A weight the size of a bowling ball settled in Alexis’s stomach as she drove to the emergency vet clinic. Getting more than two words out of Bryce had felt like wringing grape juice from a raisin. The moment he learned about the magic in his blood, he’d become distant, acting as if she were nothing more than an acquaintance.

He had every reason to hate her. She’d endangered his job…his life and Michael’s…all because she was a rogue. She never should have tried to collect the money from Eric in the first place, much less gone back to him a second time to try and stop him on her own.

What the hell was her problem? She parked in the back of the clinic parking lot and smoothed the wrinkles out of her sister’s shirt as she strode to the door.

The receptionist stopped talking mid-sentence and stared as Alexis made her way to the desk. “Can I help you?” Her gaze lingered on Alexis’s hair.

She ran a hand through her locks, cringing as little flakes of dried blood rained down on her shoulders. She should have showered and changed clothes before she came, but Bryce had needed some alone time. “I’m here to pick up Sam, the Siberian husky.”

“Right, his owner called and said to expect you.” She rose to her feet, but hesitated. “Are you okay?”

Alexis smiled. “I was painting an accent wall. Forgot I got it in my hair.”

The receptionist let out a nervous giggle. “A technician will be bringing him out. He’ll need to lie on his side. Do you have room in your back seat?”

“Sure do.” She gave the woman Bryce’s credit card and cringed when she saw the eight-hundred-dollar charge. She’d pay him back, even if it took her five years to save up the money.

A door swung open, and a burly man cradling the dog in his arms stepped through. Sam whimpered, and she sucked in a sharp breath as guilt stabbed her in the heart. Poor boy. She stroked his head, and his tail swished.

“Thank you.” She held out her arms to take the dog.

“He’s heavy. I’ll carry him to your car.”

“I can handle it.” She took Sam into her arms and shuffled toward the door. Taking a deep breath, she began healing his bruised ribs on the way to the car. As she situated him in the back seat, she focused her energy on his leg.

Her head spun as the bone mended, and she stumbled around to the driver’s seat when she finished. Sam sat up and licked her cheek, leaving a trail of warm saliva on her skin.

She laughed. “Thanks, boy. We’ll get the bandages off of you after we get home, okay?”

Sam let out a quiet woof and sat in the back seat. The dog had forgiven her. Now, she’d have to work on the man.

Thankfully, Karen and Michael were gone by the time she brought Sam home. She killed the engine and let out a sigh. At least she wouldn’t have to explain how the dog had magically recovered. She opened the back door, and Sam jumped out and hobbled on his cast to the staircase. It took him a while to climb all the steps, which gave her time to figure out what she would say to Bryce.

A profuse apology would be step one. She’d follow that with another confession of her love…and hope he could find forgiveness somewhere in his heart.

She opened the door, and Bryce’s face lit up as Sam limped inside. He dropped to his knees and took the dog in his arms. “Hey, buddy. How you feeling?” He lifted his gaze to hers but quickly looked down. “Can we take the cast off?”

Her throat tightened. Was he so angry he couldn’t even look at her? “Yeah. He’s all healed.”

He rummaged under the sink and took out a small saw. “Can you hold him?”

“Sure.” She wrapped her arms around the dog’s chest as Bryce cut into the cast. Sam wiggled, desperate to be free, and Bryce grunted, making tiny back and forth motions with the saw.

Sam twisted in her arms again, and Bryce rubbed the dog’s head. “Be still, buddy. I don’t want to saw your leg off.”

“I can probably get it from here.”

The corner of his mouth twitched as he set the saw on the counter and took the dog in his arms. “Super strength?”

“Something like that.” Grasping the cast in both hands, she pulled it apart at the cut he’d made. Sam shimmied free from Bryce’s grasp and danced around the room, wagging his entire body.

She handed Bryce the receipt and his credit card. “I’ll pay you back for this.”

His eyes widened at the amount before he dropped the paper on the table. “There’s no need. You saved him from a week or two of pain.”

With her hand on the back of a chair, she traced her finger along the smooth wood, unable to meet his gaze. “He wouldn’t have been in pain at all if it weren’t for me.”

Bryce rested his hands on her shoulders and finally looked her in the eyes. “None of this was your fault, so stop blaming yourself. I don’t blame you.”

Her breath hitched. “You don’t?”

“No.” He dropped his arms to his sides, and the sadness in his eyes caused his brow to pinch. “But considering what could happen tonight…I’m going to see my mom.”

Sam nudged his leg, so he leaned down to pet him.

Alexis swallowed the lump from her throat. “I understand.” Of course he would want to see his mom and anyone else he cared about. Spending the day with the person who doomed him to possible death wouldn’t rank high on his last-day-of-life to-do list. “I’ll wait here for you.”

He straightened. “I was hoping you’d come with me.”

She missed a beat. “Really?”

