Page 283 of Secret Shifters Next Door

He shook his head. “I haven’t. Maybe three hours here, two hours there. Sometimes I don’t sleep at all.”

“I think you’re depressed. You or your panther or both.”

I’d gone through something similar when Liam died.

He needed something in his body. I got him a glass of water since that was all he had. He sipped at it, looking at me over the rim of the glass. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Helping me. Taking care of me.”

It was becoming exhausting to get him to understand, but I tried again for the thousandth time. “Blayne, regardless of how much you hate me and my family, I still loved Liam. Even though he’s gone, I know he’d never forgive me if I let you suffer like this.”

Blayne’s face twisted, as if the water suddenly tasted bitter. “The dead can’t forgive anyone.”

He was trying to hurt me again, but it wouldn’t work. I was starting to think he was actually doing it to brainwash himself into thriving on the hatred. It wasn’t really even about me anymore. Knowing that took the sting out of his statement.

“Besides, aren’t you and your friends fighting some big bad wolf character? Isn’t that what you told me? If you aren’t at your full strength, then you aren’t any good to them. You can’t tell me you’d be up for a fight if the hunters came beating down your door right now.”

Blayne glared at me, but the fire in his eyes died rapidly, replaced with resigned disappointment. He gave an imperceptible shake of his head. “No, I guess not.”

“You need to get some rest.”

I could see that he wanted to argue, but his mind and body were too tired to fight it. Instead, he heaved himself up to his feet and started shambling down the hall. “No reason to be pushy,” he called over his shoulder.

I let myself out. How did you help a depressed shifter? I had no clue how to fix him. The only person I could think of who might help was April. She was a shifter now, and she was mated to one. Maybe she’d have some insight. It was still early in the morning, but I wouldn’t be able to think straight until I’d talked to someone.

To my surprise, April answered on the first ring. “Ava? What’s wrong?”

“Uh…hey, sorry to bother you this early.”

“No problem. Steff and I are out having breakfast with Harley and Tate. What's up?”

I sighed. “It’s Blayne. Something is definitely wrong with him. I wanted to see if you had any insight.”

“What’s going on with him?”

I explained how he had been acting, ending with his collapse in his yard this morning. “Do you or any of your friends know how he can get better?”

There was a moment of conversation away from the phone. April was talking to the others, but I couldn’t hear what was being said. When she spoke to me again, she sounded equally confused. “Ava, I’m not an expert, but it does sound like he is depressed. Tate wants to speak to you. Hang on.”

A moment later, the deep voice of the man I’d met in the coffee shop got on the line. “Ava? This is Tate.”

“Hey.”

“I’ll be honest, I’m glad you called. We’ve been worried about Blayne. He keeps trying to play off what’s happening with him like it’s no big deal, but we can see right through that.”

“Is there a way to fix it, some treatment he can get?”

“It’s tough. His panther’s emotions and feelings are bleeding over into his human body. The panther is in agony and suffering from the rejection. The loss is so deep that it’s more than mental. It’s a physical manifestation of a type of magical depression.”

That didn’t give me much hope. “Does that mean there isn’t a cure?”

“Here’s the deal. Blayne is not going to like it, and you probably won’t, either. The panther needs closeness. Even though the curse isn’t connecting you anymore, the creature inside him still wants you close. If you stay near him, that will show the panther that even if you aren’t mates, you won’t completely forsake them. Over time, I think the panther might accept you as a friend. You won’t be a lover, but it might be enough for the pain and depression to fade.”

“Jeez,” I said. “You’re right. Blayne definitely won’t like that.”

“I know. But the panther has to know that no matter how hard Blayne pushes you away, you’ll still be there for them.”

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