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Celine felt awful as her grandfather helped her into the barracks set aside for Kinkaid-affiliated shifter soldiers.

Other shifter groups had places in other buildings spread around the island, maximizing the coverage and splitting the risk should the island base be attacked.

The building she lived in was the largest of the bunch, since there were a lot of Kinkaids and those loyal to the Kinkaid Clan serving here.

It was also the building where all the support staff lived, though most of them were also in the service.

She was the outlier, being a civilian, but they’d accepted her readily, and she’d made friends here.

She also had a lot of distant relations living in the building.

Kinkaid selkies and lions, along with other species whose home Packs or Clans had sworn allegiance to the Kinkaid Alpha.

She had a comfortable room that she’d made her own over the months that she’d been living here, but it was still a small room with just the basics.

A bed. A closet for her clothes. Bookshelves and a desk.

A comfy chair and a television, which was a concession for her being a civilian.

The soldiers didn’t have individual TVs in their rooms. Instead, they shared a communal recreation room at the end of the hall, which she supposed was sort of like the main hall in a Pack house.

It was a gathering place where the shifters could play card games or watch movies or sports on a big screen TV in their free time.

That was something the wolf shifters on the island had started, recreating the finer points of Pack life to some small extent.

The lions and selkies and assorted others on the base had liked it and joined in, even though wolves, as a species, went a lot more for togetherness than most of the others.

She couldn’t handle the rec room right now, though. She felt horrible and just wanted to get in bed. She had to clean up first, though. She might have just enough strength for that, at least.

Gramps helped her to the large ladies room and got one of her female cousins to help her out of her wet, bloody clothes and into a night shirt he’d fetched from her bedroom for her.

Dara was a lioness who worked directly for Lester Kinkaid, the base commander, as his assistant.

She kept his office running smoothly and knew everyone on the island, but she was also a distant cousin.

Celine found her comfortable and was glad to have her help in her weakened state.

“I really want to shower, but I don’t think I have the energy right now,” Celine admitted as she shrugged into her sleep shirt with Dara’s help.

“I had a run-in with silver poisoning once when I was a little girl. I’m amazed you’re even awake right now,” Dara said with admiration in her tone that surprised Celine.

Dara might be in an administrative role right now, but she was a trained soldier, and as a lioness, she was deadly. Dara’s approval felt almost unreal to Celine, and it gave her the little boost she really needed right now. Today had been a doozy, both emotionally and physically.

“Well, it doesn’t feel great, but that human doctor fixed me right up. Got all the silver out, and now, I’m just dealing with the residual weakness. Or so he said.” Celine stood with Dara’s help.

“I believe it.” Dara still sounded impressed.

“And for a human guy, that doctor is a total hottie,” she went on, fanning herself comically.

“If he weren’t taken, a lot of us gals would be sniffing after him.

In fact, I know a couple of my friends have sampled some of the other guys in that unit and given them high marks in the stamina department.

They might be human, but they’ve definitely got the right stuff.

” She giggled, and Celine just shook her head. Then, a thought occurred.

“Has anybody talked about Zeke?” she asked before she could stop the words tumbling out of her mouth.

“Ezekiel Miller? He’s one of the quiet ones, though they’re all pretty taciturn, actually,” Dara observed, her head tilting as she seemed to think about Celine’s question.

“No. I don’t think he’s taken the bait anybody’s been throwing down.

Pity. I’ve watched those men run along the beach, and there’s not a one of them that doesn’t rev my engine.

Or maybe I just really need to find a partner to work off some of my frustration.

I’ve pretty much given up on finding Mr. Right, and at this point, I’m just looking for Mr. Right Now.

” She chuckled sadly as she helped Celine to the door of the big bathroom.

“Sad, huh? And I thought for sure when I was little that I’d find my true mate and live happily ever after. ”

Celine sighed. “So did I. I think we all live in hope of that happening, but it’s become a bit of a fairytale, you know?”

“I do, indeed,” Dara agreed wistfully.

They went out into the hallway, and Gramps was there, ready to assist. He took one look at Celine and scooped her into his brawny arms, the way he’d done when she was still a child.

She snuggled into him, reassured by his strong presence.

He was her last link to her immediate family.

The beloved grandfather who had always been there for her, through good times and bad.

She loved him so dearly, it was easy to let him take over and help her. At least, for now.

Tomorrow, when she felt stronger, she would reclaim her independence, and then, she’d find a way to thank that handsome human solider who had risked his life to save hers.

She felt warm just thinking about him…and a little possessive.

She didn’t want to really examine how relieved she’d felt to learn that none of the other women on the island had managed to snare his attention.

No, she wanted his focus all to herself.

She wasn’t entirely certain what she was going to do with it once she had it, but she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. Dara stayed to open the door to Celine’s room so Gramps could carry her inside, then left with a cheery wave and a promise to check on her later.

Celine’s grandfather set her on her bed and made sure she had a big bottle of water, her cell phone, and the remote control for the television within easy reach on the night stand, then he kissed her on the forehead and stroked her hair.

He gazed at her with a soft expression on his usually stern face that reminded her of her childhood and the way this gruff man had always softened when it came to talking to her.

He was such a good man, and she loved him so much.

“I’m sorry I scared you today. My instinct was to swim when I got hurt, but it was a stupid move. I realized that almost immediately when I tried to shift and couldn’t,” she admitted.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to fight our instincts.

If that bullet had been a normal one, what you did could have worked out all right.

But trained soldiers know that there’s safety in numbers, and you’ll notice that none of the others left the boat when the bullets started flying.

I don’t expect you to have known that, but you’re here, with us, now.

You should probably try to learn a bit more about how we operate as a team.

When you’re feeling better in a day or two, I think you should probably join the squad for PT in the mornings, at the very least. What do you think? ”

All in all, she figured Gramps was going easy on her.

He probably should have been yelling at her about abandoning ship.

At the very least, he could have been giving her a stern talking to about stupidly following instinct when her brain should have been assessing her chances of survival more coherently.

The simple truth was, she’d panicked when she’d been shot.

Her inner beast had been clamoring for her to jump into the water.

Into the environment the seal functioned best in.

It hadn’t been a rational decision on her part, and she knew better than that.

All her life, her elders had tried to make her examine situations critically and use both parts of her mind to evaluate the best course of action.

Today, she’d failed at that in a big way, and had almost paid the ultimate price.

And here was her grandfather, being the big teddy bear he was only with her, and offering her a gentle reproach and a suggested course of corrective action.

He was being so kind, it touched her deeply, and he did have a very good point.

“I will,” she promised.

“Good girl,” he approved, bending to kiss her hair, then rose to his full height.

“Dara will check on you, and I’ll have food brought over from the kitchen for you.

When you start feeling better, you’ll need to refuel.

I’ll send a cooler with sandwiches, drinks and some treats.

Eat whenever you feel up to it. It’ll help you heal.

I’ll also come back later and see how you’re doing, and someone will be checking on you throughout the night.

You have your phone, and you can call me anytime, okay? ”

“I’ll call if I need anything, but really, I’m just going to sleep for a good long time.” She snuggled into her blankets, pulling them up to her chin as she got comfortable. Her grandfather nodded, smiling gently.

“You do that, pumpkin. I’ll see you later. Call me if you need me.” And with that, he left her.