Page 46 of Dark Dragon’s Mate

“Yeah. Usually I can get She-Wolf to submit, either with my mental dominance or by beating the crap out of her. But not last night. Got to admit, I was not sad when Emon intervened.”

“I know. What happened this time?”

“I’m not sure. She was bigger, for one thing. And more dominant.”

Trish stared at him. “I—she what? How does that even happen?” Shifters didn’t just… grow.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Because she’s been suppressed? Or maybe something to do with being around the dragons? Or away from her alpha? There’s no way to tell. But it does mean that Emon is probably the only one who can handle her anymore.” He hesitated, then said, “I don’t think you can go back to Silverlake.”

That hit her like a punch in the stomach. Even though she’d been planning to stay here, at least for a while, hearing that she had no choice was a whole different thing. Silverlake was her pack. Her home.

She suddenly knew what Emon meant about feeling caged.

This isn’t a cage, she reminded herself. And neither is a bond. Didn’t you just tell Emon that this morning?

“Emon said I can stay here,” she said. “He promised he’d take me under his protection. He’ll help me with She-Wolf.”

Tristan’s face lit up. “He did? He will? That’s fantastic.” He looked at her face, then tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “You two have a thing, don’t you?”

She bit her lip, not answering.

“Shit, you do.” He shook his head. “You and the fucking Darkwing Dragon. Who’d have thunk it?”

“It’s not anything yet,” she said, smacking him on the arm. “If you tell anyone, I’ll bite you. And if you say anything in front of him, I’ll bite you more.”

He held up his hands, laughing. “Fine, okay.” Then, more seriously, “I’m happy for you. I hope it works out.”

“Me too.” She dropped her eyes, toying with the button on her lab coat. “Look, Tris—”

“What?”

“I just want you to know… this doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I know the risks you’ve taken. I owe you more than I can ever repay. It’s just…” She didn’t know how to finish.

Tristan gazed at her, and then said, “Sit down for a sec.”

He led her over to the stools near the examining table. “You know I told you that when I was with the Bad Bloods, Tank used to watch out for me when I Changed?”

She nodded.

He took a deep breath, and blew it out. “I never told you all of it. My wolf used to take over, and I was in there, knowing what was going on, but I didn’t have the strength to come back. Some days I didn’t want to. More than once, Flynn came this close to having to put me down.” He held up his finger and thumb about a millimeter apart.

“Tank was crazy too, broken inside, but that big damn grizzly used to Change and follow me through the woods, smacking me with his Frisbee-sized paw every time I tried to hunt the humans, or kill someone’s pet dog, or head for the nearest cliff and try to fucking fly.”

“Oh, Tristan,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. She’d known it was bad, but not that bad.

He didn’t look at her, just off into the middle distance.

“The Bad Bloods had this hut called the Crazy Shed. Reinforced, shifter proof, so when any of us got so nuts we were a danger to ourselves, we could be locked inside until we calmed down. But my wolf couldn’t handle being locked in. So Tank used to sit across the doorway and talk to me. He’d tell me about all the stupid shit we did together when I was human, trying to make me remember and want to come back from being wolf.

“And with all that, the only reason he’s not dead is because his neck is too fucking big for me to get my jaws around.” Tristan gave a choked laugh.

“Sometimes when I was in the crazy shed I’d just keep lunging at him, attacking him, and he’d catch me and throw me back inside. Over and over, no matter how many times I bit him or gouged him, or how much he bled. He never gave up on me. They never gave up on me.”

Tristan turned and looked at her. “I always wanted to be able to do more for you than I have,” he said. “Not just because you’re my friend, and I love your dopey furry ass. But because somebody did it for me.”

Trish’s eyes were filled with tears. “That doesn’t make me feel better about what I did to you.”

“I know.” He took her hand. “I just wanted you to understand that I’m not mad at you. I’ve been there.”