“We really have to stop meeting like this, Dad.”

He was not amused by my attempt at levity. “You almost bled out this time, Avery, even with the shift. If your brother hadn’t been on hand to donate blood….” He shook his head and scrubbed a hand down his bearded face. My dad was an Alpha wolf and could remain stoic in the direst of circumstances, but he couldn’t fool me. He was struggling to keep it together. “I can’t even say it.”

I’d been awake for only a few minutes. Somehow, I’d made it to the school’s infirmary, and they’d stuck me in a real hospital bed this time, hooked up to all kinds of cables and cords. Some pain lingered, but the doctors must’ve worked some dazzling healing magic on me, because all my body parts seemed to be in one piece and on the mend. My beast dozed contentedly within me.

When I’d first opened my eyes, some torturous reflex had me checking the chair in the corner for Heath.

For a horrifying moment, I missed him.

And then I remembered that I hated him.

Luckily, it was Dad in the chair instead, and he informed me that it was midmorning, which meant I’d been out for a solid ten hours.

My fox dad, Joseph, had commandeered Dr. Lee’s stool, and he rolled over to my side.

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly. He wore his long golden hair down today, a fatherly angel watching over my sickbed.

“Pretty good, all things considered.” I scooted to sit up against my pillows. “Where’s Ian? And Kai? Did the wraiths kill anyone on campus? What the hell happened to the wards?”

Joseph patted my hand. “Calm. No one died. The Guardians sent a team to protect the wall while the Council’s on-call specialists repaired the wards. You and the rather impressive quad who brought you here were able to kill all the wraiths that made it onto campus.”

“And your brother and Kai are guarding the door. Ian is insisting that these boys—” Dad slanted me a very pointed look. “—should not be allowed in here to see you. He has already stabbed the bear once.”

I blinked at him.

“And Kai is understandably concerned for Ian’s safety, so he’s keeping an eye on things.”

I nodded absently. It had been too much to hope that the Blackwell Quad would just go away and leave me alone.

“Honey.” Dad peered at me, a smile pulling at his mouth. “They said you’re Fated.”

“Declared it, actually,” Joseph added. “And demanded to be let in here once you’d been stabilized.”

“But Ian announced that it would be over his desecrated corpse that they be allowed anywhere near you, then words were exchanged, and after that all the stabbing happened.”

Joseph squeezed my hand again. “Is it true? Did you meet your Fated?”

Don’t think this means anything, Avery.

She’s no one, Eleanor.

You know you aren’t an option.

I shut my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I would not cry. Not now. Not after all I’d just survived.

“It is true,” I whispered. “But I don’t want them.”

My dads exchanged concerned looks. “Why not, honey?” Dad asked slowly.

“Because they didn’t want me,” I snapped.

Joseph looked taken aback, while Dad’s eyes widened a fraction of a millimeter.

“They were just like every other Prime quad—on the hunt for their latent princess,” I added wearily. “Which they told me, and they did not mince words. They only care now because it turns out we’re Fated.”

“Ah.” Dad sat back in his chair and gave that some thought. “Well, I wouldn’t expect them to give up easily, honey. While we weren’t Fated to your mother, I’ve heard the pull to one’s Moon-blessed mate is as strong as the pull that solidifies for the rest of us after a true bonding. It can be all-consuming when there are beasts on both sides. These power quads who’ve been taught that the strongest bonds are created via a latent partner may be… unprepared for that.”

My reply was stone-cold. “My beast and I are on the same page about this.”

Mostly. She was sleeping, so she might have a stronger opinion when she woke up and we were no longer bleeding to death, but out in those woods she’d been… conflicted, to say the least.

That was fine. I was in charge, and I’d be unconflicted enough for the both of us.

Dad studied me. “All that said, you’re in control of your own life, Avery. We’d never push you to accept a bonding with men who don’t deserve you, Fated or not. You have two sharp swords and one hell of a beast. Set your boundaries and ruthlessly enforce them.”

