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“Insulin,” she says, “for my sister. She’s diabetic…and without it, she’ll die.”
I reach out to take her hand without thinking. It isn’t an intimate gesture—it’s something I do when anyone from my pack comes to me with something dire, as a show of comfort—but it immediatelyfeelsintimate when a wave of sparks crawls over my flesh and up my arm, settling in my chest. Tilda has to feel it too, instinctively reaching for where she was wounded.
Where I bit her.
She yanks her hand away and shakes her head like she’s trying to shake herself out of a fog.
“Sorry,” she says. “Just…got dizzy there for a second.”
“You alright?” I ask.
She nods. “It’s nothing.”
“I didn’t know about your sister,” I say. “She’s ill?”
“Not yet, but she’s going to be if I don’t get her help soon,” Tilda says. She rakes her hand through her hair—which is still mussed and stringy with blood. I really need to make sure she has a chance to get cleaned up. “I came here because I thought y’all might have more medical supplies.”
She’s lying, my wolf growls.
I’m confident my wolf’s instincts are spot on. Not about the first part—I get the feeling her sister isactuallysick—but the second part is the lie.
Now, though, I have a choice to make. I have to decide if her help is worth it—weneedfood, after all—or if I’m going to keep her locked away. I’m sure the rest of the pack would prefer that I keep her under lock and key, but if she can feed us…
“When does she need insulin?” I ask. “Your sister—Enid, you said?”
Tilda sucks in a breath. “Yeah, Enid. I think she’s got…I don’t know, another month tops?”
I nod, chewing on the inside of my lip.
But it wasn’t like I ever had a choice.
I extend my hand to shake on it.
“Deal,” I say. “You help us get a farm up and running in the next month, and I’ll get in touch with my contacts about tracking down some insulin for your sister.”
“And then you’ll let me go?” she asks.
I frown. “We’ll…have to see,” I say. “There’s too much at risk here, and you’ve already seen too much…”
Tilda sighs. “Can’t say I’m happy about your decision, but I’d do the same damn thing.” She takes my hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Garza.”
And as we shake hands, the spark of the mating bond coursing through us both, I wonder if this is terrible mistake.
CHAPTER SIX
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TILDA
How did I miss the fact that they have kids here?
I realize now that the elements of the den I’ve observed over the past couple weeks are nothing more than a facade—a mask they put up for their enemies. Reyes has been smart in the way that he conceals the most vulnerable parts of the pack from prying eyes, protecting his flock with a fierce sense of loyalty.
I can understand that. I’ve done the same thing for Homestead for the past ten years.
But I feel like an idiot…not because I didn’t know about the children here, or the way they were struggling, but because I was so convinced they were monsters here. From the way the Angels told it after the rebellion, uncontrolled lycans are like animals—they hunt wild game, eat raw meat, and fuck for the whole of the full moon. I didn’t expect to find an Alpha Prime who is in fact a priest, or kids’ drawings on the wall.
I didn’t expect a man with a gorgeous, shining smile that’s been incredibly kind to me since I arrived.
