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click-clack of nails on wood clued him into his visitor, and Kira eased into the living room behind
Ebenezer.
Without a word, she padded toward him and he held out his arm, welcoming her onto his lap.
With her there, cuddled against him, he could push through the story. Get it out once and for all and
never talk about it again.
Kira drew her knees up and pressed her head to his shoulder, giving him the strength to talk.
You remember the burn, huh? he murmured, not waiting for an answer from Ty. The hyena alpha
got his eldest brother first. The two leaders facing off before all hell broke loose. The burn and the
way your blood flowed like it wouldn t stop.
How many pints had he replaced in body after body by the time all was said and done? At some
point, sterilization became secondary to saving lives. He could heal an infection. He couldn t bring
someone back from the dead.
Trent went down first. He fought at my side and some fucking hyena got him in the goddamned
throat. He closed his eyes, recalling the flash of claws, the shine that coated them before they were
embedded in Trent s neck.
Surprise flitted across his friend s face a split-second before pain suffused his features. Then&
then death. The fucking hyena looked at him, eyes crazed, irises golden in the dim light, and Isaac lost
it.
He went after the male, meeting strike after strike, taking a few and giving a few of his own, but
his body wouldn t heal. Blood pumped and pushed at the wounds, soaking his clothing and sliding
down his body.
But he kept going. The asshole killed Trent. The fuckers were going after others in their clan and
the Redby pack.
The next swing caught his face, claws barely missing his eye, but the bastard might as well have
taken it. Blood filled his vision.
He couldn t see, couldn t meet the threats to him, to his Itan. He stepped forward and&
I tripped over Trent s body. He knew his friend was dead. Knew it in his heart. But still he
tripped over his friend and immediately felt guilt. What if he d hurt the bear, what if he d&
Right. Trent was dead.
He was gone, but I did. Tripped and fell. Isaac remembered the fall. Even through his bloody
haze, he met the bear s stare. Expect it wasn t a stare, was it?
What about after?
After. After was worse.
Kira nuzzled him, easing closer and pressing her face to his neck. He lowered his head, buried his
nose in her hair and breathed deeply. He was surrounded by her, filled with her, and it gave him the
courage to continue. Even Ebenezer joined in the soothing touches, the dog hopping onto the couch
and cuddling next to him.
We treated them on the fly, Ty. You went back to the house. It was right. You needed to get Parker
back and save Mia. But you didn t see.
Bears didn t whine, they didn t cry out in pain. No, they silently eased toward death. Funny how
wolves were the same.
Do you know it was a hyena that saved us? He released a flat laugh. Fucking assholes hurt us,
nearly killed us, but one of their own told me how to help the males dying around me.
At the time, the hyena s hands shook as he dumped the baking soda into the water, stirring the
container to mix everything together. He didn t bother testing it on himself. He had patients who
needed him. Patients who were closer to death than he was and they were more important.
I managed to shift my hand to claws. Fuck, it hurt. The bear was trying to heal everything while
I m trying to heal everyone else and& it nearly brought me to my knees. He took a calming breath.
His bear fought him, scratched and scraped at him for revealing their vulnerability with their mate
nearby. It didn t want to risk her turning them away if she knew how weak they were. But I did it. I
wrapped a paw around that male s neck and watched him pour the mix over Lochlan. He was, he
shuddered. Lochlan was so, so young. At that point, he couldn t get any worse. I was on the edge of
losing him. Losing the boy in the middle of hyena territory, surrounded by their stench and lying in the
middle of the fucking street.
He took a calming breath, but it did nothing for the bear. It twitched and stretched inside him,
hating him for reliving the pain of that day. Not the physical agony. It could tolerate that without a
problem.
But recalling the faces&
Faces&
It saved Lochlan. And Steven. And Jack. And&
When did you treat yourself?
Him? Isaac barked out a mirthless laugh. It was over by then, I think. You had Parker back.
You d already taken care of Mia s uncle and Keen called me in a panic because you weren t healing.
I told him how to take care of you and then I collapsed. He huffed out a breath. I finished dousing
Callen and watched for healing. He was the last one. I managed to hang on and make sure he was
improving and then I just fell over.
He was done. Out of it, ready to die because of the pain. Fuck, the pain, had him ready to slit his
wrists.
How d you survive? Who treated you?
All of them. They&
At the time, each twitch brought him more pain, each jarring movement sent agony down his
spine. Why wouldn t they let him die in peace? He saved who he could and now it was his turn.
Leave me be.
Isaac was sure he d yelled those words, roared them at the top of his lungs, but no one listened.
They d run out of baking soda. He knew that. The males remaining upright went from home to home,
announcing the impending purge of hyenas while also demanding baking soda. Strange, yet necessary.
Only one thing neutralized the acid.
It d be funny if he weren t dying.
But he was. So it wasn t.
Kira nestled closer, Ebenezer pressing against him as well, and the two of them gave him strength.
They found two boxes at the end of the block. Men who d been at death s door five minutes ago
hunted for me and then refused to let me die. He d never forget the stinging stench of his own blood
mixed with the aromas in the hyena household. Even a few wolves helped. They busted down a few
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