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closely by rejection. “I could never turn someone else into a monster.”
    “You’re no monster.”
    “You don’t know what I am or the things I’ve done. I’ll never do that to anyone.”
    “Not even to save their life.”
    “Are you dying?”
    “No.”
    She remembered back to the first time she had seen him, and the anger that had rolled off him in waves. The self-hatred. Why did he hate his wolf so much? He’d been beautiful to her.
    “Are you really a doctor?” she asked.
    “I am. It was all I ever wanted to be.”
    “Why?”
    “My mother’s a doctor. When I was seven we were in an accident. A train crash. We were unhurt but all around us there were people screaming. My mom stayed so calm and she helped them. I guess it made a big impression on me.”
    “Where is she now?”
    “She’s in Africa working in a refugee camp.”
    “What about your father? Is he a doctor as well?”
    Connor shook his head. “He was a Spanish waiter she met on holiday in Malaga.”
    So that was where he got the black hair and olive skin. “Did they marry?”
    “No, they were too different, but strangely they’ve always been good friends. He runs a tapas bar in London now. I’ll take you there one day.”
    Ha, like she would ever get to London. She could imagine the chaos she would cause.
    “Enough of me,” he said. “Tell me how you came to be here.”
    She might as well start from the beginning. “I was born in one of the Agency’s laboratories down in Devon. My ‘mother’ cared for me for as long as I can remember. She wasn’t really my mother, but she came to love me.”
    Keira thought for a moment trying to get the thoughts straight in her head. “I first became telepathic when I was eleven. After that, apart from my mother, I didn’t see many people. I guess they were scared I would read them—there was nothing like this shielding back then. But I grew stronger and after that, I was sedated most of the time.” She paused and drained the last of her wine. “I don’t remember much for about a year. Then they must have decided to do something, maybe try and cut off my powers or put in some sort of trigger so they could switch them on and off. But it went wrong, and I lost all control.”
    It had been a horrible time. She’d felt as though her head would explode with all the people around her and all the information flooding in. In the end, they’d sedated her again.
    “When I came to, I was here. They’d ordered my ‘termination’, but my mother sneaked me out of there instead. She risked everything for me and I probably killed her.”
    “Hey,” Connor said. “Whatever happened to her, I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”
    “She died of brain cancer six months ago. You’re a doctor—can you tell me I didn’t play a part in that?”
    She’d thought he would give her some platitude. Instead, he ran a hand through his thick hair.
    “I honestly don’t know. But it’s not a forgone conclusion, and even if you did cause it then it’s still not your fault. You didn’t do this to yourself.”
    It was a good answer and she wished she could dismiss her guilt so easily. “Why do you hate your wolf?”
    His eyes widened at the change of subject and for a second, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he took a deep breath.
    “When I first shifted I killed someone.”
    She’d presumed it must have been something like that. What could be worse for a man who had dedicated his life to saving people?
    “Who?”
    Connor stood and paced; immediately her home seemed tiny. Finally, he turned back to face her.
    “One of the pack. Sebastian had sent them to watch me the first full moon after the attack. He’d presumed they would be able to control me. I’d refused to join the pack. I wanted nothing to do with them. I guess I was in denial, didn’t really believe it would happen. They were supposed to get me to a safe place— which they did—and contain me—which they didn’t. They