Page 41 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

Sabrina grinned in relief as she watched Jason, Misha, and Kyle leave the hospital and pile inside the SUV. She was so happy that Jason could work again with the team. He needed to be a part of something. To help others. She understood his motivations since they were woven into her core as well.

Lucas walked back into the lab. “I’m glad Jason is better.”

She blinked in surprise. He sounded like the Lucas she remembered. “Thank you for your help.”

Lucas looked away from her. “Have you told Jason you love him?”

And the surprises kept coming. “He knows I care for him.”

Lucas shook his head. “It’s not enough. You need to tell him.”

Her throat tightened. “I’m surprised you’re offering me advice. I thought you hated me.”

Lucas hesitated for a moment before responding.

“I don’t hate you, Sabrina. You aren’t to blame.

I couldn’t save Robert. He was everything to me.

Over a century later and I sometimes wake up in the morning and for a split second I forget that he’s gone.

And then it crashes into me, and I lose him all over again. ”

“Is that why you barely sleep?”

He nodded. Her heart ached for him.

She reached for his hand, surprised when he didn’t pull away.

“You are not to blame either, Lucas. We both need to let the guilt go. And you need to truly mourn Robert. You know the stages of grief. You’ve been stuck on anger for too long.

And you can’t continue to spend every moment working on the cure. ”

He took a deep breath. “You don’t have to come back with me to the clan.”

The tension wrapping around her shoulders and up into her neck melted away, and she smiled.

“Good. Because I decided I’m not going. But that doesn’t mean I won’t help you with your research.

We have technology and a better understanding in medicine than we ever have before.

And I have some notes from research I’ve been working on over the years as well. ”

He gave her a long look. “You have?”

“I couldn’t let it go either, Lucas. I just couldn’t let it consume my every waking moment any longer.”

She stepped toward him and the room spun. Lucas grabbed her arms and held her upright. “Sabrina? What’s wrong?”

“I’m a little dizzy.”

He helped her sit down, and he grabbed her stethoscope out of her doctor’s coat pocket and put it on, checking her breathing and heartbeat. “Are you feeling better?”

Sabrina swallowed. “A little.”

“When is the last time you absorbed energy?”

She sighed. “It’s been a while.”

“I need specifics. Weeks? Months?”

“Over a year.”

He frowned. “Because of Jason?”

“No. I just haven’t felt the need.”

He took her pulse. “Anything else bothering you?”

“I’m just tired.” If she could get a good night’s sleep, she would be fine.

“For how long?”

She thought about it for a moment. “It’s been a few weeks. I haven’t been sleeping well with everything that’s been going on with Jason.”

He held his hands above her head. “Are you eating or only living on your rocket-fuel coffee?”

He really needed to work on his bedside manner. “I’m eating.”

“But?” he prompted.

“But not very much.”

His frown grew. “I’m going to run some blood work.”

She sighed again. “Of course you are.”

“I know. I’m a vampire. Humor me.”

“Okay.” Her heart picked up when she thought about the questions he’d asked her.

“Lucas?”

He squatted down in front of her. “Don’t go there. We’re going to check you over. You always have burned the candle at both ends, super doctor. You tell me I need to take a break, and I’ll tell you the same. I’ll be back in a minute to draw blood.”

She nodded and pulled in a deep breath. Doctors were notoriously bad at taking care of themselves.

She would chalk it up to that. All the times she ordered people to take vacations and she never heeded it herself.

If she hadn’t gone on a vacation since the LA Olympics, it’s no wonder she was dragging.

She kept telling herself that when he drew the blood, and told it to herself again when he had someone bring her some orange juice and a sandwich that she choked down while he ran a battery of tests.

When he finally turned to look at her, his closed-off mask had dropped and been replaced by a look of devastation that told her everything.

She had the Fade.