"Is he going to be alright?" the woman asked for the hundredth time.

"Queen Keiko, he is stable. I will be right here with him if you would like to give her a bath."

Noah was standing beside me. it had taken me longer than it should have to recall the name of the man who ripped out my finger nails. Though the nubs on my hands had healed well enough, I doubted I would ever mistreat that hand again. He had come at the queen's calling, prepared to hoist me into his arms so that I could be taken upstairs. It had just been an optimistic idea. Keiko refused to go anywhere.

The large man, Ajax, had stopped trying to throw up constantly, but he did look rather pale and I could see the sheen of sweat on his skin from here.

"Maybe we should get her hydrated first," Keiko mused, clearly stalling.

"Let's get some water in her for now," Noah agreed, already moving into the kitchen.

Keiko didn't even blink, completely focus on the man and the lovely doctor who was speaking so soothingly and was trying to clean him up.

"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked, blotting his forehead with a cold damp cloth.

"I was just having a snack, then this happened," Ajax explained, gesturing to himself. A weak smile seemed to take too much effort and his entire body shuddered violently.

The doctor looked like she was bracing for another round of vomit, but thankfully none came.

And just like that, the warmth in my skin was too much. I didn't know if I faded into sleep or if I just sat there vacantly. But I left that room right when Noah set a glass of water on the side table.

It was him. It was always him. And he grinned at me like I had just brought the world to his feet. I would have done anything for that smile. I would have killed a thousand men if he asked me to.

My hands smoothed down his bare chest. I would never get used to the strength that was buried there, that was mine for the taking.

"You left me," he whispered, catching my chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"No, never," I breathed back.

"But you did, Georgia. I was here waiting for you and you were gone."

"It's alright, I'm back now," I soothed. I said the words, but they felt so wrong in my mouth.

Still, his hands felt nice on my skin. they were cooling on my scorching skin and he seemed to know just how to touch me, like he had learned and studied every one of my preferences. He was right here. He was with me. I could just stay. I could let him soothe away the burning of my flesh. I could learn his body the way he had learned mine. I'm sure he would shiver under my gentle hands.

But when I placed my hand right in the center of his chest, right over where his heart was, I felt nothing beneath my palm. His eyes were the silver that I recalled, but I knew that my memory didn't do them justice. They didn't shimmer like pure moonlight dancing on a quiet lake. He said something at my touch, but somehow, his voice sounded hollow.

Hollow because this was all my brain could remember of him. Because this wasn't real.

I would do anything for him. I would move heaven and earth for Ryder.

But I would not settle for this imposter, not even in my dreams.

I was sweating. My heart was thundering in my chest. I had experienced this before; I just couldn't seem to grasp when. There were people around me. people that I knew, but couldn't seem to recall, as it always was. The woman with the dark hair, she suddenly looked more serious than I had ever seen her. And her partner, the mountain of a man with auburn hair, he looked positively dreadful. In fact, I think this was the first time I had seen him not cracking a joke or flirting with his woman. Or maybe that was just what my mind was spinning off.

Someone was touching me. I expected it to soothe my skin. It didn't; it made me feel like I had burst into flames.

I couldn't time my blinks. I couldn't control when I swallowed. But right then, I could scream.

The sound rattled with living space, startling everyone to their core. The sickly man was forgotten briefly, though it looked like he was fighting a battle with his body after just turning his head.

"We should get her to bed," the woman said, gesturing to the stoic and silent man hovering near me. it had been his touch that made me feel like I was being ripped apart. It was wrong. So wrong. But I could not scream again. "Poor girl is probably over-stimulated and uncomfortable. Best to let her sleep it off."

I was taken upstairs, the feel of my clothes like sandpaper on my skin. the pajamas that should have been so silky and so soft were wretched and I would have torn them off and burned them if I could have. But I could do nothing. I couldn't ask for a glass of water to help my sore throat; I couldn't demand that an ice bath be prepared for me to keep this awful heat at bay. And I certainly couldn't sleep, because the imposter would be waiting for me and I wasn't sure that I would be strong enough to leave him again.

I stared at the ceiling until the woman came back. Keiko. Her name was Keiko.

"Christ, I think she's worse than last night," she sighed to someone I couldn't see, her hand pressed against my forehead. "We need to call the doctor again."

She sat beside the bed, holding my hand in her own. And just for a moment, I felt safe enough to sleep. She was my tether to this world.

When I woke up, the kind doctor was there. And her mouth was set in a hard line. Good news never came from a mouth like that.

"Keiko, this isn't a fever, she's going through her heat," the doctor announced.

Keiko blinked once, then shook her head. "It's not possible. She already went through her heat. She's already mated with Ryder. Besides, the moon goddess wouldn't do this. Georgia can't even lift her head, much less make a decision about this. She wouldn't do that. She would never do that."

"I hate to tell you this, but she has. Whether we like it or not, she's going through heat. Multiple heats are not uncommon among mates who fight the bond. Or mates who become separated for various reasons. And, if it has lasted through the night, if she's sweating this much and her temperature is this high, I'm worried that it's not a normal heat."

"What do you mean?"

"To be very frank, I don't think that this heat has anything to do with the mating process. I think this heat is acting like some kind of beacon."

"To draw Ryder back to her."

The doctor nodded gravely.

"Oh God. He's going to kill us." Keiko was already out of my sightline, frantically digging through the closet. "We have to get her up and dressed. Noah will drive her somewhere else. Fuck! She's been like this for so long! We don't even know where he went when he left, he could be seconds away right now."

I was shucked off to the bathroom, given the world's quickest sponge bath, then dragged into clothes that now felt like razor blades on my sensitive body. But I couldn't protest and when I saw the fear in Keiko's eyes, I wasn't sure I wanted to.

Noah carried me downstairs to the main floor, depositing me in the armchair so he and Keiko could grab a few things from the kitchen. Ajax was still on the couch, now with a small blanket tucked around him and a glass of water on the coffee table. An arm was draped over his eyes and his skin still looked a little green, but he could move his head around without fighting the urge to vomit. It was a small improvement, but it was enough.

There was one single thump on the door. Then it was damn near blown off the hinges.

And there was the man that my mind could not do justice.

He stood with a heaving chest, his shirt damp with sweat, his hair stuck to his forehead. His eyes were unlike anything that I had ever seen, beyond the colour. He was positively feral.

"Ah, Ryder, my good friend," Ajax greeted. He sat up slowly, but it was still too much. His hands went to his belly and he shuddered hard.

"I'm going to fucking kill you." Ryder's voice was quiet. So quiet and so gentle. It only made his statement more genuine.

"Ryder please—" Keiko's words were shrill, but they drifted into nothing when Ryder's gaze settled on me.

"My little warrior," he breathed. No, my memories hadn't gotten his voice right either. I would have whimpered at the sound if I could have.

He was on me a second later. One hand on my collarbone, the other gripping my jaw. He cocked my head to one side just as Keiko shrieked for him to stop. He didn't. he plunged his sharp teeth into the side of my throat.

My pretty neck was torn up, just as she promised.

~~~Distraction Section~~~

What was your first car?

Mine is a 2003 Acura RSX!