LISA

Three fucking weeks.

No matter how many times I count, it''s been three fucking weeks.

The calendar on my wall mocks me, today''s date staring me in the face from any particular point of my kitchen.

Selene whines when I nearly step on her paw for the third time this morning. "Sorry, girl. Give me a second, and we''ll go see her."

I''m drenched in sweat. Jericho hasn''t blinked a single eyelash over Ava being in the hospital, and we''ve all settled into a new kind of normal.

It''s not normal at all, but it''s life now. At least until Ava wakes up again.

I''m stronger. Faster, though nothing compared to these shifters who surround me. I''m learning some basic self-defense, and Selene has helped with the hands-on training to evade and defend against wolf attacks.

I have bruises and wounds everywhere, and a few of them have even gotten infected, but Healer Vanessa is a godsend who always has some magical cream on her somewhere. Antibacterial, antifungal, prevents scarring, and smells divine. I have no idea why they don''t sell it in the human markets.

Probably because they''d never be able to keep up with the demand. For all I know, it probably reduces wrinkles, too. Shifters age well, though, so who knows. Maybe they don''t need wrinkle cream.

I slip into the shower, with Selene''s reproachful blue eyes watching me.

The water pounds against my back, a blistering reminder of just how tense I''ve been. I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to punch something.

Preferably Kellan, if he was even here. He''s not as scary as Lucas, but just high enough in the pecking order to earn my rage.

He hasn''t been around much lately, too busy running the Westwood pack while Lucas plays vigilant mate at the hospital. I get it, I do. Lucas has every right to be there, and Kellan has every responsibility to keep things running smoothly. But fuck if I don''t feel like I''m drowning in this new world without any sort of lifeline.

Vanessa''s in the same boat. She hasn''t seen her mate, some high-up shifter in the pack called Vester, in two weeks, not since he left for the Blackwood territory to keep things running there. I can''t even imagine how she''s holding up, but she never lets it show. Always the consummate professional, that one.

But she doesn''t. She hasn''t for three fucking weeks.

Selene jumps up on the bed, curling up at Ava''s feet. She''s been doing that more and more lately, like she''s trying to protect her.

I lean back in my chair, closing my eyes for a moment. I''m so tired, so fucking tired of all of this.

Lucas is nearly feral with his intense devotion to Ava, and I worry about their future when she wakes up.

I have a feeling he''s going to go a little overboard.

There was the incident last week when Clayton, the Aspen alpha, came to visit. It had taken five shifters to get Lucas calmed down enough to let Clayton in to visit, especially when he''d heard about the pregnancy test Vanessa had to run.

I can only imagine how bad it would have been if Ava were pregnant with Clayton''s kid. Yikes.

But that''s a conversation to have another day, when she''s awake and back with us.

For now, he never leaves her side. Every so often Kellan drags him off to shower and shave, and Vanessa always leaves him meals that he barely picks at, muttering that he can''t eat when Ava can''t eat.

Vanessa loves to point out that Ava is eating, through her veins, courtesy of a giant bag that looks like milk going through her IV. She calls it TPN. Some kind of liquefied food.

It smells disgusting, like vinegar and feet, but at least it''s keeping Ava alive.

I settle in for another day of waiting and praying, curling my hand around hers.

That''s when Selene''s head jerks up, her ears pricked forward and tail wagging just a little.

Lucas doesn''t seem to notice; he ignores Selene''s presence, to the point I''d almost be convinced she doesn''t exist.

Then I feel it.

Ava''s hand twitches.