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Nic asked.
    “Morning after the fight, I woke up with a fever. Sick as shit, you understand? Throwing up, chills, the whole nine yards. Then, the seizures started. My heart stopped. If it wasn’t for Riley, I’d be dead. That girl’s a miracle worker. Our pack’s guardian angel.”
    And she was leaving in less than a week. Nic shoved the thought aside. “What did she say was wrong?”
    “Infection, but it looks like it’s just about run its course. She’s put me on some last-ditch antibiotics.” He pointed to the IV in his arm. “Seems to be doing the trick, except…”
    “Except what?”
    “I can’t call my wolf.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “I can feel him. He’s there, but I can’t reach him. I doubt I’ll be able to shift again.” His dad glanced away. “It happens sometimes when a shifter is pulled back from the brink of death. Like a rubber band, you know? My wolf’s spirit was ready to depart, but when Riley restarted my heart, I pulled him back. He’s caught in limbo.”
    A shiver ran down Nic’s spine. “You’re not going to be able to transfer our pack’s spirit to me, are you?”
    Gaze on the wrinkled bedsheet, he shook his head. “I was going to call you as soon as I got out of this bed. We need to plan for the ceremony.”
    “Nobody else knows?”
    His dad glanced at him, brow raised. “Do you think I’m a fool? Hannah knows. That’s it. Our dominants might be loyal, but the lure of power does crazy shit to people. And if word got out?” He snorted. “We’d have wolves from all over the country congregating here, ready to claim our pack. Not happening. You hear me? Our bloodline has housed our pack’s spirit wolf for thousands of years. Our ancestors are here.” He thumped his chest. “You will welcome it into your soul, or I’ll take your head myself, son or not.”
    Nic closed his eyes. “Of course I will. I’ve always known I’d take your place.”
    “Good.” He awkwardly patted Nic’s arm. “But we need to keep this between us. If it gets out, the challengers will gang up on you. They’ll take you out, then fight among themselves.”
    Nic nodded, knowing it was the only way.
    “You’ll need to pick a mate and be ready to claim her after the—”
    “I know how it works,” Nic snapped. He didn’t want to think about the poor woman who’d be stuck with him for the next few hundred years. He needed to change the subject. “Do you think you got the infection from the fight?”
    His dad shrugged. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Derek knew he was no match for me. He had to tip the scales someway.”
    Nic shifted his gaze to his dad’s stomach. “So he purposely infected you.”
    “Yeah.” He nodded. “Think about it. Infect me, and then swoop in and claim my pack next month. Snotty prick probably had some plan to take out his rivals. Wouldn’t surprise me either. Dominants have been dying left and right in our neighboring packs.”
    Nic stared at him a moment. He’d been in California for the past few months and had kept his nose out of shifter affairs for years. “The shifter who died outside—”
    “Belonged to the Tanner pack. Derek’s younger brother. He drove himself here because his pack refused to help him. Never made it inside.”
    Nic cursed. “Great communal bond.”
    “They believe in the old ways—only the strong survive. I’m done with their games. If Derek comes after me again, he dies, even if I have to shoot him. It’s my right. I’ve only been tolerant of him because I want peace between our packs, but no longer, not after Riley’s accident. No one goes after my pack’s weaker members and lives. I don’t condone that. Our pack never has.”
    Nic stiffened. “The car accident?”
    “That’s my guess. Course, I don’t know for sure, but it’s too coincidental. Kill her the same night as he fights me so she can’t save me, but according to her, the car looked like the one her ex drove. So?” He shrugged. “Who knows?”
    “Her