She’s awake. The text from Jason had come in the middle of the night, but Silas had not read it until now. Not that he’d been asleep. He’d turned off his phone to focus on making his little fox whimper with pleasure. She had the sexiest bark, a deep throaty noise she made at the brink of ecstasy that drove Silas crazy. And as strong as she was and as sure of herself, he reveled in his ability to reduce her to a puddle of need between the sheets.

It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman, and it was never like this. Soleil was too hard to read, and her level of experience always intimidated him, as if he was competing with hundreds of unknown suitors. For a while, it was a thrill, an accomplishment to conquer the unconquerable. But then he’d learned that she’d never truly been his, and the act lost all meaning for him.

Meredith was a different story. In many ways, she was his equal, a shifter and a detective, and she was open to a real relationship. He only hoped that from where they began, they had somewhere to go.

“You look serious,” she said, running her nails along his stomach.

“My sister woke up last night. I need to go to the hospital. She might be ready to talk.”

“Laina’s awake? I’ll get dressed and come with you.”

“You should go into the office. With the shift coming, I’ll need you to be there in case the city needs a supernatural detective in my absence.”

She propped herself on one elbow. “We have this thing called cell phones, Silas. Captain Manahan can call me if he needs me.”

“This is family stuff. No need to involve yourself.”

She sat up, the blanket pooling around her waist. “You’re going to talk to your siblings about the dragon heart, and I’m going to be standing right next to you when you do. As I recall, I was okay helping with family stuff when Grateful extracted the sulfralite from your sister. I think I can handle visiting her.”

“Meredith…”

“You want to raise a dragon from her magically induced sleep. I know you, Silas. You’re already making up your mind not to include me in this quest. You think you need to keep me safe. One night in bed with you and you’ve moved me from the category of coworker to someone you need to protect. But I’m not made of glass.”

“Why shouldn’t I protect you? You’re pack, and I thought we established you were my girlfriend?”

“I’ll be your girlfriend, but I won’t be your damsel in distress. I’m not helpless, and you need me.”

He needed her, but not for this. This was too dangerous. But he knew the look. The hard, cool look that said he was flirting with disaster if he pushed the issue. He didn’t want to start his new relationship in the doghouse. It wouldn’t hurt for her to accompany him to the hospital, although there was no way in hell he’d allow her anywhere near Nickelova.

“Okay. Get ready. We’ll go together.”

She stood up, allowing the covers to fall from her body and giving him an unobstructed view of her lithe figure. Although his body was sore from last night’s activities, he hardened again at the sight of her, the round curve of her ass and sway of her hips. His wolf growled, and his skin rippled with a desire to own her, to mark her with his scent.

When she saw the look in his eyes, she squealed and ran for the shower. He caught up to her in three long strides, snagging her around the waist. His hands explored her body as he pressed his lips to the soft skin behind her ear. “Mine.” He squeezed her to him.

“Yours,” she murmured through a smile, meeting his gaze in the bathroom mirror.

Without a word, he started the shower. He wrapped his hand in her hair and tugged gently, watching her reflection in the mirror over the sink. She was ready for him, the scent of her arousal a sharp tang in his nose. He entered her from behind.

A fast inhale parted her lips, but almost as quickly she relaxed, her body going limp in his arms aside from her grip on the sink. He moved inside her as the steam from the shower built in the air around them.

She shattered in his arms, her body convulsing to the point he had to hold her up. Breathlessly he gave into his orgasm. Goddess, she was a drug, pure ambrosia. Precious.

“I’ll protect you if I want to, Meredith,” he whispered in her ear when he could form words again. “It’s my prerogative. A man takes care of the woman he’s falling in love with.”

If she had anything to say about that, she didn’t. Instead, she simply turned in his arms and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

* * *

When Silas reached Laina’s room, Meredith at his side, he was relieved to find his sister sitting up and eating lunch. The color was back in her cheeks. If he hadn’t known better, he wouldn’t have guessed she’d been in a coma less than twenty-four hours ago.

“It’s about time.” Jason waited near the window, his dark suit standing out against the afternoon light.

Silas ignored him. “Welcome back, sister.” He took Laina’s hand and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Laina pulled him into a hug, before glancing behind him. “Is this the legendary Meredith? I don’t remember meeting you, but Jason told me you were here before.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Meredith shook her hand.

“I’m glad my brother finally has a partner,” Laina said. “I’ve always worried he didn’t have enough backup.”

