Nurse Grey walked into the room and looked from Lelandi to Darien with a questioning gaze.

“She’s hurting pretty badly,” Darien said.

“No.” Lelandi shook her head. “I can manage.”

“No sense in putting up with it.” Nurse Grey reached for the IV line. “Might as well be comfortable.”

“No.” Lelandi narrowed her eyes, giving the nurse and Darien a dagger of a look and tried to pull away from the IV. “I don’t want any more.”

Both Darien and Nurse Grey gave small smiles.

She wanted to jerk her hand out of his, and in fact she thought she’d tried, but he kept her hand hostage.

He looked down at her with such concern, a hint of confusion, even a touch of desire, she wasn’t sure what had come over him. Gone seemed to be the need to make her confess about who she was and everything about her.

She swore his hand tightened on hers even though she felt her body slipping away, the pain medication zipping through her veins. Fine. Damn it. She’d find her fantasy lover. Somewhere. Forget… the… real… worl…

Frustration filling every pore, Darien wanted his mate back. How could her sweet body torment him in his dreams still? Even now as he checked on Jake waiting to speak to him about the silver mine in the hall outside Larissa’s room, he felt distracted, ill at ease, like a part of his soul had been ripped away. She had been a drug he couldn’t get his fill of, and though six eligible females existed in his pack, only one would do—the petite woman of his dreams—and now she was dead.

Lelandi.

Jake studied him, then frowned. “Another bad night?”

Darien gave him a look like he’d better not go there.

Jake shook his head. “I’ll get on with the business at the silver mine.” He muttered under his breath as he stalked off, “Better there than here. Got to find another mate, brother, and give up the ghost. She’s gone. You have to own up to it sometime.”

Gone.

Would finding another mate stop the dreams?

He snorted. Even when he’d been with Lelandi, the dreams had continued. The fantasy, so much better than the real thing.

He glanced at Deputy Peter Jorgenson sitting on a chair, pulling guard duty. “Need a break?”

“Thanks, boss. Trevor just relieved me. I’ll be here for another two hours.”

Time to go home and try to get some much needed sleep. But if Darien could find Lelandi in the woods, even if it was only in his dreams… he’d forgo sleep for an eternity.

The next morning, Lelandi sat up in bed, her head partially cleared, no restraints, although the medication still dulled her senses. Otherwise, she would have sensed the brooding man sitting in the room. Jake’s eyes opened wider when it registered she was awake. Darien must have given up and gone home.

Jake stroked his whiskered chin for a minute. Finally he spoke, his voice condemning. “He doesn’t want you. He sees you as her.”

Nobody had to tell her Darien saw her as Larissa. Swallowing hard, Lelandi hoped at least her vocal cords had returned to normal after the snake had strangled them. She still didn’t feel she had any energy, but at least she felt no pain. Her throat dry, she noticed her water cup was empty. The water pitcher was too far away to reach, but she wasn’t asking grumpy to get it for her. The other solution was to hit the nurse call button. If Ritka was manning the desk, she might dump the water on Lelandi, or ignore her completely. Besides, Lelandi was used to fending for herself.

“He’s already been through the wringer enough over your sister without having to go through the same thing with you. Damn it, woman, he needs to heal.”

Like she didn’t? Jake was talking about her sister! She’d loved her just as much as Darien had. Why else did they think she was here? To avenge her sister’s death, damn it!

Lelandi twisted her mouth, her throat feeling drier by the second, probably because of the medication she was taking. Indecision caught hold. Should she try to go back to sleep, or get the water herself?

“He should have mated Trevor’s sister. Hell, none of this would have happened if he had.”

She ground her teeth. Trevor’s sister? No wonder the guy didn’t like her. But she would not give in to Jake’s challenging her. Jake knew she wanted some water, but he made it clear he wasn’t about to help her. Fine, she didn’t need a gray’s help anyway.

“I told him to leave her alone. That she wasn’t right for him. He doesn’t need you messing with his head, too.”

Lelandi glowered at Jake. She had no intention of “messing” with Darien’s head. Leaning over, she reached for the water pitcher. A cold draft sent shivers down her back where her gown opened up. Her head filled with fog, and she paused, nausea filling her belly, dizziness washing over her. Slow. Take it nice and slow.

