When they were near Ally’s lodge, Shaya came racing out and threw herself at Nick. He held her tight, whispering in her ear. Derren pulled on the clothes he’d left on the porch—which hurt like a motherfucker as the material rubbed against his wounds—and headed inside. His gaze went helplessly to Ally, whose eyes widened at the sight of him. Yeah, he knew his face had to look a mess. She made a beeline for him, and he knew she was about to heal him. “Don’t.” She halted, looking . . . hurt. As if he’d rejected her. “I’m not the one who needs your help.”

At that moment, Zander supported Jesse’s weight as they both stumbled inside.

Bracken blinked at his fellow enforcer and friend. “Shit, Jesse.”

Ally winced, no doubt in sympathy at how deep the enforcer’s wounds were. “Sit him down, Zander.”

When Ally moved to sit in front of a naked Jesse, Derren grabbed her arm. “Wait.” He whipped off his own T-shirt and threw it at the enforcer. Understanding, Jesse covered his groin, a small smile on his face. Rolling her eyes, Ally knelt in front of Jesse and placed her hands over his chest. Derren couldn’t help but tense at the sight. He didn’t like her touching another guy—especially a naked guy—but Derren wouldn’t begrudge his pack mate a healing. Not totally, anyway.

Seeing her face pinch in pain as Jesse’s agony flowed into her, Derren placed his hands on her shoulders to comfort and steady her. His wolf hated that she was hurting, wanted to shift and soothe her somehow.

Kathy laid out drinks and sandwiches. “All of you eat. You need your strength.” She gave her daughter a pointed look. “Roni, sandwich. Marcus, leave some for the others.”

Flashing a charming smile at Kathy, Marcus took three sandwiches for himself while his mate called Caleb and Kent with her cell phone, summoning them to Ally’s lodge. It took the males a mere minute to arrive.

“So what happened out there?” Bracken asked Nick.

Ally only half listened to Nick’s recounting of the tale, most of her concentration on healing Jesse. How the guy smiled in that kind of agony, she’d never understand. Once she was done, she turned to Zander, ready to offer her help. But then Derren was tugging her away.

“They’re all fine, Ally,” insisted Derren, knowing she was weak from their pain. “Their wounds are already healing.”

“Yeah, and I can speed up the process. Jesse’s injuries were deep but not extensive. I’ve got enough energy to offer more help.”

Driving Derren slowly insane, the stubborn female then went on to heal Zander, Roni, and Eli. As Marcus and Nick were well on their way to being fully healed, they politely declined her offer to heal them. That was when Ally turned back to Derren, her pale face a mask of resolve. Even tired from healing the others, she was still determined to help him. “Save your strength, Ally, I’m fine.”

Her gaze studied the slashes on his face that had torn into his lips. “No, you’re not.” And he’d scar badly if he was left to heal on his own. She also didn’t miss the claw marks on his sides.

“It looks worse than it is.”

“Then it won’t take much energy for me to heal you, will it?” Ally frowned as a sandwich was suddenly stuffed into her hand.

“You have to eat,” stated Kathy before stalking off.

“I was thinking,” began Shaya, garnering everyone’s attention. “It’s not good that everyone lives so far apart. Caleb, Kent, Roni, and Marcus should move into the main lodge for a while. Their lodges are the farthest away from there, which makes them the most vulnerable against any kind of attack.”

Roni seemed about to object, but then she sighed in resignation. “And if we were attacked, the pack would have to separate to get to us.”

“Exactly. We have plenty of guest rooms.” Shaya pursed her lips. “It might actually be a good idea for everyone to either stay there temporarily or share the lodges that are closest to the main one. For Willow’s sake, if nothing else. I want her surrounded by people who will protect her.”

“Zander can bunk in my lodge,” said Eli. “Bracken can stay with Jesse.”

Jesse scowled at Eli. “You’re sticking him with me?” Bracken seemed to find Jesse’s frustration funny.

Eli shrugged. “You’re the only one he doesn’t constantly irritate.”

Derren offered, “I’ll move into Ally’s lodge so she’s not alone.”

Beside him, she stiffened. “That’s okay, I’m—”

“Or you could just stay at the main lodge,” Derren proposed. “With all these people. With all the noise and a constant bombardment of emotions. I’m sure you’d love sharing space and having a total lack of privacy, so—”

“Fine,” Ally bit out. “Derren will stay with me.”

Shaya smiled. “Excellent. That means no one’s ever alone.”

So low that only Derren heard, Ally whispered, “You can have my bed, since I never use it.”

“Oh, we’ll be using it,” he said with a smile.

“I don’t like to sleep inside.”

“Who said we’d be sleeping?”

She shook her head at him. “You’re such an asshole.”

“Derren,” Nick called out. “Can we talk a minute?” It wasn’t a request.

Derren followed his Alpha outside onto the porch. He knew Nick well enough to know what this was about, so he didn’t bother playing dumb.