“If there’s anything left of those boys after Ian’s finished with them,” Joseph added with a grim smile. “His attitude makes more sense now. It sounds like they hurt you, honey. I’m so sorry.”

“They did,” I said softly. “I’m sorry, too, J.”

The door slammed open, and Ian marched in. He wore flannel pajama pants stuffed into his boots and a plain white T-shirt, and his ash-blond hair was askew. His katana was in his hand, the blade resting on his shoulder, and he had bags under his eyes. Did he sleep at all last night?

“Oh, you’re awake,” he said, stopping in his tracks to look me over with a critical eye. “Good.”

“Hello to you too,” I said drolly. “Are they really just letting you stab people in the hallways of the school infirmary?”

He snorted, lifting a haughty chin. “The school is going to let me do whatever the fuck I want after their supposedly world-class wards failed and my sister almost died saving their asses. The dean has already been by to let Dad know that our scholarships have been increased from partial to full next year.”

I sat up straighter. “Do they know what happened to the wards?”

“They are being very tight-lipped,” Dad replied. “But a complete failure at only a segment of the perimeter stinks of tampering to me.”

“Kai agrees,” Ian said. Kai was the ward specialist in our family. “The fact that even swarmers made it over the wall means a complete erasure, not a gradual wearing down or a part that wasn’t charged up enough last Full Moon.”

Great. It appeared we were under attack by more than just a bunch of decrepit, festering monsters. A strong Giant could occasionally break through even a solid ward, but my family was right—someone had created a wide-open doorway at the front gates of the campus.

Good thing that was not my particular problem because I had enough of those.

“Who, uh….” I fidgeted with the IV line connected to my hand. “Who all knows about my beast now?”

Ian slid his sword into the sheath on his back, and then he sat down on the end of my bed. He gave my leg a reassuring pat over the covers. “Rest easy, Aves. Brody’s been added to the circle of trust. It couldn’t be helped—he was with me when I got the call that you’d been—” His voice cracked, and I reached for his hand. He accepted my squeeze, and then he speared me with a terrible glare. “For fuck’s sake, can you please stop doing this to me? You almost bled to death! What if I hadn’t been here to donate blood?”

“I’m sorry, Ian.”

“You’re damn right, you’re sorry. Do you know how much it pains me to be even a little bit thankful to that quad of dickheads because they got you here in time to save your life?”

I snorted a humorless laugh. “Let me unburden you, then. I only nearly ended up wraith food because they abandoned me alone in those woods.”

He was on his feet, his blade back in his hand as he stormed toward the door. “I’ll kill them. They left that little nugget out of the story, those motherfuckers⁠—”

Dad moved in a blink, sliding in front of the door to block Ian’s way. “Nope. I’m not going to allow you to wave your sword at that group of Primes again, especially that basilisk. Sit and calm down.”

Ian stomped to the corner and flopped into the chair like a sulky toddler.

“To finish answering your question, honey,” Joseph said, “only Ian’s boyfriend and those four boys know about your tiger. We did impress upon the boys the extreme need for secrecy, but they’d already reached that conclusion themselves.”

“I know you’re upset with them—” Dad began.

“Understatement,” I said.

“—but regardless, the drive to protect you will be overwhelming. Your secret is safe with your Fated.”

Ian peered at me, his face sullen. “So it’s true, then?”

“Unfortunately,” I replied, just as sullen. “Why else would they be here, acting like they care now?”

Just go, Avery. For fuck’s sake.

Honestly, how dare they?

He cracked a wry laugh. “Right. Fuckers.”

A knock sounded at the door, and Dr. Lee stuck his face inside. He seemed amused about something. “Hello, Avery. I came by to check on you, but also, I believe you have a visitor.”

My hackles shot straight up. “If it’s one of the Blackwell Quad⁠—”

He shook his head. “No, although I think he’s affiliated with them? He appears to be a purple python.”

