Lynn blinked hard as the blurry edges of her vision slowly came into focus.

Where the hell was she?

Some kind of bathroom. Looked familiar. Sterile looking, white tiles covered the walls, beige tiles covered the floor, and there was the same mirror that was in the women’s restroom at…Sammy’s Bar. On the counter sat a tiny redheaded woman in a red plaid mini-skirt, knitting an oddly-shaped blanket. Her legs were crossed, and she looked comfortable enough. She shoved her glossy, black horn-rimmed glasses up her nose and went back to knitting. Why was she even wearing glasses? Shifters had impeccable vision. And on further inspection, Willa’s glasses didn’t have any lenses in them.

Baffled, Lynn looked down at her lap. She was sitting in a chair with a warm, purple-pomegranate beer in one hand and a penis straw in the other. What the hell?

“I thought you would be thirsty, and sometimes fruity beers taste better with a straw. Look.” Willa Barns lifted up the blanket she was knitting. “It’s a dick rug. I’m making it for Jathan’s house. He will hate it, and I will laugh and laugh.”

Indeed, it looked like a pink erect penis and balls.

“W-where is Jathan?”

“Outside bleeding that wanker, Nox. They’re playing punchy punchy face face, and I figured you wouldn’t want everyone staring at you so I brought you in here. Plus, my son said he would poison my red wigglers—those are worms—if I didn’t watch after you while he took Nox out back to bleed him. And he would, too. We’re in the middle of a prank war, and my boy doesn’t play fair. He’s a total dick.” Willa gave a Grinch-like smile. “I love him.”

“Cool. Why is he fighting Nox?” Yep, she was concerned. Nox, aka the son of the Cursed Bear, aka Clinton’s son, aka total psychopath, was a beast. She knew. She’d fought him for just that reason.

“Oh, he and Nox fight every few days. They hate each other.”

There was a knock on the bathroom door, which was apparently locked.

“Who is it?” Willa yelled at an uncomfortable volume.

“Uuuuh, Julie?”

Willa sighed and mouthed, So human. “Entry denied. Go use the boy’s bathroom please and thank you!”

“Um, why do Jathan and Nox hate each other?”

“Because who doesn’t hate Nox? He got one-hundred-unfortunate-percent of his father’s DNA and pisses everyone off on purpose. He came in here looking for a fight, so Jathan is giving him one.”

Another knock sounded.

“Not today, Julie!”

“Ma, let me in.”

It was Jathan’s growly voice on the other side, and suddenly a trill of excitement ran through Lynn at the prospect of seeing him. Uh oh. Well, that wasn’t good. She couldn’t afford to get attached now. She needed to lock her feelings down, and quick.

She mentally prepared herself to look nonchalant as Willa scrambled to unlock the door and let in her son, but when Jathan ducked under the doorframe and locked eyes with her, Lynn’s heart rate kicked up double-time. He had a cut under his eye, crimson streamed down one cheek, and his knuckles were battered, cut, and bloody. He was bruising already.

“Aw, don’t look at me like that, Lynn. You should see the other guy.”

“Is he alive?” Willa asked, studying Jathan’s torn-up knuckles.

“Unfortunately. Ma, stop fussin’.” He eased his hand from Willa’s and ran it under the tap water. It was cute watching tiny Willa worrying over her giant, behemoth, badass son. And it was really sweet the way he let her rest her cheek on his shoulder. After a couple of seconds, he relaxed and pressed his cheek on top of her bright red hair. Willa huffed suddenly, tossed her dick rug over her shoulder, pocketed the knitting needles, and said, “Try harder to kill him next time. He’s getting on everyone’s damn nerves. Good night, you two.” She headed for the door while she was talking. “Lynn, it’s good to see you again, ya little nut job. Make bad decisions tonight.”

As the door closed behind the petite Almost Alpha of the Gray Backs, Lynn stood and set her fruity beer on the sink along with the penis straw. “Let me see,” she murmured, ripping a handful of paper towels from the dispenser.

“I’m fine.” He winced away from her touch on his cheek. “Lynn, I’m serious, it’s fine.”