“It could be the last time I see her, and I’d like her to meet the woman I love.”

A swarm of butterflies unfurled in her stomach, flitting its way up to her chest. “I thought you were mad at me.”

He sighed and took her face in his hand. “I’m sorry if it seemed that way. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts, but I’m okay now. If anything, I love you more after everything that’s happened.” He chuckled. “I didn’t think that was possible, and maybe it’s because I’ve got your blood…your magic…running through my veins, but I feel connected to you.”

He had no idea the connection she had to him. Now that he had werewolf magic inside him, could he possibly feel the bond between their hearts like she did? She rested a hand on his chest. “We’re bound by fate.”

“More like by blood, but you can call it fate if you want to.” He shrugged. “Whatever it is…blood, magic, something supernatural…I could never be mad at you.”

He didn’t believe in fate, but after tonight, he would. Once the magic took hold, he’d understand. They were meant to be together. To be mates.

“I’m either going to end the night as a werewolf, a human, or dead, so I’m going to make the most of the day. Will you come meet my mom?”

She smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I would love to meet your mom. Let’s go.”

He stepped back and gazed at her, the corner of his mouth tugging into an adorable grin. “I think you look beautiful like you are, but the nurses might not appreciate the blood in your hair.”

She cringed. “Maybe I should shower?”

“Probably a good idea.” He dropped onto the couch and held out his arms to Sam. The dog bounded toward him and licked his face.

Alexis shuffled toward the bathroom and paused in the doorway, turning to look at him. Her fate-bound. “I love you, Bryce. I mean that.”

He smiled. “I love you too.”

“Don’t expect much.” Bryce pressed the elevator button and took Alexis’s hand. His heart felt like it was beating in his throat as the doors slid open and they stepped inside. “She might not recognize me. Sometimes she thinks I’m my brother.”

“That’s got to be hard.” She squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll follow your lead.”

He kissed her on the cheek, and they exited the elevator, heading to his mom’s room. Pausing outside the door, he took a deep breath to calm the hummingbird trying to escape his chest. He lowered his head, saying a silent prayer to whatever gods—supernatural or not—that might be listening for his mom to be coherent. If this turned out to be the last time he saw her, he’d like to go out knowing she remembered him.

Alexis rested her hand on his back, calming him. “Are you okay?”

He forced a smile. “I’m good.”

Cold metal greeted his clammy palm as he twisted the knob and opened the door a crack. He leaned his face in the space between the door and the jamb. “Hey, Mom? You decent?”

“Bryce? Is that you?”

He closed his eyes and tipped his head back as he whispered, “Thank you,” to whomever answered his prayer. He opened the door wider and smiled at his mom. She sat propped against a mound of pillows in her bed, her legs covered with the blue afghan she’d knitted a few years back, before the arthritis in her hands forced her to give up the hobby. Someone had curled her hair and applied bright-pink rouge to her cheeks.

Grasping Alexis’s hand, he tugged her through the door. “You look like you’re having a good day.”

She beamed a smile, and her eyes were bright and coherent. “I am. And who is this lovely young lady?”

“I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Alexis.” His smile widened as Alexis gave his hand a squeeze.

She waved. “Hi, Mrs. Samuels. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Come here, hon.” His mom held out her arms. “I’m a hugger. You too, Bryce, honey, I haven’t seen you in ages.”

He’d visited his mom last week, but she hadn’t recognized him at the time. Alexis shuffled forward and leaned over the bed to give his mom a hug, and he sucked in a shaky breath. He’d never believed in fate or getting signs from above or any of that nonsense. But after everything he’d learned about the supernatural, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his mom being coherent was a sign he wouldn’t make it through the night. Maybe fate was granting him one last visit with his loved ones before his life ended.

“That’s a beautiful ring.” Alexis gestured to his mom’s wedding ring.

She held it up and admired the stone. “It’s been in the family for ages. It belonged to Bryce’s grandma, and I think his great-great-grandma before that. Keeps getting passed down.”

“What a lovely tradition.” Alexis moved aside for him to hug his mom, and pressure built in the back of his eyes.

She held him tight and whispered in his ear, “She’s a keeper. I like her.”

“So do I.” He swallowed the thickness from his throat and blinked back the moisture threatening to drip from his eyes as he settled into a chair next to Alexis.

They chatted for another twenty minutes, Bryce filling her in on how he’d come to date his ex-partner’s sister after all these years working with Macey. When her lids started to flutter shut, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and led Alexis to the door.

His mom sucked in a sharp breath as she woke. “Wait, Bryce. I need to talk to you.”

Alexis patted his shoulder. “I’ll be in the hall.”

He shuffled to his mom’s bed and sat on the edge. “You should get some rest.”

“I will. I will.” She tugged the ring off her finger and put it in his hand. “You love this girl?”