Joseph’s golden brows hit his hairline. “A what?”

I relaxed—slightly. “He can come in.”

The door opened, and Dr. Lee slipped inside. Tall, fit, cheekbones that could cut glass, shiny black hair that one could have no doubt would be silky-soft to the touch. Dark, kind eyes and endless patience for bullshit. He looked fresh, which meant I was catching him early in his shift.

At Dr. Lee’s entrance, Ian sat up straighter and wiped the scowl from his face. I coughed and rolled my eyes at him.

George slithered in behind Dr. Lee and made straight for my bed.

“Hey, buddy,” I cooed at him. “Where have you been?”

Dad stood rigid against the wall, and Joseph went deathly still on his stool. While George made his leisurely way up into my bed, they stared at me like they were concerned I’d lost some faculties out there in those woods.

“Relax, Dads,” Ian drawled. “That’s George. He belongs to the basilisk, but he’s super fond of Aves. I’m pretty sure he’ll choose to live with her after the divorce.”

George curled himself into a pile next to me and draped his head across my thighs. I stroked the smooth scales on his head.

“Fascinating,” Joseph said, relaxing. “Maybe George somehow sensed the Moon-given connection between your beast and the basilisk. Wouldn’t that be something?”

I scowled. That was probably true and would explain a lot, but the idea that George’s affection for me was only due to Elijah’s beast being Fated to mine soured the whole thing a bit.

Dr. Lee reviewed my chart on his tablet, and then he approached the bed. “Do you mind, George? I need to check Avery’s injuries. She had quite an ordeal last night.”

George hissed at him.

“Sorry about that,” I said sheepishly. “I haven’t seen him in weeks, so he’s being clingy.”

Dr. Lee chuckled. Such a saint, this man. “I see. Well, I’ll do what I can.”

He worked quickly through his exam, humming approvingly at some points, frowning and tutting at others. The frowns were usually accompanied by the soft, buzzing warmth of magic as Dr. Lee used his healing affinity to move things along.

Dull pain lingered in the leg the Giant had broken, and the wounds and lacerations I had all over my body stung a bit as they continued to heal. I had internal injuries that I suspected had taken up the bulk of the magical healing work, both for my tiger and for whoever was on call last night when I was brought in.

I was sore and weak, but with Ian’s blood pumping through my veins and my beast in her peaceful healing sleep, I’d be good as new in a few days.

“All right, I’m satisfied,” Dr. Lee announced, stepping away to make more notes on his tablet. “Everything is healing as it should. I’d like to keep you here for observation for another twenty-four hours, and then I’ll release you. After that, I suggest you head home with your family, since the semester’s pretty much over.” He smiled at me, a twinkle in those dark eyes. “I’d prefer as many capable hands keeping you out of trouble as possible for the next few weeks.”

Ian saluted him. “On it, Doc.”

“Good man.” He made his way to the door, then paused with his hand on the knob to toss a conspiratorial look over his shoulder. “I’ll be seeing both of you this summer at Guardian training. It’s my turn to be camp doc this year.”

I blinked in surprise, and Ian just grinned like it was his birthday.

Dr. Lee didn’t wait for a response. He left, clicking the door shut softly behind him.

Ian sighed dreamily, and then he looked at Dad where he lingered near the door. “You should go reinforce Kai. He thinks the situation in the waiting room is mostly amusing, but I don’t trust those assholes not to try something to try to get back here. Again.”

My stomach curdled at the mention of the proximity of my not-mates.

Dad sighed. “Fine. I’ll go growl at that Alpha. He’s impressive, but now I know why his tail was between his legs earlier.” He gave me one last look full of concern. “Now that you’re awake, I can give them a definitive yes or no. Do you want to see them?”

We told you the cold, hard truth. You aren’t it for us.

I didn’t need to think about it. “Fuck no.”

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