It had been twenty-four hours since Cliff was shot. Her wolf didn't want to leave Cliff's side even though she'd been beside him almost every hour since she woke yesterday afternoon with only a dull headache as a reminder of the coercion she'd used. He may not be her mate, but he was still an old friend, and she hated how lifeless he looked. He'd taken a bullet for her - not a silver one - but it had almost pierced his heart and would have if his rib hadn't got in the way. It still did plenty of damage while bouncing around in his chest.

If he were human she wouldn't be so concerned, well maybe she would, but he was a wolf. He should be half-way healed by now but his wound hadn't closed. Doc thought it was the silver. Aiyana suspected it was more than that. She knew from experience that emotional trama could be just as hard on a body as physical trama and for some reason, he'd truly seemed hurt when she'd broken the bond.

She checked the clock hanging on the wall over the door. There was only a half-hour before the meeting that Alpha Miguel had arranged with the European and American Counsel representatives. She'd heard and felt them gathering in the kitchen for the last hour, some of them were strong alphas. She should be getting ready, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Cliff was more important that the stupid dagger.

Aiyana ran her fingers down the side of Cliff's head behind his ear, or more accurately, her wolf did. It was quite a change from the way she usually turned her back whenever Cliff was near. It would be better to let him sleep but she wanted to at least see his eyes before she left. Maybe a tiny bit of coercion would help.

"Wake up Cliff."

He blinked, then grimaced and touched his chest. Relief flooded her at the same time as concern for his pain.

"How do you feel?"

His dark eyes turned to hers and the corner of his mouth moved up, just a little, along with his hand. She shivered as his fingers brushed his cheek. For Nate's sake, she knew she should move away, but her wolf pressed into his touch.

"I've been better. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, you took the bullet for me."

His fingers moved from her cheek to behind her ear. Her wolf really liked that. She put her hand over his to stop him before she did something she'd regret, like nuzzling him the way her wolf was urging her to do. She didn't pull his hand away though. No, she thought of a question to ask so she could prolong the contact.

"I thought I told you to stay here. How did you ignore my coercion?"

It was almost a smirk the way he was looking at her, but there was something else too, a longing that made her heart long in return.

"You told me to stay AND eat. I ate, therefore I no longer had to stay. Computer logic," he started to laugh, and then grimaced and clutched his chest. "I did learn something in school."

She put her hand over his on his chest, wishing she could take away the pain or better, heal him.

"You always were one of the smart ones."

He shook his head. "No. That was you. No one could compete with you."

She didn't know what to say to that, so she just gave him a small smile. "Would you like something to eat? It's morning. I bet there's still some bacon left."

"In a house full of wolves? Ha!" He grimaced again, making her wolf whine in worry.

"There are very special guests today. I'm sure there's something good in the kitchen. Is there anything in particular you'd like?"

"I'm not really hungry. Maybe water?"

He closed his eyes as she touched his forehead. "Just because I'm not hungry doesn't mean I'm sick."

"You're a full-grown male werewolf who hasn't eaten in nearly twenty-four hours. I'm surprised you're not moaning about the cavernous emptiness of your stomach."

He didn't feel warm, in fact, he felt cooler than she expected. She really was horrible at telling temperature by touch. She went to the counter along the wall and retrieved a thermometer from one of the drawers. "Open your mouth."

"I feel fine."

"No you don't. Open your mouth."

He rolled his eyes, but he did open his mouth. A few seconds later she had her answer.

"What does it say?" Cliff asked.

She lay the thermometer on the tray next to the bed and marched over to retrieve the blanket off the other bed. "You're cold."

It was only a couple of degrees below normal human temperature but wolves tended to run warm. How much blood had he lost? She tossed the blanket over him. "You need food. I'll get you a little bit of everything."

He put his arm across his stomach and she could have sworn he got even paler. "I really don't think I can eat."

Her wolf could sense something wasn't right but she didn't have enough experience to know what it was. She'd just picked up her phone when Doc walked in the door.

"Good morning. How's our patient?"

"Thank goodness you're here. His temperature is low and he's not hungry. My wolf says something is wrong."

Doc raised an eyebrow at her. "When did your wolf earn a medical degree?"

"Please, Doc. Take a look."

A larger form filled the door. "There you are Aiyana," Alpha Miguel said. "Mimi said she hadn't seen you yet this morning. The meeting starts in twenty minutes. You should get something to eat after you change. Oh, and tell your mate his mother just arrived."

What was Nate's mother doing here and how had she forgotten she was still in the flannel shorts and the over-sized T-shirt she wore for bed?

"What meeting?" Cliff asked.

"Not only is Tahmas Breac the alpha of one of the oldest packs in the world, he's also head of the European Council," Alpha Miguel explained. "I called them yesterday to inform them of his attack on my people and they said representatives were en route to handle the matter. Knowing how the Europeans feel about Americans, my next call was to the American Council." He let out a puff of air. "And I thought college students were full of themselves. The amount of posturing going on in the kitchen is ... well, it's like a flock of peacocks are strutting around in there. On second thought, Aiyana, you should ask Nate to get you some food. They're bound to notice your power if you go to the kitchen. One other other thing, who gave the command to attack right before you put everyone to sleep? You put Tamhas to sleep first, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"So who gave the command to attack? I didn't feel anyone pushing a command."

"I didn't either."

Alpha Miguel turned his gaze to Cliff. "How did you know what was going to happen?"

"I didn't. I just wanted to make sure Aiyana was safe and I saw that blond woman raise the gun as I entered the room, so I reacted."

"Aiyana's lucky you were there."

"He's not so lucky though," Doc said.

Cliff's dark eyes focused on her. "I would do it again."

Her wolf squeaked out a little whine in her head. Aiyana stepped forward and put her hand over Cliff's which was still resting on his chest. "I pray you never have to."

She wanted to sit by his bed and rest her head against his shoulder, or her wolf wanted to anyway, but Alpha Miguel spoke. "Aiyana, you need to hurry. I want you to wake Tamhas before we move him out of his cell. I don't think anyone needs to see that but us."

She squeezed Cliff's hand. "I'll come by to check on you when I have a break."

He nodded, then closed his eyes. She'd never noticed how long his dark lashes were before, but then his cheeks had never been so pale.