Valentina watched and waited to see what Elijah’s panther would do next. By the elders, he was a beautiful creature. Sleek muscles stood out under his velvety black fur as he paced back and forth in front of her. He needed to shift to start the healing process. The bullet hole in his shoulder was nasty, and the Reaper had laced his ammo with a wolfsbane and silver cocktail that would not only bring most shifters to their knees but could potentially kill a shifter as new as Elijah. He could not die on her watch, no way, no how. She would not have his death on her conscience, and she would not be going to the High Clan to explain what the hell had been happening in her territory. No, he needed to heal, and she needed to get control of the situation.

“Elijah, do you understand me?”

The large pale-green eyes of his cat locked onto her as his head dipped and rose. It was slow and purposeful, and she knew in that moment that he was the kind of alpha who could stay present throughout the shift if he wanted to. Most shifters, especially if they were shifting to heal, became completely animal. Usually some could retain control for a few minutes or hours, while others were able to stay in control the whole time, but if the human half was injured and needed to heal, the animal would often force them back so they weren’t draining the energy needed to heal by staying present.

“The Reaper shot you. I was able to remove the bullet, but he had covered it with wolfsbane, which is why it hurt more than it should. The shift will help kickstart your healing, and when you shift back, you should be as good as new, but you might have a small scar.”

A low growl rumbled through him at that.

“Look at it this way, you can use it to impress the ladies. Tell them how gallant you were defending the servers from a crazy man with a gun.” She laughed as she turned away from him, but it was hollow. Now that she had said it out loud, she realized how true the statement was. Not only had he tried to reason with the Reaper, according to the waitstaff, but he had kept the man’s attention focused on him and not the other people in the building. Even if she hadn’t shown up when she did, she had no doubt that he would have been able to kick the man’s ass, but he might have had a much larger scar and a much longer healing process. The man was going to be one hell of an alpha one day. Wherever he landed, the pack that he headed would be lucky to have him.

A low sound that was almost a purr came from right behind her, and when the panther’s large, blocky head pushed against her leg, she turned back to him. “I’m going to look at your wound, okay? I’m not trying to hurt you,” she said as she knelt next to him.

Her hand drifted along his silky fur, from his ear, down his neck, and across to his shoulder. As she moved, the cat’s eyes watched her with an intensity she wasn’t used to, almost as if he was trying to make her back down with just a stare. Those kinds of tactics didn’t play with her, though, and she was as stubborn as they came, so a staring contest wasn’t something she wanted to get into right now.

When her fingers found wet fur, she stopped and began to gently part the ebony strands to get a look at the wound underneath. It was still bleeding, but was significantly smaller than it had been when she had removed the bullet. She sighed with relief and moved back so she was sitting on the floor instead of squatting and could rest her back against the cinderblock wall. “I think this will be fine when you shift back.”

She rested her head against the wall, feeling the cool of the brick through her hair and the almost-damp cement smell permeating the air around them. Valentina knew she should get up, should be doing something while she was waiting for Elijah to shift back to human, but she was exhausted. The jaguar in her was fighting back, demanding that she sleep. The impulse was biologically built in since her cat was crepuscular and preferred to be active during dawn and dusk, which meant afternoon was prime napping time.

Before she even realized it, Elijah had curled up next to her on the cement floor. His large body pressed up against her own as he relaxed right along with her. His cat would be wanting a nap right about now, too. The human part of her wanted to get up and do something, figure out what was going on, but her limbs were heavy, and the only thoughts her brain would produce were about Elijah and how he was an alpha, quickly followed up by flashes of the kiss they’d shared in his apartment. Her body flushed at the thought of it, and though she tried to steer her mind elsewhere, it kept coming back to that moment and the simple fact that she regretted stopping him.

Of course, she knew it was the right thing to do, but couldn’t something be just for her for once? She loved her pack, her strange group of misfits, with all her heart, but sometimes being an alpha was tiring. They were each other’s chosen family, and she wouldn’t let anyone feel unwelcome or hurt by her choices, especially when she knew what the result would be—an alpha and an alpha didn’t mix.

She had seen as much with her own parents. A Brazilian alpha jaguar and an Irish alpha wolf? Her parents couldn’t have been more opposite, and the fights throughout her childhood were some of the tamer examples. They were both stubborn and quick to anger, but they also loved deeply and passionately. While she had no doubt that they had loved each other enough to bring her into the world, she had always wished they would have split up sooner.

When the door to the basement creaked, her eyes popped open and her body went into alert mode. Elijah must have sensed it, too, because he was tense even though he hadn’t visibly moved. She could feel his muscles coiled under his fur, ready to spring into action if needed.

