Putting the straw in her mouth, she gagged as the taste hit her and set the cup down on the bedside table.

Lex yelled, “She’s conscious!” As he came back into the room, Nina heard the echo of pounding feet running up the stairs.

He gave her an annoyed look when he came back in and sat next to her on the bed. “Why aren’t you drinking that?” he barked sharply at her, putting the cup back into her hands.

She snorted. “Why don’t you f**k off?”

“Ah, I see our girl is herself again,” Cade said as he entered the room. Nina felt a rush of relief come from him. Relief and affection.

A tall, dark-haired woman came in and closed the door behind herself.

“Okay, is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on or what?” Nina repeated, losing patience.

“Didn’t I just tell you to drink that?” Lex asked again.

“Didn’t I just tell you to f**k off? This stuff tastes like ass. I’m not drinking it.” She shoved the cup back at him but he refused to take it, his mouth set in a hard line.

“It’s nasty, but really high in protein. You’ll need it to help your body adjust.” The woman smiled. “I’m Dr. Molinari. Welcome to Cascadia, Nina.” She placed a satchel on the bed, pulled out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff from it and moved to Nina’s side, shooing Lex out of the way.

“Adjust? Doctor? If someone doesn’t start explaining, I’m gonna get huffy.”

“Yes, and god knows that would be a change,” Lex said dryly from a safe distance. At the same time, Nina could feel the cool metal of his terror, only just barely gone.

“What do you remember?” Dr. Molinari asked as she took Nina’s pulse.

“Uh, oh… I was jumped at the Pack house. I s-shot him. Jesus, I shot someone.” The unreality of the events in that living room rushed back through her. The horror.

Cade moved to her side and tipped her chin up. “You had no choice.”

“Did I kill him?” Nina whispered. Yes, she’d done it in self-defense, but she didn’t want to be a killer.

“No. But close. You emptied the clip but it was lead ammo and not silver. Carter was high in the Pack, he’s strong and has a great ability to heal.”

“Does that mean he’ll attack me again?”

“You won the challenge. Even though the challenge is to the death, he was so close that the governance council deemed it your victory.” Cade smiled.

Rage flooded through her. “Oh, goody. Now that he’s attacked me and made me into one of you while not a single f**king one of you did a thing to stop a werewolf from attacking a human—I’m victorious. Lucky me.”

“I couldn’t stop it, Nina,” Cade’s voice was filled with anguish. “As Alpha, I had to let the challenge go forward. You offended him. He had a rightful challenge. You could have apologized.”

Nina sat up then and Lex moved forward to push her back to the pillows and she shoved at his hands. The Doctor tried to move Cade and Lex away.

“I could have apologized?” Nina shook her head. “It’s my fault?”

“Nina, baby, Carter has been disciplined for biting you. We have rules about that. He’s been stripped of his power and moved to the bottom of the Pack. Now that you’re a wolf, you share my status as Second,” Lex said softly.

“Oh you’re all so civilized!” Nina said sarcastically. “You can attack a human in your living room as long as you kill her without biting her. With her husband standing three feet away!”

“You’re upsetting her. It’s hard enough on her wolf to have to heal this sort of damage to her system,” Dr. Molinari told Cade and Lex with a frown.

“It’s over now, Nina. You defeated him and you did it as a human. The rest of the Pack sees that as a mark of great power and they respect you for it.”

She looked at Lex in disbelief. “Are you actually proud of that? Are you proud that I had to empty a gun into someone in your living room all over that twenty-thousand-dollar Oriental rug?”

“I’m proud that you were so strong—that you never gave up. Even standing there, your arm broken in three places, a gash on your head pouring blood, your throat nearly torn out—even then you fought back. Yes, I’m proud that my mate is so strong. More than that, I’m glad you’re all right and safe.” He knelt next to the bed.

“I need to be alone, please.” Her voice was flat as she said it.

“You can nap. I’ll just hold you,” Lex said, touching her hand before she took it from him.

“Alone. As in, me only. I don’t want to see another f**king werewolf.” She looked straight ahead, not meeting anyone’s eye.

“Nina, you’re going to have to go through a change. You can’t do it alone. The first time is very difficult,” Dr. Molinari said soothingly.

“When?”

“Usually the first change comes at the full moon. After that you’ll be able to change at will.”

“The next full moon is?”

“In a week.”

“Fine. Now all of you get the f**k out.”

“Nina, why?” Cade asked softly, feeling both her and Lex’s agony.

“Why what, Cade?” Nina turned to face him.

“Why are you sending us away?”

“You weren’t there when I needed you. As in to live! You stood there while someone tried to kill me. I’m supposed to just take that with a smile?”