Kira“Are you ready?”Perrin puffed beside me. He was up early, his own mind racing about tonight’s patrol. I hadn’t slept a wink. I was up for most of the night, restless and staring at the ceiling. I didn’t want my thoughts muddied by that stupid potion as I’d have enough in my system soon enough. I was paying the price, my pace feeling slower than usual.I replied, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”“Any idea who you’re paired with yet?” he asked, breathing hard. We rounded a corner and started an uphill mile. It was still dark, the faint orange of the morning just teasing the horizon. “Nope. Janas just said it’ll be a new recruit. Somebody I don’t know well enough. Probably someone I haven’t sparred with.”“Who’s left?” He knew I had beaten nearly three quarters of the Alpha Guard by now.I wiped sweat off my face. “Not many. But Janas said it would be someone who wouldn’t know my scent either. That’s important.”Perrin nodded, grunting as we made the final ascent. “So that leaves…” his

KiraI ran. Hard. Not to punish him, but to silence the battle going on within my mind. There were no sounds except my own harsh breathing, which was beginning to match the ragged breathing coming behind me. There were no words except the periodic crackling of the radio in the quiet of the night.As agreed upon weeks ago, Mark had started issuing hourly notices as the time crept by. Janas had instituted it shortly after Ethan’s attack, making sure that each radio carried by a patrol pair had its volume turned up to hear any announcement. Ben had carried the radio tonight, strapped to his hind leg. Despite being my partner, that was one part of the plan that had gone off without a hitch. There was a reverse call button that could be pressed by a wolf’s paw, alerting headquarters of our location in case of danger without speech. It was meant for immediate purposes; could be pushed by either the wearer or his partner. Any need to really communicate required phasing and talking directly

DeidreThe stretcher comes careening into the operating room, Jennivah steering with a frenzy. Her eyes are wild; nearly afraid. I’ve never seen her like this, even after Ethan.“What the hell happened?” I bark at her, putting on my own scrubs. I haven’t even shed my blazer. Jason called merely five minutes earlier. That was not part of our plan. This was not part of our plan.Jennivah parks the cart and I prepare myself for what I see. I do my best to separate the mother and healer. She’s just another patient. Just. Another. Patient. I turn to the gurney only to see Kira’s bloodied body on full display beneath the fluorescents. I am not prepared. My heart constricts and I force back the bile rising in my throat.My blood is all over her. Light scrapes cover her body, but she’s swollen. Red. And raw.Jennivah manages, “Irene is with Ben. He’s pretty shaken up.”“Is she stable?” My eyes don’t leave her body but I can hear how empty my voice is.“Yes. Mark used a cannula to keep her a

PerrinShe is all curves. More lush, more prominent; higher peaks and lower valleys. I had made love to her less than a day ago. But now? I feel like I’m exploring her body now as if it were our first time. I can’t believe how quickly she’s changing beneath my fingertips as I trace every inch of her.I know Lo. I know her heart. And in her careful, subtle way, she has made her point. It’s not truly because she seeks attention; she doesn’t feel abandoned or abused. Nor did she threaten me with the warning of our flame going out. Rather, she’s giving me pause to think, to check myself; to ensure that I don’t start down a path I can’t come back from. She wants to ensure that later, I don’t regret missing the most precious, milestone moments of our lives: the ones that I don’t forecast to want to remember, but she knows that I allow myself to be caught and carried away by other things. She always cares about our future, even if I’m tied up more in the present.I press my lips to hers, the

Deidre The meeting with Sinbad was painful. Exhausting. And no matter what Jason said, he wasn’t satisfied with our answers. He will be doubling his patrol on our shared borders until further notice, with mandatory check-ins with Mark or Janas every twelve hours. Goddess I’m exhausted. I trek back to my suite, hoping for just a few hours worth of sleep before I have to go do night duty. As obnoxious as Sinbad, I’m requiring Irene and Jennivah to text me hourly updates. Kira is still out cold. Knowing my luck she’ll wake up when I’m with Sirius tonight. But I can’t think about that right now. In the back of my mind I’ve been praying that I injected enough sleeping draught two nights ago to keep him out cold. I’m crawling into bed just as the door to our suite creaks open. “Cynthia? I need rest. Please postpone everything until tomorrow.” But then the door to our bedroom opens, and Jason slips inside. “I’ll make sure to tell her.” “Hah. Hah.” I say, pulling the sheets over me. “Ser