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threshold.
    I can’t do this. Can’t. Won’t. Don’t want any part of this.
    If she could have screamed and run there and then, she would have. But her legs wouldn’t heed the command and neither did her voice. She stood trembling in the doorway, breaking out in a sweat.
    Kyle turned, crooking his head in a gesture so like the old days that it stopped her just short of a full-on meltdown.
    “You okay?”
    “Fine,” she whispered and promptly spun on her heel. She speed-walked away with vision blurred by tears and all but shouldered Tina aside. “Sorry,” she blurted, hurrying on.
    She only stopped when the notes of the piano reached her again in the shade of a barn. She leaned her forehead against the weathered planking, palms flat against the coarse wood, fighting back a bubble of hysteria.
    Fine. I’m fine. All fine…
    That there were wolves all around her wasn’t the only problem. The fact that she was turning into one… Her fingernails scratched at the wood, fighting the thought away. The deep breaths she tried weren’t working; they were too shallow, too forced, like she was running for her life and not hiding behind a barn.
    Like at the start of a race. Breathe. Stay in control.
    Right, control. She’d never been less in control. And the rare times in her life when she thought she had been, those were a mirage. The constant moves as a child, the awful series of losses she’d endured. And now this—getting ripped out of the life she’d forged for herself and being thrown straight to the wolves. Literally.
    The scuff of footsteps sent her heart hammering, her body closer to the wall. Let whomever it was think she was mentally unstable. It wasn’t far from the truth.
    As the steps drew nearer, a scent reached her, and her knees wobbled. It was Kyle. Kyle Williams, back in her life.
    That part… She sucked in a long breath, feeling her nerves gradually settle. That part, she liked. Why, she wasn’t in the mood to examine. Only that she felt the rightness of it from the root of her soul. Wolf or human, it didn’t matter with him. She let her eyes crack open and peeked, trying to drink in the steadiness he emanated.
    “Hey,” he started in a voice much softer than his protective stance.
    She gulped back the knot in her throat and tried shaking away the tears of relief. It was one thing to be a mess inside; it was different to let Kyle see.
    She wished it was him she could cling to instead of the weathered wall. He’d be as big and solid and strong as the barn, that was for sure. But she’d never been one to throw herself at a man, and never wanted to be.
    Except this wasn’t just any man. It was the boy next door, and she knew his secrets. Some of them, anyway. Couldn’t she share a few of her own?
    He stepped closer, an inch away, and the warm tickle of breath at her ear brought her the safe sense of an army at her back. An army of one, who’d never ever failed her, and never ever would.
    “Hey,” Kyle tried again, and his voice was so gentle, it might have been a dream. His hand warmed her shoulder, the touch light but steady.
    She angled her head, trapped between the urge to give in and the all-too-practiced habit of hiding away. Kyle had his share of worries; he didn’t need hers.
    “Stef,” he said, his voice husky. It wasn’t pity, though. It was a plea.
    A ripple of shame went through her. She’d hurt him by rushing away from the dining room. Worried him, too, judging by the waver in his voice. Couldn’t she spare a thought for anyone but herself? Kyle had come out of nowhere to help and brought her to his pack, and she’d been less than gracious in return. Turned her tail and run—even from him.
    Never from him!
cried an inner voice, deep and defiant.
    She wasn’t good at comforting herself, but she could comfort him. She turned, intending to say it out loud.
I’m sorry. I’m fine. Everything will be okay.
But the moment she saw his face, she knew she couldn’t lie. Not to