The chair scooted back across the industrial-strength carpeting covering the floor and footsteps hurried in the direction of the hall.

She closed her eyes to shut out the dizziness when Jake said, “Get Ritka. The woman passed out.”

What woman?

Lelandi opened her eyes, her thoughts still fuzzy. She had to get off this blasted medicine that made her feel so out of control.

Jake stalked back into the room. “Lie still. Go back to sleep.”

Ignoring him, she tried for the water again. As soon as she leaned over the bed railing, her stomach and head started dog paddling, and she felt herself quickly going under.

“Damn it, woman.” Jake laid his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back, his touch gentle, his stern face anxious.

Nurse Grey stalked into the room. “What’s the matter?”

“She needs those restraints back on.”

Lelandi glowered at him. “Water.” She limply lifted her hand and pointed to the container.

“She passed out twice and was about to do the same again.”

“Trying to get the water herself?” Nurse Grey asked, her tone annoyed while she took Lelandi’s temperature.

He shrugged. “She didn’t ask.”

“And you weren’t going to offer. Take a seat, and roll up your sleeve.”

“What… ?”

“Come on, tough guy. The little lady needs more of your blood. That’s why she’s passing out.”

“Hell, I already gave her a river’s worth.”

The nurse tsked. “A big alpha male like you can give a little more.”

Lelandi wished she were feeling more with it, able to respond, as she dearly would love to laugh out loud at the look on Jake’s face. More than disgruntled. Every bit of blood she’d get from him was spitting fire.

Good. Maybe it would give her some energy.

After getting some sleep and feeling somewhat better, Darien walked into Larissa’s room, saw his brother giving her blood again, and came to a dead stop. “What the hell’s going on?”

Jake scowled at him. “You could have given her blood when you were here last. This is the second go around for me.”

Larissa’s face was still ghostly pale. “Feeling any better?” He sure as hell hoped so or he’d never get the truth out of her.

She nodded, but she seemed to be nearly as out of it as the night before. He guessed he shouldn’t have insisted she got more pain medicine when she’d objected so strenuously. Still, hearing her groaning in the middle of the night…

“I gave her some more pain medication about an hour ago. It seems to be kicking in,” Nurse Grey warned.

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked Larissa in the most sweet-mannered way he could manage.

Jake raised a brow.

Larissa headed off Darien’s question. “Room broken into.”

Her voice was clearer, not as raspy, but she sounded weary. “So Uncle Sheridan came by already and talked to you about it.”

“An hour ago,” Jake said as Nurse Grey released him.

Now he looked a little peaked.

“Come on, Jake. You can lie down in room five until you feel more yourself.” Nurse Grey helped him up.

“Good thing we can manufacture blood more quickly than humans.” Jake gave Darien another dirty look. “Next time, it’s your turn.”

“Wrong blood type.” The nurse held Jake’s arm as they walked out of the room.

“Good excuse,” Jake said. “Hey, we’re triplets. He’s got the same blood…” His voice trailed off down the hall.

Darien pulled the chair closer to the bed. “The guy who broke into your place must have stolen your bag.

Did Uncle Sheridan tell you that?”

She took slow, shallow breaths. “Gun.”

“I found your gun. What had you planned to do? Shoot someone you thought killed your sister? You can’t take matters into your own hands, damn it.”

She stared at the ceiling for a minute as if trying to remember what had happened. Her eyes drifted to the bed, then she closed them.

“What’s your family’s name? Where are your parents?”

She stared straight through him. “Lelandi. Parents…”

She swallowed hard. “Killed, accident.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.” But he hadn’t even known his mate had a family, and he still wasn’t sure Larissa had been telling the truth so he was having a tough time feeling any sympathy. “What did the letter say?”

“Lupus blackmailing her.”

Darien’s heart nearly stopped. “What, who—”

She studied the blanket, her fingers twisting the thin fabric.

“Yours or mine?”

Larissa looked up at him, her eyes revealing confusion.

“Do you think it was one of my grays or one of your reds?”

She didn’t answer, which made him suspicious.

“Why would anyone blackmail her?” Darien considered Lelandi’s nightmares, her reluctance to discuss her past with him. It fit. When he opened his mouth to question Larissa, she had shut her eyes again. “Larissa?”