"You might want to go." His words are clipped, not quite harsh, but not like him either.

"Go?"Is that what he thinks of me? That right now my instinct is to leave?Fuck, I wonder what he read in my file. I wonder if he knows my deepest, darkest secrets and now thinks of me as less than a man.

If he does, I’m going to show him each and every day that he’s wrong. That the military is wrong. That Iamsomeone of worth. A man.

Drawing my shoulders back, I stare down at him and the woman. "Not a chance. Now, how can I help?"

His gaze is back on the woman in his arms. "She has broken bones, deep gashes, and internal bleeding. If she were a human, these injuries would be a death sentence."

That’s obvious.So why tell me?

I decide to state the obvious. "But as a shifter… it'll just be painful weeks of healing. Can we get her pain meds? Then tend to her wounds? I’m sure you have about as much first aidknowledge as I do, so if we can get our hands on some pain meds, we can probably handle everything between us. Then, we’ll bunk down here for a while."

His mouth pulls into a thin line. "They won't give us the time. If she's not useful for weeks, the Enforcers will just imprison her."

The woman winces, her eyelids fluttering.

Did she hear his cruel words? Does she understand what’s at stake here?

"So, what do we do?" The easy answer is to call our superiors. But, clearly, when it comes to this woman, we don't go with the easy answer.

"Asha." He says her name with authority. "I need you to wake up."

What the hell is the plan here?"Max…"

"Go," he snaps at me.

What? So, he can wake the woman up to fully experience her pain? And then let her know she's no longer useful to us?

That's fucking cold.

"Waking her up won't change the simple fact–"

"Your commander gave you an order." His words are laced with a growl.

My damn commander? He's already going to play that card?

"If you read my file, you know I'm not good at following orders," I snap back at him, even knowing how unwise I'm being. But something here isn't adding up, and I'm determined to figure out what.

There's a long pause, then a shake of his head as he stares down at her. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Warn me about what?

Then he glances down at the supposedly dangerous woman. "Asha, it's time for you to wake up."

She winces and gives a tiny groan.

He shakes her a little, and my teeth clench. "Wake up, you stubborn woman!"

Her eyes crack open, and the blue of her irises is startling against her pale, blood-stained face. "Huh?"

"Max, maybe she should just rest…"How the hell did my brother get this cruel?

"Asha?" Her gaze moves unsteadily to his face as he speaks. "Feed on me."

Feed?

She starts to shake her head, then cries out in obvious pain.