This wasn’t happening. She almost wanted to rub her eyes. To look again to see if things had changed. Maybe then the wall would be whole again. Maybe there wouldn’t be lifeless bodies and blood and gore everywhere. She felt tears well and tried to blink them away.

Thankfully the terrible creatures responsible were gone. Cadon was one of them though. She’d seen it with her own eyes. He stood with his back to her, his gaze on the opening in the wall. Every muscle was rigid. From the ones on the sides of his neck to those down his back, his arms and thighs. Heck, even his glutes were tensed. His ass was just as muscled as the rest of him. It—

She shouldn’t be looking at his ass. Kerry swallowed thickly and sniffed. Still trying hard not to cry. Her stupid eyes kept welling anyway. She wished she could bury herself into the ground and hide. Or make herself invisible. Or escape without his detection. This was especially true when his gaze flashed to her. Those intense golden yellow eyes boring into hers.

He was big.

He was frowning heavily.

Make that, he looked pissed. Cadon turned around. Pissed and very naked. Every part of him on display. His long muscular limbs and his…she gulped, quickly averting her gaze.

“Leave me alone.” She tried to sound in control and failed. Her voice actually shook.

Despite the fear that raced through her, icing her blood, she rose to her feet. Her knees felt shaky but she planted her feet, looking him head-on. “I’ll be on my way now.” One of the men groaned in the background.

It was Worth. He clutched at his belly. She bit her lip. How he must be suffering. She couldn’t believe he was even alive, his belly slashed open, his insides…she swallowed down bile. Worth groaned.

“Please help me,” Cadon said, his eyes had gone from hard and angry to pleading. He looked from her to Worth and then back again.

“What are you?” She had to ask, had to know.

Cadon’s jaw tensed. “This is not the time to talk. All you need to know is that I won’t hurt you. I swear.”

None of this was his fault. She genuinely believed that he had brought her here to help her. She nodded. “Do you want me to call an ambulance?” She knew it was a stupid question, even as she asked it.

His lips twitched and he shook his head. “Our species have superhuman healing capabilities. We’re shifters. In order to heal properly, our bones have to be aligned and our organs need to be in the right place. Otherwise it would mean re-breaking bones and cutting…”

“Okay, I get it.” More bile rose but she swallowed it down. “I think the others might be dead. Andy…” Her voice hitched. “His chest isn’t…it…it isn’t moving. Orrick…” So much blood. Her eyes were filling. She tried to blink them back but it didn’t help. A single tear escaped. She quickly wiped it away.

“Only prolonged decapitation or being burned to ashes will keep us from regenerating. Otherwise, our hearts beat again, our lungs fill again…”

It was too much. “Are you serious? That can’t be,” she muttered the last to herself, shaking her head.

“Very serious.” He nodded once. “They will live again and soon. We just need to get them back together so that they can heal. I need your help. We’ll start with Worth. I’ll do the gory work. I need you to…help. Are you okay with that?” His face filled with concern and his eyes softened.

Maybe he saw her grow pale. Or maybe her face had turned a lighter shade of green. She wasn’t normally this queasy. Then again, she’d never experienced something like this before. She was still sure that the pregnancy was wreaking havoc with her system. She nodded. “This pregnancy has made me quite nauseous. I was feeling much better, but…”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll have to do my best to make do on my own. It’s just…”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’ll help you. Should I boil some water? Tear up sheets to—”

“Nothing like that.” Cadon looked amused. “I’ll tell you what I need. You do your best to comply. If you need to…throw up…try not to do it onto my males.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Her lip twitched with the need to smile when she realized it was a distinct possibility. “Okay, I’ll try not to.” It wasn’t something she had complete control over. She found herself praying it didn’t happen. Praying even harder that she’d be able to help him.

Cadon nodded. “It would be a perfectly normal reaction. I’ve seen hardened warriors reduced to puking in situations less gory,” he said as he made his way to Worth, who was blinking; his eyes weren’t focusing. One hand still held his gaping wound.

Her stomach rolled but she managed to hold it together. I can do this. I can! “What should I do?”

“This is going to hurt,” Cadon murmured, crouching next to Worth. “In this case, I would like for you just to talk to him. Maybe hold his hand.”

“That bad?” Worth croaked.

“Glad you’re back.” Cadon squeezed Worth’s shoulder. Probably the only part of him, besides his feet, that wasn’t injured.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “Shit! Sorry, stupid question. What do I say to someone…in your position?” She made a noise of frustration. “You probably don’t want to know what’s wrong with you.”

Worth chuckled. This was followed by a groan of pain. She couldn’t believe he was alive let alone conscious. He shouldn’t be. “I don’t want to know, although I can guess.” He grimaced. “Tell me something about yourself.”

