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Dr. Steven’s dismissed the nurse with a wave of his hand and he didn’t see the glare of hatred directed at him, before she sauntered out the door without looking back. When the door click closed, he leaned over Nerissa with a wicked smile on his ugly face.

Hunter rolled his eyes when the man continued speaking. He loved to hear himself talk.

“Do you know what this is, Nerissa? No? We’ll it’s a mutated cancer drug that will attack your cells added to vampire venom.”

Dr. Steven’s paused for effect, but continued after a moment.

“Did you know a shifter will die if infected by vampire venom? But I’m sure any pain the venom causes will take a backseat to the drug running through your system. You’ll want to kill me and anyone you can get your hands on. You won’t be able to control your rage, and before long, you’ll end up killing yourself.”

Hunter’s body thrummed with anger. But the more he roared and paced, the more the surrounding images became distorted and blurry. He forced himself to relax and with horror; he stood still as he watched Dr. Steven’s take a perverse pleasure in sticking the needle into her vein and pushing poison into her system.

A tear dropped onto his hand, and then another. He wiped at them, but the more he tried, the more poured from his eyes. But he gasped in shock when Nerissa threw her head back and screamed the moment the concoction hit her bloodstream.

He couldn’t believe his eyes when the liquid became visible in her veins as it spread throughout her body. Her skin crackled and grew whiter. As if they dropped her body into a vat of liquid nitrogen. When the doctor moved to touch her, he flinched back as if something burned him. She was freezing from the inside, out.

Soon, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell, limp, on the table. He almost screamed until he caught the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. The world faded around the edges, but before the room disappeared, a loud explosion from outside the room shook the computer and jostled Nerissa on the table. She jolted back into consciousness and the room came back into focus.

Nerissa turned and looked toward her left, to where he was standing, but her eyes didn’t see him. As Hunter turned,hiseyes widened as he caught his own form, dressed in black fatigues, pause by the window outside of the room. His past self pressed his hand to the glass and closed his eyes.

The memories of that exact moment slammed into focus. They were there to rescue the trapped immortals. It was the first time Reaper met Ara. Hunter realized that he sensed something in the room and despite his instincts screaming to check why, he let Ax drag him in the same direction the others had gone.

He wanted to yell out, to kick the shit out of Ax for dragging him away from the room. Fuck, he wanted to punch himself for walking away. A sudden thought had him turning, hoping Nerissa didn’t see him, but when he glanced at her, his heart tightened as she stared right through him and her eyes tracked him as he and Ax walked out of sight.

Fuck. That’s why she freaked out at the tactical gear.

She spotted him and the others on the worst day of her life, and they left her there.

He understood he was in her memory. His urge to apologize would have to wait until they were back in the real world.

Hunter somewhat relaxed when he realized his physical body was with Nerissa in the real world where he saw her alive and healthy. But in this moment, he wanted to take her pain away.

Moving his gaze back to the injection point, not even a minute since the drug’s introduction, he watched how her body reacted to the poison spreading through her. There was a mist coming from her skin, similar to dry ice as the deadly cocktail passed through her veins.

When he had cupped her face back in the real world, he thought her skin was cold because of the weather. Now he knew better.

His mouth dropped open, and he goggled as her hair turned white and her eyes drained of color. A split second later, silver filled her irises and brightened. The glow from the injection faded and only then did Nerissa relax back onto the table with a sigh.

Her eyes searched the room and confusion rushed through him when she smiled. Not understanding her reaction, he took a quick glance around and Dr. Steven’s had disappeared. Nerissa tested the bonds and with a small tug, she broke the arm restraints and when she sat up; she did the same with the leather straps around her legs.

As she stepped off the table, Hunter blinked as the room grew fuzzy. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the mountains, kneeling in front of Nerissa in the snow.

“I didn’t know I could draw you into my memory. I hate thinking about it, even four years after it happened.”

“Nerissa… that’s a—”

“No. Neri. It’s only Neri.”

Her voice seemed weak and when he looked into her eyes, the tears he found there almost broke him.

“I’m so sorry for passing by and not finding you in the room when I had the chance. Instead of following my instincts, I allowed you to go through everything alone.”

Neri shook her head before she said, “I don’t understand.”

“I’m a black panther shifter and you, Neri, are my destined mate.”

Her beautiful eyes widened a split second before they rolled back and she fell against his chest, limp.

Well, fuck. That information could have waited until she knew me better.