin at least. He wore a goofy grin and Ryenne couldn’t watch what might follow.

“Okay, you guys win. You get to stay here with Mom and I’ll go home and... you know.” She started for the door. “But don’t you dare let anything happen to her.”

The guys raised their hands up in surrender.

She shook her head and strode from the room.