“Hi Keller.” Zara’s little voice comes up beside me while I’m sitting at the kitchen counter.    “Hey Pocket. How are you feeling?” I turn and face her, observing her movements. She looks remarkably still. When she moves, it is slow and calculated.   She gives me a vacant stare, as if she isn’t sure what’s supposed to happen after I speak to her. I watch her blink and look at her hand, turning it over with a confused look on her face. She holds it up and looks at her fingernails in awe.    Now I’m in familiar territory. This is the reaction most she-wolves have to the ketamine concoction Mom gave Zara. They become calm and compliant. Some have hallucinations, some don’t, but it looks like Zara is. I pull her next to me, giving her a side hug. She doesn’t resist. In fact, she leans heavily against my side.    “What happened?” She pouts. I’m not sure

 Zara’s POV “Zara, break’s over, Baby Girl. I just sat booth eighteen for ya. It’s a three top.” Toya, the hostess, interrupts my lunch break that turned into a spontaneous mini study session. “Thank you, Toya.” I hook a pencil in my notebook and shove it all in my backpack.  “Zara, something’s wrong. I just don’t know what.” Lavender was suddenly at attention. “It’s because I got interrupted, Lavender.” I dismiss her concerns. “It startled me. I’m just stressed with all the homework assignments and still having to work. Everything's fine.” “Maybe it’s time to ask for fewer shifts?” She worries. “I’ll consider it at the end of the semester.” I do my best to appease m

  Time seems to have stopped, so I don’t know how long it is before I feel Mom’s hand on my back. “Are you okay, Honey?”   “Mom, no, I’m not okay. Look what they did to her.” I look up at Mom. Behind her Jasper is behind her, wiping tears out of his eyes. “She was at the diner working. It’s not like she was somewhere by herself.”   I look back up at Zara and hold her hand up to my cheek, trying desperately to feel the mate bond, but it’s still not there. I hope she can feel it. Can she feel me here?   “Zara? Can you hear us?” Mom looks at Zara with worry and lightly touches her forehead. Seeing how gentle Mom treats Zara makes me smile through my tears. Years of having to deal with Jensen, Skylar, and me have given her a tough skin. It makes me feel better knowing she’s on Zara’s side.   A small groan comes from Zara’s chest that could be mistaken for a growl. She

When we get back to the car, I help Zara into the passenger side and buckle her seatbelt.“Thanks for all your help, Greg. I really don’t know how to repay you.” I shake his hand before I get in the car.“You can repay me by making sure that young lady stays safe,” He winks, “and gets accepted by her mate sooner than later.”I look at the ground and nod. “I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”I climb into the car and make my way down the main road toward the front gate. I glance over at Zara to make sure she’s okay. She’s looking out the window, with her hands fidgeting in her lap.“How do you feel, Pocket? Ready to get home?”“Keller, I want to do something special to thank Jasper for saving me,” she taps her finger on her mouth while she looks out the window.“Okay, did you have something in mind?” I lean over, pull a little leaf out of her hair, and hand it to her.

Between the bathtub and ice packs, I’m able to keep Zara’s body temperature under control, but just barely. Every time I leave and come back into the room, her skin is turning pink again, so I keep going. Repeating the process of cool baths and ice packs over and over. I get a notification that I have a delivery. I look at my watch. It’s already four-thirty. When I open the door, a man with a cart full of bags of ice comes in, followed by another guy with a giant ice maker like you would see in a restaurant. They fill my freezer and hook up the ice maker, showing me how to use it before they leave. There’s only one person who could have made this happen. I pull out my phone and send a text. Keller: Thanks Mom Amy: Take care of her, Honey. She needs you.  I look at the text and frown. Yeah, Zara needs someone, but it’s not me. I make my way down to Zara’s room to tell her the good news about the ice delivery. When I open the door,