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little change in pack policies and the world was closing in on
them. It was time to grow and accept things can't stay the same
forever. If he couldn't stop the rising war between the felines and
the wolves , then
it would be only a matter of time before the humans figured out
what they really were. Dead bodies tended to draw lots of unwanted
attention.
    First, he still had the matter of whether or
not she'd recover and Tanner's ridiculous claim over her.
    "I'm going to stay here
tonight , if you
don't mind. There's no way to gauge how her body will respond to
this treatment and I might have to take a whole new approach. I'll
set up a bed on the couch." He picked up his bag and strode from
the room without a backwards glance.
    Rafe smiled. Simon always
had his back even when he was pissed. He didn't enjoy exerting his
will over his friend but there were times when showing control was
necessary. They might look like humans most of the
time , but they
weren't. The wolf was never far from the surface and many of their
actions were driven by animal instinct. Any sign of weakness from
an alpha left the door open for another to come in and challenge
him. Simon might not have been up for the
challenge . but
they'd fought over less in the past.
    Rafe paced the floor to the opposite side of
the room. He needed some distance between what had happened with
Simon and the woman lying in his guest bed. He pulled back the
curtains and stared into the dark. Twilight had turned to
pitch-black hours ago and he hadn't even noticed. The moon shone
near full from high above the tree line. They were getting close to
the full moon and the pull of that washed over his skin. Another
week and the leadership would change. Normally on a night like this
he'd be out on a run, chasing rabbits and other game on a hunt with
other pack. The sexual draw of the moon didn't help matters much
either. He already had sex on the brain long before he'd stumbled
into Tanner's little party in the woods.
    Ever since the Alpha had allowed Tanner to
join the pack there'd been trouble. He'd been injured in a hunting
accident with several other shifters that had left him homeless and
desperate. Never a good combination for a strong alpha male with an
attitude problem. Instead of embracing the new pack, he'd spent the
last six months fighting them. Even Burke, the Alpha, had seemed to
grow weary of his belligerence. Unfortunately Tanner was an alpha
himself, which made it especially difficult for him to submit to
other's ways without a fight. Rafe seemed pretty certain the
challenge from Tanner would be coming any day now. And now he was
facing the very real possibility that a mate bond had begun to form
with a feline. And not just any feline either. She'd been captured,
possibly fair and square, and the bastard wouldn't simply stand by
and let Rafe keep his new possession.
    Acid burned in Rafe's stomach as he thought
of Tanner or any of his hard ass buddies laying a hand on the woman
in his bed. He'd see them all dead before it happened like
that.
    A soft rustle of sound drew his attention
from the window and to the bed across the room. The pretty little
shifter stirred under the mountain of blankets that Doc had left
her under.
    "What's going on? What happened?" Her voice
was barely a whisper but Rafe heard her with no trouble. One of the
many benefits of acute shifter senses.
    He eased his body next to her on the
mattress and she immediately recoiled in the opposite
direction.
    "Easy , little cat. I'm not planning to
hurt you."
    "Already hurt. Skin is on fire. What did you
do to me?"
    The biting sarcasm gave
Rafe hope. If she had the energy to get feisty with
him , then surely
she had the fortitude to survive. Although the flushed color of her
skin and sweat across her brow let him know she wasn't out of the
woods yet. Her body still raged with fever. "Not me. I only found
you like this. You don't remember anything?"
    She turned her dark green gaze on him and he
felt