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“I won’t let that happen to you. Me and Cookie can fix you.”
“Stop,” Roy said as he put a hand up in Cookie’s direction. “Cookie, tell the boy I won’t live past what I got to say.”
Cookie shook his head at Garret.
“I don’t have time,” Roy said weakly. “Pair up with her. Give her the protection of your wolf. It’s my last request. Say it.”
“Roy—”
“Say it!” Roy demanded, gripping Garret’s hand with what little strength remained.
Resignation dragged him under the waves of anguish that threatened to drown him. “I will see her taken care of.”
“Boy, if you let her, she’ll be good for you,” Roy whispered. “Try to remember.”
His eyes closed, and Garret heard it. He heard the sound of his heart. It was slowing.
“I can’t do this,” Garret said.
Cookie told him, “You heard him, Shaw. He don’t want it.”
Garret stood and roared as long and as loud as he could. Already the wolf was scratching to escape his skin.
“I have to,” Garret whispered, hoping Cookie would forgive him. Roy never would, but he wouldn’t blame him.
Garret was a selfish creature now. He didn’t care about the effect his decisions had on other people. He cared about keeping the last thread that connected him to his humanity intact.
If Roy didn’t exist, Garret would cease to exist too.
The smattering of breaking bones was louder than Cookie’s yelling. His paws hit the earth and he blurred to Roy. He could see the fear in his eyes as Garret’s teeth sank into his shoulder.
As long as he lived, this decision would haunt him. Roy would haunt him, but he couldn’t lose him like this. He just couldn’t. He couldn’t let him fade for no damn good reason.
The world made sense with good men like Roy in it.
It was wrong of him, but he was going to try to make him stay.
It was a sin to Change a man, especially against his wishes, but the wolf didn’t care about that.
He didn’t care that the goodness in Roy would be replaced with a monster.
Didn’t care that Roy would lose his memories, and that the good parts of him would cease to exist.
He only cared about the next breath, and the next.
He only cared that Roy lived.
Chapter Three
Eliza came to, and for the briefest of moments couldn’t remember her name. Above her were the exposed wooden beams of an unexpected ceiling. As she sought pockets of coolness under the sheets with her arms, the bedding rustled in an unfamiliar way. The pillow smelled crisp and masculine.
She didn’t know this bed, but from the plain browns of unadorned room, she knew it to be a man’s bed.
Her heartbeat tripped into a furious pace as she sat up. She had never been in a man’s bed before. The memories of how she’d gotten to Garret’s house catapulted into her mind. Roy!
“Miss?” a man asked in a deep voice.
She lurched around and spied a gentleman with eyes a color she’d never seen before. They looked like melted gold.