Silas was tempted to protest the partner remark out of habit but stopped himself. Meredith was his partner and more. “Laina, I hate to pressure you, but we need to know what happened. You said something about a dragon.”

She nodded. “I was coming out of Four Paws, still in the parking lot. It wasn’t even fully dark. Nickelova appeared out of nowhere and stabbed me three times with a dark black blade. She was gone before my head hit the pavement.”

Silas furrowed his brow. “It wasn’t Nickelova.”

“It was!” Laina scoffed. “I think I know what she looks like by now. We were face-to-face when she stabbed me. I was close enough to smell her hair.”

“She doesn’t have a heart,” Jason said. “I saw her seal herself into a cocoon at the top of her mountain. She was mortal and miles away from any help in one of the most brutal environments on the planet.”

Laina met his gaze. “I know what I saw. She’s here, in Carlton City, and she stabbed me.”

Meredith gripped the bedrail. “It is possible. She put herself in the cocoon. She might have taken herself out. You said she had a dragon scale? Then she had magic. She’s more vulnerable without a heart, but if she were willing to take the risk, she could be the one helping Alex.”

“He ripped her heart out of her chest,” Jason said. “Why would she help the man who tore out her heart?”

Meredith shrugged. “I don’t know. But I believe your sister.”

“Why would I lie?” Laina said.

“No one thinks you’re lying. I believe you thought you saw Nickelova. It just doesn’t seem probable,” Jason said.

“There’s only one way to know for sure,” Silas said. “We go back to the mountain and see if she’s still there. And if she is, we wake her up.”

“Ryker gave you the heart,” Jason said incredulously.

Silas shook his head. “Ryker gave Soleil the heart. Soleil gave it to me.”

“You have Nickelova’s heart?” Laina’s mouth popped open. “By the goddess, Silas.”

“Did you forget the portal is gone? How do you plan to get to her mountain?”

“That is a job for one of our witchy friends, and in this case, I think the Smuggler’s Notch witch, Polina, is the one for the job.” Logan had been offering Silas her help for weeks. It was time he called in that favor.

“After the shift, right?” Laina said. “You’re going to wait until after the shift when I’m stronger.”

Silas looked at her sympathetically. “You’re pregnant. You and your baby barely made it through this stabbing ordeal. Don’t you think you should keep yourself safe? Think of the baby.”

“I am going,” she said. “Believe me, if Kyle can’t keep me in this bed, you won’t either.”

Silas snorted. “Where is the doting husband?”

“Sleeping. I had to threaten his life to get him to go home.” Laina sat up straighter in bed. “So, we’re in agreement then? We go after the shift.”

Silas darted a glance between Jason and Meredith. “After the shift.”

* * *

“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” Meredith said to Silas as they made their way back to the car.

“Sounds serious. Is this about my overprotective nature or something else?”

“No.” Meredith snorted. “You are way overprotective, but that’s not what this is about.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t want to shift with you at Rivergate.”

He turned to her. “Is it because you shifted at my place the other night?”

“No. I can shift more than once a month. I can shift whenever I want, although too many times a day is dangerous. No. I’m simply not comfortable going there. The last time I was at Rivergate, my father was with me.”

Silas gave an understanding grunt. “Does it hold bad memories for you?”

“That and I’m not ready for what it might mean for us to be seen together. You’re pack royalty, and I’m a pack orphan. I don’t want sympathy. I don’t want sideways glances. And when push comes to shove, I am different. I change into a fox, not a wolf.”

“No one cares about that.”

“You don’t care about that. Others will care, especially if said fox is dating their alpha. I’m not ready to open myself up to formal pack society. You know how it is. You know how people treat anyone who dates royalty. I’ll be front-page news.”

Silas’s face said it all. He knew she was right.

“Out of curiosity, did you ever tell the Lycanthropic Society about Soleil when you were dating?”

“No,” he said quickly. “They would never have accepted her.”

Meredith nodded. Perhaps his relationship with Soleil was less serious than she’d assumed.

“If she had changed, I would have,” Silas said. “I wouldn’t have let tradition stop me from being with her.”

“But your plan was to wait until things were serious. Together forever serious.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So, let’s wait for that with us. This is pretty new. Let’s give it time to breathe.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently on the lips. “Deal. But since you won’t be shifting…”

“Yeah?”

“I wonder if I can ask a favor.”