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"I suggest you stand close to him. He'll be aware, and maybe he'll wake." Harry suggested.

"It's worth a try." Sally moved closer, and he reached for her.

Xantos moaned. His eyes began to open. Harry stepped forward, and he looked at her.

“I need you to shift," she said.

His eyes moved to her, and he shook his head.

“She already knows. So just shift.”

He did, and his wolf was beautiful. It was a deep and glossy black, tall for a wolf, and looked strong and capable of putting up a good fight.

“You'll feel better now. You really needed this.” Harry explained.

Sally didn't say a word. She just watched. He'd been willing to put up with the pain just to hide the fact that he was a wolf from her. What a stubborn male. Hopefully, he would recover, and no one would know what had happened. That was best. This group of terrorists didn't seem to want to stop, and they didn't care that they could be turned into frogs or turnedover as terrorists to the local law. She wasn't sure what they could do or if there was anything that they could do to stop them. All she could do was hope that Tyne would send somebody to help them. A witch would be the best. Sally saw how terrified they were of Harry. Would they be afraid of another witch once they discovered that she could also turn them into frogs?

She glanced over at Xantos and saw that he was tearing into his food. Sally hurried downstairs, got another bowl of food, and carried it up to him. A bowl for a paranormal was not the same as a bowl for a human. His bowl was at least twice as large as hers, and he dug into it, too. When he finished the second bowl, he seemed much more satisfied and ready to go to sleep. She'd always heard that you healed the best when you slept, and as he fell asleep, she was sure that he would be better when he woke up.

“I've got to go now, but I think he'll be fine. Knowing alphas, he'll probably be ready to go to work in the morning.” Harry explained.

Sally thought about sitting with him, but he was sleeping so deeply she didn't think he'd even know she was there. It was time for her to go to bed, and she hoped she would sleep well. She knew when she fell asleep, she would have sweet dreams of Xantos. The next morning, she remembered having sensual dreams all night long. When she arrived in the kitchen, she found Xantos sitting at the table, drinking coffee.

“How do you feel today?” Sally asked.

“Much better than yesterday. I heard Harry helped me.”

"Without her, you wouldn't have been freed," Sally admitted.

“I’ll have to find a way to thank her.”

“Food is what she loves best.”

"I know you're right, and I have an idea," Xantos offered.

Sally had an idea of what he intended. Harry would love gooseberry pie. Who wouldn’t? It was a good idea. If he went to his usual locations, he would be near there. She fixed him a plate of food for breakfast and handed it to him. He ate with a good appetite, which was a good sign that he was healing properly. That was all she wanted, and that was to make sure that he recovered from that awful experience. She fixed her own plate, sat down with him, and ate. The others slowly came out one by one, got their plates, and ate breakfast. It was time for her to compile the list, and she began to hand it out. Once they were all gone, it was time for her to get to work on the other tasks she had.

She hoped she wouldn't get attacked today, as she had had enough of it the day before. That old saying, wish in one hand. Yeah, that was the way things would be. So, she would be careful and make sure that she didn't leave anything to chance. The paperwork was tedious, and all she could think about was Xantos and the chemistry between them, as well as how much she would like to sleep with him. Sally needed to get her mind off of that because it was driving her crazy. There was no hope for a relationship between the two of them, and she just needed to remember that.

It wasn't long before she was alone in the office, back to the paperwork. She tried to work things out in her mind, but the situation between her and Xantos only confused her. Why was she so drawn to the male? Sure, he was gorgeous, but so were other males. He was also intelligent and capable, but she'd known others who were as well. What she felt around him was completely different from what she felt around anyone else, or she had in any of her previous relationships. She'd not evenslept with him, and she felt more for him than she had for others that she'd had a strong relationship with. It was driving her crazy, and she wanted him far too much. It was so bad that she considered leaving so she wouldn't have to be around him anymore.

How would he feel if she were to leave? Would he even miss her? It was obvious that he felt something, too, but was it as strong as what she felt? Sally doubted that. If he did, he rarely showed it. This was something she would have to deal with, but she didn't know how. The only time he showed any feelings was when he was sick or half asleep. She wasn't sure what that meant, but she was sure that that showed the feelings weren't strong enough, and he was able to fight them most of the time. Sally finally decided that she would stay as long as possible, and if things got worse, she would have to leave.

Chapter 5

All Things Change

He'd recovered from the attack and was as good as new. While Harry had been the one who had pulled him out, it was the fact that Sally kept a close eye on him that had led to him being saved. Had she not noticed that he had not come back to the office at his usual time, she wouldn't have called Harry, and Harry would never have helped him. Was he grateful? Damn straight, but he didn't know how to show her. Their relationship was weird, and he didn't understand it any more than she did. His feelings were hard to understand, and he knew that he wanted her in his life, but he wasn't sure how. She fought any feelings that she might have for him, and he had to admit that he did the same.

Under the circumstances, it would be hard to be ready when morning came. He got out of bed and stretched, and he could still feel a slight achiness even though his wolf had healed most of it. Xantos knew that had he been left with those brutes much longer, he might not have been able to recover. He was glad that Harry had been there to handle them because a little stint as a frog might make them appreciate the danger that they were in when they messed with paranormals. A stay in a paranormal prison was something they might not survive. It was hard enough on paranormals, but a human, few had lived through it, and he didn't feel bad about that. It wasn't just that they had tried to kill him, but the bastards were sadistic, and they had tried to put him through as much torture as they could before he died. That had turned out to be the only reason that he had survived.

He headed downstairs, and as soon as she saw him, Sally brought him something to eat. None of the others knew what had happened, or they would have already been asking questions and overwhelming him. It was best that they didn't know, and there was nothing they could do about it. The danger they faced was no greater than it had been before, and it was something they needed to be cautious about. Since they already knew what could happen, he didn't feel bad about not telling them that it had happened to him and he had almost died. Xantos had a feeling that Sally didn't track any of the others as carefully as she had him. He thought it odd that they had attacked him rather than one of the less experienced and weaker field personnel. That had been their tactic in the past, but they were changing their approach. Even though they'd not had any success with the weaker people on the team, they wanted to go against one of the strongest? Those terrorists made no sense.

By calling himself one of the strongest, he wasn't being arrogant; instead, he was being honest. It was just a fact. He wasn't sure what was going on with those people, but it was evident that no one in his group was safe. They rarely attacked the strong males, preferring instead to target the females, hoping that one of them might be weak enough to take her down and have their way with her. They had tried that more than once. He wasn't sure what had caused this change in their behavior, only that it was apparent they had undergone a change. If he had the opportunity, he intended to take them down and subdue them. Was he angry? Hell, yes, and he would show them just how angry he was if he got the opportunity.

They were all done with breakfast, and everyone hurried out to their trucks so they could start their jobs. They hopped in to complete their work and have a chance to be at the top of the list. He felt uneasy about going out after what had happened theday before, but he would get over it. He would stay at the top of the list and get those bonuses. Xantos wasn't going to let anyone beat him in anything. It was bad enough that he had been caught and abused and needed someone else to free him and heal him. That was something that he hoped would never happen again.

Checking to ensure that his truck was fully stocked, once he was sure it was, he hopped into the driver's seat and took off. He had five locations and two spares in case she got done early. Everything should be routine today because the whole group of those terrorists had been taken out, and surely that would make the others think twice about attacking him or anyone else. Sometimes, it was as though they didn't have a brain between them. If he was constantly being taken down and taken out to the point that no one knew what had happened to him or they told a wild story about being turned into frogs, he would stop and find another job. Why they didn't was beyond him.