He snarled at me. “I. Am. NOT—”
“Can it. If you refuse her help, you most definitely are.” And I added a mental,This isn’t a sword wound. This is something eating you from the inside out. You need help, and she can offer it. So shut up and let her work.
He glowered at me. But then he reached a taloned hand up to his neck, and I saw the scales move aside.
Fang jumped out, but when he tried to get her onto his talon, she hunched down.
Come and get her,he said.
He wanted me to take her? But then his copper eyes swung to me, and I saw the worry in them.
Cara interpreted what he was trying to do. “There’s a lot of energy that flies around when I heal,” she said. “The Webspinner would be best off away from here.”
I moved to stand close. His warm, musky odor, tinged with ozone, wrapped around me, and my pulse immediately quickened. But blood dripped from his nose—he needed Cara. Now.
At first, Fang retreated when I stretched my arm toward her. “It’s okay,” I said to her. “He’ll be fine. Just come with me for a bit. I’ll find you a nice juicy bug.”
I had no idea if she understood me. She blinked, and then, suddenly, she was airborne.
As usual, it wasn’t a skillful Jump. It would have missed me entirely, had I not leaned sideways and grabbed her. There was a flurry of me juggling wildly while trying to get a grip, and of her little legs thrashing around while pink hairs exploded into the air. I finally pinned her against my chest, and from there she scrambled up beneath my hair.
Both the Webspinner and me were breathing heavily. Havoc snorted, and the fine spray of blood alarmed the hell out of me.
Cara put a reassuring hand on my shoulder as she went by. “He’ll be fine. I’ve got him.”
Havoc flinched when the Watcher placed her hands on him. The Dragon was in bad shape, but she would heal him. It was what she did.
I sensed a stillness beside me, and glanced at Rafael.
His gaze was focused behind us. I turned to see the Dragon, Talakai. Beside him stood two others that took me a moment to identify—the Dire-turned-Dragon, Matt, and the tall Bellati, Sebastian. All three were mates to Rafael’s sister. When had they arrived?
An enthusiastic black and white dog bounded over to me, and then all over me.
“Trix!” Anna smiled apologetically as she pushed past Talakai. “Sorry, she’s both a lover and a fighter.”
“She’s beautiful,” I said, and meant it.
“She insisted on coming,” Matt said with a distinctive Aussie accent. “Although carrying the bloody Unicorn along with her wasn’t easy.”
The tall Bellati shot the Dire a glare. “Try holding onto her while crash-landing.”
Nikolai appeared behind Anna, just as she looked past me. She grew very still, but her eyes spoke volumes.
I looked at Rafael again—his face had lost all color, and his eyes darted between them. The surrounding air zinged with powerful energy. Nikolai’s hair started to lift.
Then Anna walked forward and pulled her twin into her arms. Nikolai stood beside them and placed a big hand on Rafael’s shoulder.
Anna’s dog bounced around them like she’d known Rafael all her life.
Family.
The concept came at me like a freight train and trampled my aching heart. Rafael had been essentially alone since he’d lost both sets of parents. Now, he’d been reunited with his half-brotherandhis twin sister.
A family was all I’d ever wanted. And Fate had given me three mates, to form a family of my own.
I glanced at Marcus, who stood a distance away, watching them. His head turned, and his eyes flared white. Before he looked away again.
Fang’s little legs tickled against my neck, as though attempting to reassure, but I couldn’t take it anymore. Havoc had mated me, but he didn’t want me. Rafael couldn’t have me without killing me. Or trying to control me. And Marcus—