The footfalls on the stairs were slow and seemed unsteady. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breathing sped up, but neither of them moved as they waited to see who was intruding on their space.

Asher’s long black hair was the first thing she noticed as he rounded the corner from the stairs, and she breathed a sigh of relief. His steps had been unsteadying because he was carrying a giant tray of food. She could see steam rising from some of the plates, and his warm amber skin was flushed, so she knew the food was fresh. For a moment, she was reminded of her mother and the amber ring she wore that her father had given her. The woman had never taken it off, no matter how angry she was at him, and had worn it even as Valentina buried her. She shook the melancholy thought from her head and stood.

“Elijah,” she said, looking down at the panther, “this is Asher. He’s a packmate of mine, so be nice.”

A loud huff sounded from the cat before Valentina walked toward the delicious-smelling food.

Asher held his hands up and said, “I know we have family dinner to get to, but you guys have been down here for hours, and I figured whatever had happened must have made you hungry, so I brought a snack.”

“Hours?” Valentina’s eyes widened. She didn’t think they had slept, but they must have.

“Hours,” Asher confirmed as he started unloading the tray.

“Shit,” she whispered before looking over her shoulder to check on the panther, only to find a naked Elijah standing there, blinking as though he had just woken up.

At her jerk of movement, Asher looked up, and now it was his turn for his eyes to widen. After a second thought, Valentina stripped off her jacket, leaving just the tank top underneath, and threw it over her shoulder. “You might want to cover up.”

“Well, hello, sailor,” Asher muttered as he gave Elijah a onceover.

Valentina leveled her gaze at the bear shifter, trying to suppress her smirk as she said, “You want me to tell Liam you were admiring the new guy?” They both knew that he was completely devoted to his mate and that her question was just playful teasing.

“Window shopping is fine. Besides, I don’t need to buy when I’ve got my doctor waiting for me at home.” He winked at her.

“And we all envy you for it.” She stuck her tongue out at him. While her statement was said in fun, it was also true. She knew a lot of the other members of the pack were jealous of what Liam and Asher had, and now what Domino and Harper had.

“I know. Now, have some food while I go find our young friend some clothes.”

“Thanks, Ash.” She smiled at him gratefully.

Elijah was next to her then with her jacket covering as much as it could. “Did I hear him say we’ve been down here for hours?”

“Yep. It’s not uncommon for shifters to sleep while they are healing, and now . . .” Her gaze focused on where the bullet had entered his shoulder. Without warning, her hand came up and she grazed her fingers over the slight scar on his skin. It was pale, as though it had been there for years instead of hours.

“Now?” Elijah said, his voice low and gravelly as it moved over her skin.

She cleared her throat and removed her hand. “Now, you’re all healed. Just a small scar. Not bad for being shot at almost point-blank range, huh?”

“Not at all. Where are we hiding out, by the way? Do you guys have safe houses all over the city or something?”

She laughed. “No. We own a few businesses within our territory. This happens to be one of them. All of them do have a private area where we can escape if we are being chased, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call them safe houses. It’s not like it would be even a short-term solution.”

“So . . .” Elijah waved his hand in the air and looked up at the ceiling as he chewed on the first bite of pizza.

“Oh, sorry. This is the basement of the pub we own, The Celtic Cross. Asher is a bartender here, and Liana and Kinsley sometimes do shifts as well if they want to earn some extra cash. And when we have live music, Domino—you’ll meet him when we get home for dinner—is our bouncer.” Valentina grabbed a slice of pizza from the plate and began taking large bites. She paused only for a moment to say, “You should eat more than a slice of pizza. You’ll need the energy.”

Elijah took one of the burgers and devoured it in only a few bites, before grabbing another. By the time they were both finished eating, Asher had returned with some clothing for Elijah.

“Some sweatpants and a T-shirt, but that’s all I could find.” He handed the clothing to the other man and turned to Valentina. “We need to reup our supplies out here.”

“We should probably recheck all our supplies in the territory, what with Reapers being about. I don’t want anyone getting trapped as their animal just because there are no clothes to put on. I’ll see if Penelope is up for it. It would be good for her to get out of the house, and this wouldn’t mean she would have to interact with anyone outside the pack.”

“Good plan.” Asher nodded and grabbed the last slice of pizza. “You guys okay to get home?”

“Yep, see you there in a few.” Valentina’s stomach growled at the thought of more food. She didn’t know what had her body needing so much more fuel than normal, but it was annoying.

“It was nice to meet you,” Elijah said as Asher disappeared up the stairs.