เข้าสู่ระบบ"Iris." A soft knock sounded on my bedroom door, and I pulled myself off the edge of the bed where I'd been lying, and walked to the door. Cassian stood on the other side, a slim box the length of a ruler in his hand. "Yeah?" We were both supposed to be doing some last minute packing, but behind me, my duffel bag was still mostly empty, with the clothes I was supposed to take lying scattered on my bed. I yawned widely, then stepped aside for Cassian to enter. "Are you alright?" I nodded, heading back to the bed. "I'm fine." Cassian followed me, and placed a hand on my forehead. There was a thin layer of sweat on me, but my skin still felt uncomfortably warm. "You're definitely not fine," Cassian said. "You look sick. I don't think Saoirse's spell is holding out.""I feel fine," I insisted. "I'm just a little tired from doing an extra shift at work. I didn't want Betty to have to do so much work now that we'll be gone for a while." "This is more than being a little tired, Iris
Barely two days had passed since Saoirse put the spell on Iris to keep her from feeling the effects of the heat relapse. So far, it was holding up. Iris and I had another conversation about the pros and cons of going with Saoirse back to the witch settlement, and at the end, I didn't have much of a counterargument. Iris needed her curse broken, and Saoirse had somehow managed to convince her that we wouldn't be lynched upon entry of the settlement. Werewolves may not like witches, but witches detested us even more. The only other thing I could do, apart from march my shoulders down to that settlement, and demand they help us by force, was to go with Iris and keep her safe by myself. "Max," I said through the mindlink. "Please, come to my office now."A second later, Max arrived, looking surprised and suspicious at the same time. He gave me a long look. "Are you dying?" "No." He gasped. "Is Iris dying? Is she really that sick?" "What? No!" Years of dealing with Max's dramatic
Iris insisted on walking back home on her own even though she was obviously still shaky. I allowed it as far as the doors of the hospital before scooping her into my arms and ignoring her surprised squeak. "Hey! Put me down," she hissed, looking around. "People will see!" "They already saw me carry you in here, so what exactly are you worried about?" I asked. "Well... That was different. I'm awake right now." I raised an eyebrow as I walked us back home. "And?" "And..." Her cheeks reddened. "It's weird." I smiled a bit as I stared at her flushed face. It didn't take much to make Iris flustered, and it always showed on her skin. She wiped a hand across her face self-consciously. "Is there something in my face?" "No," I replied. "Then why are you..." She trailed off, her eyes falling to my lips. She blinked, swallowed, then cleared her throat and attempted to sit straight, forgetting that she was in my arms. I held her tighter to keep her from falling out of my grip. "Sit sti
"Let me get this straight," Saoirse said, staring at both Cassian and I in disbelief. "You want me to cast a spell that will make you not want to fuck each other?" She looked at us like we were both crazy. "It sounds so weird when you put it like that," I mumbled. "But yes....that's the gist of it." "What?" She gaped at me. "You can't just tell me something like that without giving me any more explanation? What's the story behind this?" I was still in the hospital bed, and Cassian was still sitting beside me, holding my hand. He'd mindlinked Lily, who had passed the message to Saoirse that she was needed at the pack hospital. "Can you do it or not?" Cassian asked, impatient. Saoirse gave him a look. "Maybe you should tell me why I have to cast this spell before making demands, hmm?" When Cassian simply glared at her, she continued, waving a hand in my direction. "Have you seen her? She's a knockout. Why would you want to pass up on that?" She turned to me, pointing at Cassian
Doctor Ethel left Cassian and I alone to take in the news. The silence in the room was so thick and tense you could cut it with a knife. It wasn't everyday you were told you had to have sex with your mate (or anyone, really) for the first time for medical reasons. Why did my body choose to betray me like this? For that matter, why did Althea???I wondered what Cassian was thinking. A glance at him didn't tell me much. He had mastered the art of keeping a neutral expression. I felt for Althea in my mind. She wasn't as active as she usually was. In fact, I could feel the lethargy and weakness rolling off her. "Are you alright?" I asked her. "Been better," she murmured. "So...you're really feeling this way because you haven't...um...done Wrath yet?" Althea laughed softly. "Done?" "You know what I mean," I mumbled. "I guess so," she replied. "I didn't realize it at first, but when I did, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to feel pressured. Mating with someone especiall
I woke up to a familiar hand clutching mine, and Cassian staring down at me worriedly. My head was pounding, and my vision was slightly blurry. My mouth felt dry, and I was hot all over. Despite all these, my stupid brain somehow still found the energy to find the little furrow between Cassian's eyebrows attractive."Iris!" Cassian's eyes went wide when he saw I was awake, and he leaned in closer a bit. "How do you feel?" I breathed deeply, meaning to draw in some of his scent, but was instead assaulted with the strong scent of antiseptic, and multiple other scents, both weak and strong. Where the hell was I? Usually, Cassian's scent was the only one present at home. And mine too, but I never noticed that. I looked around. White walls. A hospital bed rail surrounding me. "Why am I in a hospital?" I asked weakly. "You passed out," Cassian replied. "Don't you remember?" I shook my head. "I remember you waking me up." Looking around again, I finally noticed that I was hooked up







