got attached. Yet at some point, Willow had become more than just my pet. She’d become a constant in my life that I intended to keep. I just hadn’t acknowledged that until now.
Until it was too late.
Because she still wasn’t breathing or moving.
I didn’t understand it.
Was it a result of my blood impacting her transformation? Did she need more?
I shook my head, agonized over the insanity of this entire situation. And I did the only thing I could—I bit my wrist and placed it in front of her snout. It was all I could offer her. I’d tried to change her, I’d tried to cure her, and now I was going to force her to die with my blood on her lips.
Because she was mine to protect and I’d failed her.
I leaned in to press my face to her neck, my wrist against her snout, and I forgot about everyone in the room, the growls, the watching vampires, the waiting lycans, and focused only on Willow.
You weren’t supposed to leave me yet, I told her. I wasn’t done. We weren’t done.
She, of course, didn’t reply, but that wasn’t the point. I had to say these things, to make her understand, even in the afterlife, that she was cared for by at least me. As short as our time together was, I’d tried.
The world dealt her a cruel hand.
It wasn’t deserved.
The Blood Alliance had created this depraved, cold existence. It had to end. There had to be another way to coexist, one where we respected our food and didn’t torment them in this nature.
I vowed to her silently that I would avenge her, that I would find the wolves who did this and end them.
Then I would dismantle the alliance.
Those assholes allowed this debauchery to exist. They thrived on it. And I was done playing their fucked-up game. Lilith wanted me to behave. Well, I would show her a behavior that made my previous actions appear angelic.
I growled with the need for vengeance, my hands tightening into fists. I wanted to rant and rage and destroy.
This fucking world would go down in—
Everything stopped, my senses going on high alert. I’d heard the faintest hint of something. Had I imagined it? Was I losing my mind?
I waited.
And waited.
And then I froze all over again at the subtle beat.
I lifted to stare down at Willow, my wrist still by her snout.
Another minute passed.
Then I jolted as her tongue snaked out to lick my skin. The touch was followed by a wheeze as her lungs filled again, her immortality kicking in to repair any internal damage.
“Willow,” I whispered.
She didn’t reply, but her heart kicked off with another beat, and then another, and then more.
“She’s alive,” I marveled, stroking my fingers through her fur. Only then did I realize the room had gone silent around me, everyone having taken a few steps back to observe. I didn’t bother to ask why. I didn’t care. “She’s alive,” I repeated, my soul feeling whole once more.
How someone could impact me so strongly in so little time, I would never understand. Perhaps she just arrived at the right time, providing me with the mental outlet I didn’t know I needed.
However, now we would have time to figure it out. To move forward.
I won’t let anyone hurt you, I vowed, my desire to destroy the alliance still standing stern in my mind. You’re mine, sweet pet. My Willow.
She licked my wrist as though she heard me, and I chose to think of it as her claiming me in return.
“Do you realize what she is?” Jace asked, breaking the silence and drawing me out of my relieved state.
Rather than answer, I just looked at him, uncertain why he chose now to speak up. I arched a brow, the only indication he was going to receive that I’d heard him and that I was waiting for a follow-up comment.
“Ryder, you and Edon just created a fucking hybrid.”
“Well, Lilith’s going to love this,” Damien muttered.
I ignored him in favor of Jace. “A hybrid,” I repeated. “That’s… what?”
How could he tell that?
Willow wasn’t even awake yet.
Except, as I studied her now, I realized that I could smell it—the vampire and lycan mix inside her. “Oh, shit…”
23
Ryder
A hybrid.
We’d created a fucking hybrid.
I ran my palm over my face, then gripped the back of my neck. “She’s been living off my blood,” I said, pacing the length of my office. “I had no idea. I gave it to her to ensure her strength, wanting her