Page 64 of The CEO Alpha’s Substitute Mate

“Yes.”

The breath she lets out is the first honest sound she’s made since I took my shirt off. She puts both hands on the grass to push herself up. “Let’s go.”

I put a hand out to stop her. “That’s all? You have no questions?”

“The only question I have is about Luca’s health.” She’s already turned toward the house. “I don’t care about any of this. I don’t care if you can change into a wolf, a camel, or a zebra. As long as I can be fully informed about what’s happening with Luca, none of this matters.”

“You do realize this means you cannot live in the human world anymore?”

She goes still. “I have to quit my job?”

“No.” Of all the things she could have picked up on. “But human relationships will be frowned upon.”

“Can I still have Zara in my life?” She turns around with her chin up. “She’s the only friend I have.”

Every instinct I’ve been trained with says no. A human friend outside the pack with a phone and a job in my own marketing department is a hole in the wall of this house.

“Yes.” It’s out of my mouth before I’ve decided anything. “Provided you never breathe a word of any of this.”

“Thank you.” Her gaze meets mine, and the smile aimed at me is the softest one I’ve ever seen. My chest tightens for a moment, and I can do nothing but stare at the sight.

Mine, my wolf rumbles with satisfaction, and for the first time I can say nothing to refute that.

❦ ❦ ❦

The fever is still up when we return. Salar has Luca stripped to his shorts on top of the covers with a cloth at the back of his neck, and Luca’s skin is the color of the inside of a shell. Ariela is across the room and onto the bed before I can stop her.

“How is he?”

“You have to give it time.” Salar straightens up. “Give it tonight, two days. We don’t know.”

“She knows,” I tell him. “All of it.”

He looks at me for a long second. Then he turns to her and says sternly, “I’m Healer Salar, not Doctor Salar.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Our education is different from what doctors receive.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks flush. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“You need to monitor him throughout the night,” Salar says firmly. “If you need me, call me. I’ll be here at once.”

“Okay.”

She sits down on the edge of the mattress, moving the hair off Luca’s forehead one piece at a time, over and over. The boy doesn’t stir.

“He’s not going to die, right?” She doesn’t look up. “He’ll survive?”

Salar says nothing at all.

“Tell me.”

She’s already asked me once, but she trusts him more. “That depends on how strong his own will is,” Salar says at last.

She laughs, which none of us expects, and her eyes are wet. “He’s the most stubborn kid I know. He’ll make it through.” She wipes her face with the back of her hand. “He will.”

Then she bends over the pillow and puts her mouth against his hair, low enough that she believes nobody else in the room can hear it.