his head, his expression grim. “I’m better off on my own. I don’t want to bring more danger to your door.”
“I used to think that way too, but I was wrong. Out there, you’re alone. If you come home with me—”
“Alice, stop,” he said quietly. “I will find you again soon, I promise. I have to sort some things out.”
The sirens were loud now, and there were a lot of them. “We’ve got to go,” Malcolm urged.
Apparently Malcolm had taken some energy from Daniel, because my father heard him. He turned toward Malcolm and pointed at him. “You keep her safe, and tell Sean Maclin he’d better do the same.”
“Yes, sir,” Malcolm said. “Come on, Alice.”
Daniel cupped my cheek with his hand. “You may not look like her, but I recognize Moira in your voice, and the way you faced Murphy’s soldiers without fear,” he said, his voice rough. “Go home. I’ll see you when I can.”
There was no use arguing with him; I could see that in his eyes. I told myself he was leaving to protect me, but it hurt nonetheless. I’d never imagined he’d refuse to come home with me.
“Let me know you’re okay, at least,” I said finally. “Get me a message when you’re somewhere safe.”
“I will.” He got in the truck. The engine started with a rumble. He gave me a nod and floored it in the direction of the lot’s exit. In seconds, he’d turned the corner and disappeared.
I wanted to punch something. “Damn it.”
“Yeah.” Malcolm touched my shoulder. “You okay?”
“Not even remotely.” I headed for my vehicle with Malcolm trailing along behind me.
2
I woke from a vivid nightmare to find myself bathed in a cold sweat. My arms and legs seized painfully as my body tried to shift to wolf form.
Damn it, not again.
I gritted my teeth and clutched the bedding, trying to ride out the pain and spasms. A tiny sound escaped my clenched jaw—a cross between a whimper and a growl.
Sean had already pulled me close and wrapped warm, comforting alpha magic around me. He must have sensed the problem before I’d even woken up.
Though I wasn’t a werewolf, he’d had to treat me much like a newly turned shifter since my wolf started trying to force me to shift in my sleep. I struggled to understand the changes to my magic, body, and mind caused by the sorcerer magic I’d absorbed. My wolf’s restlessness wasn’t helping matters.
Sean pried my fingers loose from the comforter and gripped my hand. “Hold on to me,” he murmured, rubbing his chin on the top of my head.
I squeezed his hand gratefully. I still wasn’t used to turning to others for comfort, though I knew it made Sean happy and deeply contented to take care of me.
Usually these episodes passed relatively quickly, but this time the discomfort seemed to be getting worse instead of better. A particularly severe spasm made my back arch. Pain lanced down both of my legs. I cried out.
Sean cursed. His eyes flared bright gold in the darkness of our bedroom.
My wolf responded by pushing me aside roughly to look out through my human eyes. The feeling of displacement caused a wave of intense dizziness and heat. My vision turned gold around the edges.
“Be calm,” Sean told her, his voice resonant with alpha magic.
Before, she’d obeyed immediately and stopped trying to force my body to shift. This time, however, she responded with a low growl. She prowled in my mind, her ears back and lip curled to show a few teeth. My skin prickled painfully.
Sean snarled. Alpha power rose, but not the comforting warmth I was used to. Instead, it seared me and pushed my wolf back with brute force. He’d never done that to her before. She whined in pain and unhappiness.
“Stop,” I snapped, but he kept pushing until she hunkered down. He wasn’t just dominating my wolf; he was dominating me too, and I was instantly furious. I wouldn’t be mastered by anyone, for any reason—not after twenty years of captivity by my grandfather.
My wolf growled, but she retreated into the shadows in my head, her tail between her legs. Finally, my limbs stopped seizing. I went limp in Sean’s arms, gasping for breath and shivering. My arms and legs ached down to the bones. He tried to pull me against his chest, but I was angry and resisted. “Why did you do that?” I asked, my voice rough.
“Because I had to. I should have done it before, but