“With all my heart.”

“Then you better put that ring on her before she gets away.”

He gazed at the stone, a one-carat diamond nestled in a scalloped circle of tiny diamond flecks. “Are you sure you’re ready to give it up?”

She closed his fingers around the ring. “I’m ready for you to make good use of it.”

He kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Mom. I will.”

Bryce dropped the ring into his pocket and shuffled toward the door. Pausing with his hand on the knob, he glanced back at his mom, sleeping peacefully, and a sense of calmness settled over him. Had he come to terms with the fact that this might be his last night on Earth? Not really. But if he did go, at least the people he loved knew he cared about them.

His throat thickened as he toyed with the ring in his pocket. He’d like to drop to one knee and put it on Alexis’s finger as soon as he stepped through the door, but he’d wait. If he asked her to marry him now, she might say yes out of guilt or pity, and that was no way to spend the rest of his life with the woman of his dreams.

If he survived whatever the full moon had in store for him, then he’d propose. She could say yes…or no…with a clear conscience.

A tiny smile tugged at the corners of Bryce’s mouth as he stepped through the door, and Alexis couldn’t help but smile in return. His nervousness had rolled off him in waves on the way to visit his mom, but now he seemed calm. Maybe even at peace with everything that had and would happen.

She took his hand. “Everything okay?”

“I never thought my fate would lie with a lunar cycle, but yeah. Let’s go home.” He guided her to the elevator, and they stepped inside.

She waited until the doors closed before turning to him. “I thought you didn’t believe in fate?”

The elevator stopped and opened into the parking garage. “That’s the first time my mom has been coherent when I’ve visited her in a month. It could be a coincidence, or it could be God or the gods or fate or…whatever…granting me one last moment with her before I die.”

Pain gripped her heart, and she stopped walking. “Don’t talk like that.”

He took a few more steps before turning to her. “Whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. Nothing I can do about it, right?”

“I’m not going to let you die.” She marched past him and got in her car, slamming the door. This nonsense had to stop. There was no way in hell she’d let anything happen to him, and he needed to stop talking like this was the end. She started the engine and checked the clock on the radio. They had four hours until they had to meet the pack in the forest, and she intended to use those hours to show Bryce she was worth living for.

He sidled into the seat next to her and buckled his seatbelt. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” She ground her teeth as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed to his home…their home.

He didn’t say anything else on the drive, but he reached across the console to hold her hand, and tears almost spilled from her eyes.

They greeted Sam as they entered the house, but even his signature full-body wag couldn’t lift the weight pressing down on her shoulders. When he was satisfied with their affection, the husky returned to his favorite spot on the couch and curled into a fluffy ball.

Alexis looked at Bryce. “You are not going to die, so don’t even mention it again today, okay?”

He knit his brow and cupped her cheek in his hand. “It’s a possibility, darlin’, so we have to consider it. And by the look on Luke’s face, it seems highly likely.”

She slapped his hand away. “No. Luke doesn’t know what I can do. He’s never seen me heal.” She’d survived a hundred-foot fall from an electrical tower that broke every bone in her body. The same magic that saved her now ran through Bryce’s veins. Fate didn’t lead her to this man—give her the ability to heal him—to take him away from her when she needed him most. He would survive this. He had to.

“You said yourself you can only heal physical injuries. This one might be in my blood.”

Her entire core tightened, twisting her insides until she couldn’t breathe. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “I can’t lose you. Do you understand? For the first time in my life, I’ve found something worth staying for. That something is you, Bryce. You’ve made this place my home. You are my home.”

A thousand emotions danced with the brown and green flecks in his eyes as she held his gaze, and the corner of his mouth tugged into a grin. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. I still might die, though.”

“Stop talking.” She took his mouth with hers, and the tingle of werewolf magic on his skin mingled with the electricity shooting through her body. He responded with a masculine growl emanating from somewhere deep in his core as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

A spark of hope ignited in her chest. She’d never heard such a wolf-like growl from Bryce before. Taking his face in her hands, she pressed her forehead to his. “What do you feel when I touch you?”

He kissed her jaw, trailing his lips down the curve of her neck before whispering in her ear, “Passion. Adoration. Love.”

Sweet, but not the answer she wanted to hear. “Do you feel my magic?”

“Everything about you is magical.” He gripped the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head before stepping back to admire her. “Wondrous.” Grabbing the back of his shirt, he yanked it over his head.

She ran her hands up his chest, resting them on his shoulders. “You don’t feel a tingling sensation when I touch you?”

“Should I?”

She lowered her gaze. “If you were a werewolf, you would.”

“Hey.” He hooked his finger under her chin, lifting her head toward his. “That’s not to say I won’t be after the moon comes out. We have no idea what’s going to happen tonight, so let’s enjoy right now while we can.”