She put water on the towels and persisted though. He wasn’t the only one who had a stubborn streak.

With a snarl in his chest, he settled his butt against the counter and glared at the wall behind her with lightened, bright green eyes. But as she cleaned the drying blood from his face, he relaxed little by little, and more than once, she caught him looking down at her. As soon as he was busted though, he would give his attention to the wall again. “I have a theory,” he finally murmured.

“Uh oh,” she murmured. “Let’s hear it.”

“I think you carry too much guilt.” He punched a number into his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Easing it.”

A ring sounded over the speaker phone, and she pulled the soaking paper towel away from his face. “Jathan! What are you doing?” she asked again, panicking. Something bad was happening.

“Hello?” Winter Donovan, Lynn’s old friend, answered.

“Oh my God,” Lynn whispered, tears instantly burning her eyes. She arched her gaze to Jathan. “Why would you do this?” She was so hurt by his betrayal. The bathroom was getting darker already. She’d just woken up, and he was putting her back to sleep.

Blink.

Jathan gripped her hair and forced her to look up at him. “Not yet. Fix this.”

Bossy, bossy, bad bear. “You’re bad,” she said through the tears streaking down her face.

Jathan shrugged like he gave zero shits about that.

“Hello?” Winter asked again.

“Winter? It’s Lynn,” she said in a tiny voice.

“Lynn? Are you okay?”

“No.” God, she felt gutted admitting that out loud. It was her first time admitting she wasn’t okay.

The panther in her middle writhed, scratching at her skin. She didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to do this. With a sob for the pain at fighting the Change, Lynn gripped the edge of the counter and went down. She knelt on the tile floor, curled over the ache. “Winter, I’m so sorry.”

Jathan sat on the dirty bathroom floor, one big, strong hand on her thigh, the phone held close to her face with the other.

“Winter, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I mean with Brody. I loved him before you came to Red Havoc and fell for him. I moved to Ben’s crew for him because I thought he was it for me.”

“Ooooh, honey,” Winter murmured. “I forgave you for everything a long time ago. Do you want to know why?”

Lynn clasped her hand over her mouth to keep her sobs in her throat. She nodded like Winter could see her.

“You taking Brody was the best thing to happen to me. It didn’t feel like it at the time. I felt betrayed and hurt, but I hadn’t really bonded to him. You forced me to make big changes in my life, and now I’m happier than I’ve ever been…with Logan. He’s my match, my mate, the other half of me. I’m gonna have a baby, Lynn. A cub. Three more months. The doctor says we’re having a little boy.”

Lynn broke down. Shoulders shaking, she pitched forward, and rested her forehead on Jathan because it’s all she could do. Winter was pregnant, happy, and had found her other half. Lynn could go knowing she’d turned out okay despite what she’d done to her.

“I heard what Brody did to you.” Winter sniffed. “I’m the one whose sorry, Lynn. We both got hurt and lied to by that man. I know things can never be the same with us, but you’re still my friend. And you’ll always be a part of my story. The apology wasn’t needed, but it means the world that you gave it.”

All Lynn could do was cover her face with her hands and try her best not to break apart. She didn’t know what this feeling was in her middle. The pain of a Change? Was she disappearing again? No…it was something she hadn’t felt in so long.

This feeling was relief.

“Thank you for forgiving me,” she rasped out.

“Of course. Come visit me someday, Lynn. Come see where I ended up. My hope is that you end up in the same place.”

Lynn clutched onto Jathan’s shirt as he wrapped his arms around her and dragged her into his lap. This was the tragic part. The part where an old friend wished her a good life without knowing Lynn was at the end of what she could manage. She didn’t want to do goodbyes yet though, so she let Winter keep that charitable thought.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again someday,” Lynn murmured. “Goodnight, Winter.”

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

But nothing happened. She stayed right where she was, in Jathan’s lap, all hugged up in his strong arms, barely able to breathe from his embrace, tears streaming down her face as part of the impossible weight lifted from her shoulders.

There was no beauty in breaking. This man was witnessing the ugliest side of her.

But despite a peek at her damage…Jathan was still here.

Blink.

And so was she.