YOU DID IT! You hit the 1,000 Golden Tickets overnight (give a special thanks to reader Benees_mae_basiga who gave 28 of the 60 needed!!!), so I'm going to release FIVE chapters TOMORROW! (That's Sunday evening for those in the USA, Monday morning for those in Asia.) Thank you so much for all your support again this month. I am truly touched. And we are still counting Golden Tickets for the last half of the month, and for every 200, there will be another chapter added to the mass release on 30 September!

*****

GAHRYE

Dammit.

She got his ribs.

Gahrye grunted, shoved backwards with surprising force as Elia whirled and ran from the room, her tail a serpentine of her fear and aggression. Kalle was already on the floor next to him, wide-eyed and reaching for his chest before he got himself back up to sit.

"Gahrye, you're bleeding!

"

"It's fine,

" he muttered.

"It'll heal in a day or two. They're not deep.

" There were three gashes and a scrape on his ribs, only two were deep and they weren't bad. They stung like he'd been stuck with a **ing jabberthorn, though. He'd have to poultice the wounds to make sure there was no infection from her claws.

"Gahrye!

" Kalle snapped as he tried for the third time to push her hands away.

"Let me look at it. Anima claws can cause serious infection here.

"

He pressed his lips thin, but let her look—and discovered that there was something within him that enjoyed watching her fuss over him.

She was naked and kneeling in front of him, one knee bent underneath her seat, the other bent up. Her hair—mussed by his hands—fell in her eyes. She kept puffing it back with her breath. While she muttered and swore and talked to herself about how to dress it, he combed her hair back off her face, then smiled when she looked up at him.

"Thank you for caring,

" he said quietly, then leaned in to kiss her gently.

"But I promise, it will heal quickly. If you have something to stop infection, I'll apply it.

"

Her cheeks had pinked and he smelled her desire rise, but she just bit her lip and got up, rummaging through the bathroom drawers for a moment before she returned with a foul smelling tube that made Gahrye want to cough.

While she squeezed some of the sharp-smelling goo onto her fingers to apply to his wounds, he sighed.

"I'm even more certain I need to get her back there, now,

" he said quietly, staring at the door.

"She's becoming more… bestial—ow! Fuck! Kalle! Shit! What the hell are you doing!?

"

She giggled as he jerked away from where her fingers spread what felt like fire made of ice on his skin.

"Ooooo, is the big strong Anima male scared of a little disinfectant gel?

"

He glared at her.

"I don't know what that is, but I don't need it.

"

"Yes, you do. It will kill any bacteria in those wounds until they heal.

"

"By suffocating them? I can't walk around smelling like that! I'll give myself a headache! And besides, even a child would smell me coming for miles!

"

"Humans don't use scent to find each other,

" Kalle grumbled, still trying to put more of the disgusting stuff on his skin.

He caught her wrist, holding it firm until she lifted her eyes to his face.

"Kalle, I have to go into Anima. I have to see if the wolves have taken the territory. It will be extremely important not to be scented. Please. I'll be fine.

"

Her face fell, but she nodded, then got up again to wash her hands. A moment later, Gahrye followed her into the bathroom. He needed to wash the cuts and get that stuff off.

Both of them were distracted from the inevitable by the wound. But by the time he'd showered—no soap, because that stuff would be scented in Anima too—and they'd gotten back into bed with several books, still looking for anything more they could find on Protectors, Gahrye's side was aching and the heaviness of what was to come was weighing on him again.

But by the time they were both nodding into sleep over their books, the only thing he'd found was a little snippet about the fact that Protector offspring were generally more powerful than their parents, and that interbreeding in the species was recommended.

He looked at Kalle and it hit him. She might be pregnant with his foal. His baby.

He swallowed hard, blinking back the sting in his eyes as he stared at her beautiful, creamy skin, and the way her forehead lined when she frowned like that.

She caught him staring and stopped reading.

"What is it?

"

He shook his head wordlessly, stacked the books on the bedside and pulled her back down into the covers to love her again before they slept.

But through it all, his mind kept ticking, reminding him that time slipped through his fingers like sand. And with it, the last of his moments with his mate.

*****

The next morning, Kalle was twitchy and nervous. He kept reassuring her.

"I'm not going to venture into Anima. In fact, if I catch sight or scent of a wolf before I'm out of the portal, I'll turn around and come right back.

"

"But what if it doesn't work? What if you're stuck just doing the traverse again and…

"

"Relax. I know what to expect this time. It couldn't… it couldn't be worse than last time,

" he lied. Kalle gave a grim smile, but it seemed like she was pretending too.

Gahrye dressed in leathers and his best Linen Anima shirt. He slid the small knife into the back of his leathers, and a second into a sheath at his waist. He hadn't worn a knife since he'd come to the human world. And for some reason that little gesture of sliding the knife into the sheath made him feel like he was going home. But he wasn't. He was only going to barely see home. Then he was coming back to his mate, he reminded himself.

Kalle stood in front of him while he dressed, her face pale and forehead lined with worry. When he was done, he let his arms drop and looked at her.

"It should only be a few hours. Ten or twelve at most—and then only if the time moves differently. I know I'll be back later today, Kalle. You don't need to worry.

"

She snorted, but stepped in to wrap her arms around his waist, then look up at him.

Déjà vu hit him so hard, it stole his breath.

That vision the voices had given him. That first sight of her…

Everything about this moment was the same except the clothing he wore.

He stiffened and she got worried.

"What is it?

" she asked, hushed.

But he forced himself to stroke her hair, her back and shake his head.

"Nothing, nothing. I just thought I'd forgotten… but it doesn't matter. I'm fine. And I'm going to be fine. I'm a Protector, remember?

" he said with the lopsided grin he knew she loved.

Her heart raced, but she took a deep breath and forced herself to nod.

"Yes, you are. And I'm going to see you in just a few hours.

"

He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

"I love you, Kalle. Nothing's going to keep me away, okay? Nothing,

" he said, far more calmly than he felt. For her sake he was glad she didn't share his senses. If she did she'd know how terrified he was—just as he knew that everything in her was screaming to cling to him and not let him go.

But instead, they pretended for each other, holding on for far too long, then unable to break the kiss for even longer. By the time Gahrye finally stepped out of the suite and headed for the door to the garden, his breath was coming quickly and Kalle was fighting tears. But he knew he had to keep her calm.

He'd meant what he said, there was nothing that would keep him from returning to her if it was in his power.

A little niggle sounded in the back of his head, but he ignored it. He was testing the traverse, that was all. Just testing the traverse, then coming home.

There was absolutely nothing to worry about.

*****

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