She inhaled deeply and gazed at him. Whatever fate had planned, she couldn’t do anything about it now. All they could control was this moment. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

With his hand on the small of her back, he pulled her to his body, taking her mouth in a kiss. She parted her lips, and as her tongue brushed his, fire shot through her veins. This was her man. Whether he became a werewolf or stayed human, she didn’t give a damn. At this moment, he had magic in his veins, and that magic called to her, awakening a primal instinct in her soul. The overwhelming need to possess him had her burning with desire. Throwing her arms around his neck, she pushed him against the wall and crushed her body to his.

He grunted and broke the kiss. “Watch out with that super strength. I know you can heal me, but I’d rather not get broken.”

She nipped at his collarbone, gliding her tongue up his neck to take his earlobe between her teeth. “I’m sorry. You have no idea what it’s like to finally be able to be my true self with someone. For you to know everything about me and want me anyway.”

“I know exactly how you feel.” The heat of his breathy whisper warmed her ear, sending shivers down to her toes.

She fumbled with his belt, trailing kisses across his chest, as she finally unbuckled it and yanked it from his jeans. She couldn’t undress him fast enough. Jerking at the buttons on his fly, she shoved the rest of his clothes to floor and took his dick in her hand. She needed to be closer. To be part of him. To make him understand how much he meant to her and that dying was not an option for him tonight or any night in the next fifty years.

Gripping her hips, he leaned his head against the wall, his lids fluttering shut as she stroked him. He was thick and hard, and as a bead of moisture collected on his tip, she had to taste him. Lowering her head, she circled her tongue around him before taking him into her mouth and reveling in the salty-sweet taste of him.

Sliding his fingers into her hair, he rested his hand on her head—not to move her or force her into a rhythm—but to gently caress her scalp as she sucked him.

Another growl rumbled from his chest, and he stilled her head, moving his hand to her shoulder to guide her back up to his mouth. He undid her pants as he kissed her, working them over her hips and pushing her clothes to the floor.

He toed off his shoes and stumbled out of his jeans before grabbing her by the ass and lifting her onto the table. Pushing her onto her back, he dragged a hand down her body and stroked her clit with his thumb.

Electricity shot through her core, and she bit her bottom lip as he pulled her pants from her ankles and spread her legs with his broad shoulders. He caressed her inner thighs, and she rose onto her elbows to find him gazing at her with so much passion in his eyes that it took her breath away.

“You’re so beautiful, Alexis.”

“I need you inside me. Please.”

He pressed his lips to one thigh, and then the other. “If this is my last night on Earth, I want to savor you first.”

“Stop saying—”

The warmth of his tongue bathed her sensitive nub, taking the words from her lips. She lay back and closed her eyes as he lifted her legs onto his shoulders and stroked her folds before slipping a finger inside her. She sucked in a breath between her teeth when his tongue circled her clit again. An mmm vibrated across his lips, the sensation intensifying the climax coiling in her core.

He continued pleasuring her, adding a second finger inside, working her in circles until she lost control. Her orgasm slammed into her center, ricocheting through her soul and shattering her senses. She tangled her fingers in his hair, panting his name until he brought her down. But she was far from satisfied.

She needed this man inside her like she’d never needed anything in her life. Sitting up, she pushed him into a chair and straddled him. He inhaled deeply, gazing at her with passion-drunk eyes as she guided his cock to her center.

He moaned as she sheathed him, and she stilled, pressing her naked body to his, memorizing the way he filled her, relishing the magic emanating from his skin. Taking his face in her hands, she pressed her forehead to his. “I love you, Bryce.”

“I love you more than you can imagine.”

“I can imagine.” She rocked her hips, and he gripped her thighs as he sucked in a sharp breath.

Clutching his shoulders, she held him close as she moved up and down his thick shaft, delicious friction making every nerve in her body hum. He held her hips, moving his own in unison, creating a choreography that felt as if it were ingrained in her soul. She belonged to this man. Every part of her.

His rhythm increased, each thrust of his hips sending a thrilling jolt through her core. Her climax built slowly, steadily, and when her name crossed his lips in his growl of release, she lost control. Her orgasm consumed her, burning her in its flames, and Bryce raised her from the ashes.

A sleepy, satisfied smile curved his lips as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Talk about going out with a bang.”

This would not be the last time she made love to him. They had many, many years ahead of them, and tonight was only the beginning.

So, why did her throat thicken at the thought? Tears she’d refused to shed collected on her lower lids, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his neck to hide them.

He held her and stroked the back of her head. “Are you crying?”

“No.”

“Then your eyes are leaking on my neck. Hey.” He gently pushed her back to look at her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. You’re not going to die.”

“You’re right.” He touched his own chest and then hers. “This connection I feel with you is going to hold me here. I haven’t spent nearly enough time with you, and if fate decides it’s my time to go, well…fate can kiss my ass.”