Cadon removed Worth’s hand from the gaping wound. The one holding onto the intestines. Don’t look, Kerry! “Okay.” Her voice was high-pitched. “Sure.” What the hell did she say? “My dad died when I was nine,” she blurted.

Worth groaned, arching his back as Cadon began to work. By work, he seemed to be fiddling around inside of him. His hand was actually in there making squelching noises.

She turned and gagged. And then dry heaved and then gagged again, choking loudly. “I’m sorry!” she finally got out. “So glad I didn’t get around to having that steak.”

Worth smiled. “You would have loved my steak.”

“Maybe you can still make me one once this is all said and done.”

“I will.” He grit his teeth, threw his head back and cried out. The sinews on his neck roped. Kerry felt so bad for him.

Cadon leaned in. “Sorry, buddy, your liver was almost sliced in two, had to fix it.”

Worth was sweating, his throat worked. “Glad it’s done. Anything else slashed or broken?”

“That was the worst.”

“You sure?”

Cadon made a noise that pretty much told Worth that the liver may have been the worst but that it wasn’t over yet.

Worth’s glassy eyes moved to her. They were yellow. Not brown. Not blue but yellow. It seemed like that was a trait of their…species, rather than a product of familial genes. At least, that seemed the most plausible. “I might need you to hold my hand.” He held it out, dripping with his blood and something else she didn’t want to think about. She took it anyway and gave it a squeeze. “Tell me what happened,” he pushed out between deep breaths.

“What do you mean?” Her voice shook, she tried to focus on him and not on what Cadon was doing. There were more squelching noises, but she tried to ignore the sound.

Worth groaned as Cadon began to pack his intestines back into his stomach cavity. “Your dad,” he moaned out the words. “How did he die?” between clenched teeth.

“Suicide,” she blurted. Not sure why she had brought this up to begin with. She never spoke about it. Hated to even think about it.

Cadon glanced up from what he was doing. “You were nine?”

She nodded.

“Harsh,” Worth growled.

“I’m sorry.” Cadon shook his head. “No one should have to go through that. Do you know why he did it?”

“Hey!” Worth said. “This is our conversation. You mind your own business and get back to work.”

“It’s not something I like to talk about.” She swallowed. “I’m having a son.” She glanced down at her belly.

“A son…” Worth groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “You nearly done?” he directed the question at Cadon.

“Almost,” Cadon said. “I’m being as careful as I can. Have you gone soft?”

“Never,” Worth croaked. “How long will you be with child?”

“Forty weeks on average. I’m nineteen weeks right now, so almost halfway.”

“You must be excited.” He groaned again. “I would be if I was going to be a parent.”

“I’m scared as anything. I never imagined things would be like this.” She chewed on her lip.

“Like how?” Worth asked. She noticed that Cadon had stopped working.

“That I’d be alone.” Her voice was almost a whisper.

“Finish before the others wake up,” Worth said, biting back a moan as Cadon did as he asked.

“I’m sorry things aren’t as you hoped. There is a path for you and a way forward, you just have to find it.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I’ll be fine. More than fine.”

“All done,” Cadon announced. Then he scrutinized Worth. “I didn’t realize you were such a philosopher.”

“Hardly.” Worth smiled. She couldn’t believe how well he was taking all of this. These shifters, whatever they were, were hardcore.

“It could take a day or two until your strength is back to normal. Don’t move for the next couple of hours while the wound knits. We don’t want everything falling out again,” Cadon said.

Kerry dry heaved, putting her free hand over her mouth. “Sorry!”

Worth’s smile widened. “Like Cadon said, it’s perfectly acceptable. You’re doing great.”

“Wait until I have to realign a couple of bones,” Cadon said, still smiling.

“That sounds wonderful.” Kerry had to smile back, careful not to reopen her lip. “I’m just glad it’s not me.”

Cadon looked down at Worth. “You heal up. We need to leave as soon as possible. I have a feeling that they’ll be back and that it’s going to be sooner rather than later.” He turned to her. “Maybe I should get you to safety.”

“I’ll help you first.” Where was she going to go? Jeff seemed like nothing right now, but he was still ultimately a threat to her and her family. To her unborn son. It seemed that she was firmly between a rock and a hard place. “I have nowhere to go.” She may as well come clean.

“We’ll figure this out.” Cadon touched the side of her arm. It was so inappropriate on all levels that she noticed his state of undress as he stood up. His arms, his chest, his abs and…Nope…so inappropriate. She nodded once, looking away. It seemed they were hairless…down there. Her cheeks heated even more. She hoped he didn’t notice her blushing because she was sure to be red as a beetroot with sunburn.

“Are you sure you’re okay to continue?” When she looked his way, he was pointing at Andy.

Kerry nodded. “Yes, I’ll be okay.” It seemed he had taken her discomfort for something other than what it was. One thing to be thankful for.