Chapter 130

Make your choice.

“That’s enough,” Asher growled. He stepped away from me, toward Nurse Irene. I grabbed his arm, keeping him from lunging. “How dare you threaten her?”

“It’s not a threat. It’s a choice.” Nurse Irene backed away so that the bed was between her and Asher. “You think I’m not putting my own neck on the line here? I’m supposed to alert the facility if I so much as suspect a person of having projection ability. If I hear one whisper, I’m to call them.”

She pointed a finger at Asher. “You can threaten me all you want, but there is no bigger threat to me and my reputation than to defy officially mandated orders.”

“Then why do it?” Asher asked. “Why not just turn us in?”

I held on tighter at his use of us. To him, in this moment, he and I were a singular unit.

“I just want to continue my projection research,” Nurse Irene said. “Without those official researchers getting in the way. If I reported Cynthia, I would lose total access to her. They’d lock her away and keep her out of reach from everyone but themselves.”

“Asher.” My fear was beginning to return, quaking through my body once more. The heartbeat monitor reflected it. Nurse Irene turned to check the numbers again.

“Tend to your mate, please, before the stress does actual damage,” Nurse Irene said.

“Then stop threatening her,” Asher snapped, though he came to my side again, and engulfed me in his warm, safe embrace.

“Then agree to some basic, non-harmful experiments, done here at the hospital. They can be under Nurse Nancy’s supervision if that would help,” Nurse Irene said. “Say you will, and I will continue to keep your secret.”

“You are the worst kind of person –” Asher began.

“Okay,” I mumbled.

“What’s that?” Nurse Irene asked.

“Okay,” I said again, louder.

“Cynthia,” Asher said.

I closed my eyes, soaking in his scent of leather and pine. “If it will get her to keep my secret…”

Asher fumed. His body was so tense under my hands. But slowly, almost reluctantly, he exhaled. “Fine. But if she even attempts to harm you…”

“I assure you both that my experiments will be non-invasive,” Nurse Irene said. “Just a few blood samples and some demonstrations.”

“Sure. Great. Whatever,” Asher said. “There. We’ve agreed. Now, get Nurse Nancy.”

“I’ll be right back,” Nurse Irene said, heading for the door.

“Wait,” I said, stopping her before she could leave. She glanced back at me. “Those things Joseph told you…”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh please. I could tell that boy was full of malarkey. And seeing you with Asher, I have no doubt he’s just trying to stir up trouble. We can talk about your actual truth when you come see me for the experiments.”

A small measure of relief filled me. It was a miniscule issue, compared to everything else we faced, but I felt just a little bit better knowing Joseph’s lies hadn’t hurt me this time.

Nurse Irene disappeared out the door. Asher quietly held me for the few minutes it took Nancy to arrive in her stead.

“Sorry I’m late,” Nancy said. “Nurse Irene lied to me about which room you were in. I searched the whole wing before she told me the truth.”

Asher stepped back to let Nancy inspect me. Since she was my cousin whom I trusted, I did not panic this time at the distance. Asher held my hand though, continuing our connection.

Nancy glanced at our conjoined hands but made no comment on it.

“How are you feeling?” she asked me.

“Tired,” I admitted. “Stressed.”

“Rest.” She guided me down more fully onto the bed. “Let me look you over.”

Nancy moved around me, inspecting me and my baby bump before she seemed satisfied enough to write some notes down in my chart.

“The baby is okay,” she said, and I exhaled in relief. “You and Lilith protected them. I’ve already had a few strong words with the girl who tried her luck against you.”

Asher emitted a low growl from the back of his throat.

“I spoke with her briefly. It seems there was a rumor about you being pregnant. This bold girl decided to put it to the test.”

“She could have hurt Cynthia and her baby,” Asher said, displeased.

“Yes. I made clear that if she had successfully landed a kick on a pregnant girl’s stomach, it could have done irreparable harm. I believe I made my point quite sufficiently.” She leaned closer to Asher. “I made her cry.”

“Good,” Asher said.

“Since you and the baby are mostly unharmed, merely shaken up, you need to know that it’s time for some decisions to be made, Cynthia.”

Nancy’s despondent voice caught my attention more than her bitterness against my fellow cheerleader, and I looked up at her.

“Your teammates and trainers will likely expect an explanation for what happened. The most obvious is that your wolf is only beginning to manifest and you lost control.”

“So she got her wolf early,” Asher said. “It’s different but not a huge deal.”

“Wolves manifest for a reason, Asher. Since the attack was directed at Cynthia’s baby bump, and since the rumors already exist, I’m afraid it won’t be long until the truth reveals itself.”

“I only need to make it until the qualifying exam,” I whispered. “After, then I don’t care if they know…”

Nancy gave me a sad smile. “Honestly, I’m not sure the secret will hold even that long. At this point, it might be better just to come clean, at least to your trainers and your team. They might even support you.”

“No,” I said quickly. With how often and how easily the squad believed horrible things about me, I had no doubt they would not want to keep my secret, let alone help me through the exams.

Nancy looked from me to Asher, and back again. I looked at Asher too, but he wore his blank façade, revealing none of his true emotions, other than a flash of displeasure.

“I’ll give you two some time to speak about it privately. I’ll go see if I can clear the other cheerleaders out of the lobby so you don’t have to face them until you are ready.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“I’m sorry I can’t do more.” She placed her hand on my wrist and squeezed in support. I gave her a weak smile in response, but I couldn’t hold it.

When she left the room, Asher stepped close to me again. This time I stayed on the bed, but rolled into him and rested my forehead against the hard surface of his stomach.

“What do you want to do?” he asked me, voice just above a whisper.

I didn’t know. “What options do I have? They suspect it already. All this did was confirm their suspicions.”

“You could still deny it,” Asher said. “You could deny it up until the final moment. It doesn’t show on your physical. They can’t prove it.”

Oh, God. I hadn’t even thought about the physical. Was Nancy going to get into trouble?

I curled myself up into a ball, so stressed I thought I might throw up.

“It’s going to be alright,” Asher said. “Whatever you decide.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because I will be here with you either way. And I’m not going anywhere.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him closer. He rubbed his hand in soothing circles on the back of my shoulder.

“I will support you,” he said, “No matter what you decide.”