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he’d turned dark, Tanner wouldn’t bother. The
fact the sentinels had taken his brother was a different matter.
    * * * * *
    Wren came awake with a jerk, noticing the room was no longer
dark. It was already morning. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings and
remember where she was. Ryder’s bedroom. And with that everything that had
happened in his dream came back in a rush. The part about the dark wolves, them
fooling around and the appearance of Ryder’s ancestor.
    She turned her head and looked at the side of the bed where
Ryder lay. At first glance, he seemed to be sleeping. She sat up and touched
him. He didn’t stir, and she wasn’t brought into another dream. Wren shook
Ryder, which didn’t bring him to wakefulness.
    Knowing his ancestor had done something to Ryder, Wren
couldn’t hold back the worry that formed inside her. She shook him harder and
called his name. His head rolled back and forth, but his eyes remained closed.
    “Ryder, wake up,” Wren said louder. Still no response.
    She was able to hear his heart beating so she knew he wasn’t
dead. Wren brushed some of his hair off his forehead and found his skin hot to
the touch. She checked again. Sure enough, Ryder was burning up. Seeing him
like this reminded her of when her mother had been sick before she’d died of
cancer. Wren had nursed her through it all. Watching her mom slowly waste away
had been the hardest thing she’d ever endured. If she’d known the sentinels
back then, she would have had one bite her mother to turn her.
    Thinking she had to do something to bring down Ryder’s
fever, Wren pushed off the bed and went to the bathroom down the hall. She
opened the medicine cabinet. There wasn’t any kind of medication inside it.
Thinking there had to be something elsewhere, she rummaged through the vanity’s
drawers and cupboard, turning up nothing. She wasn’t quiet about it either.
    Cassidy appeared in the doorway with Wyatt in her arms.
“Wren? What are you looking for?”
    Wren continued to look for something that would help Ryder,
even though her search hadn’t turned up anything. “Isn’t there any kind of
medicine in here at all? There isn’t any ibuprofen, nothing.”
    Cassidy stepped farther into the room. “No, there isn’t.
We’re immortal. We never get sick.”
    Wren stopped her searching and turned to face the other
woman. “But Ryder isn’t. There should be something here for him.”
    “Wren, what’s the matter? You look a little pale.”
    “It’s Ryder. I can’t wake him up and he’s burning with
fever.”
    Cassidy rushed out of the bathroom, calling her mate’s name
as she hurried into Ryder’s bedroom. Wren followed on her heels. Edensaw
arrived a few seconds later, as did the other members of the household.
    “What’s going on?” Edensaw asked.
    Cassidy handed him Wyatt before she sat on the bed next to
Ryder, who was still unconscious. She felt his forehead. “Wren’s right, Ryder
has a high fever.” She then took hold of his shoulder and gave him a hard
shake. “Ryder, wake up.” He didn’t react.
    Edensaw looked at Wren. “Was he like this when you two went
to sleep?”
    She shook her head. “No. I think his ancestor did this to
him.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I was able to get inside Ryder’s dream again. While we were
in it, his ancestor appeared. He said Ryder had finally achieved the first step
to gaining his full powers, then he put his hand on Ryder’s chest. It glowed.
That’s when Ryder started bellowing in pain. No matter what I did, I couldn’t
get his ancestor to stop.”
    “What happened after that?”
    “The last thing I remember in the dream is Ryder passing
out. That’s when I came awake, but he didn’t.”
    Edensaw looked thoughtful. “Then the changes Ryder had
wanted to bring on have started.”
    “This is only the first step,” Wren said. “What happens if
Ryder has to go through this each time until he’s gained his full powers? He’s
mortal.