But Chloe was breathing slowly beside him, and all he could think was: at least they had a chance.
"I'm fine, Bonnie," Zander said, half laughing. "I'm tough, remember? Supertough. I'm a hero." He tugged on her hand, trying to pull her onto the bed beside him.
"You're hurt is what you are," Bonnie said sharply. "Don't try that macho stuff on me." She pulled her hand away and shoved an ice pack at him with her other hand. "Put that on your shoulder," she ordered.
They'd met up outside the library a little while after dawn, and she'd immediately seen that Zander was wounded. Back in his human form, he had seemed almost as graceful as always, running along with his Pack with his usual easy, loping stride, but he'd held himself aloof from the rest of the guys' playful shoving and tussling, the rough hands-on affection that was their default mode when they weren't on duty. As he'd stepped lightly out of range of Marcus's and Enrique's grappling arms and ducked away from Camden's headlock, Bonnie had realized Zander must be hurting.
So she'd taken him to the cafeteria and filled him up with eggs and bacon and the sugary cereal he loved. They'd come back to Zander's dorm room and she'd gotten him to take his shirt off so she could examine the damage. Normally, Bonnie would have been happily ogling Zander's chiseled abs, but right now, the purple-black bruise beginning to bloom on his shoulder and stretch down his side was ruining the view.
"I'm not really hurt, Bonnie," Zander insisted. "You don't have to baby me." He lay back on the bed, though, and didn't try to get up, so Bonnie figured that Zander was feeling a lot worse than he was willing to admit.
"I'll get you some ibuprofen," she said, and he didn't argue. She rummaged through his desk until she found the bottle and rattled the last couple of pills out into his hand, then brought him a bottle of water. Zander hitched himself up onto his elbows to swallow the pills and winced.
"Lie down," Bonnie told him. "If you promise to stay in bed and try to nap, I could go get you some of my special healing tea."
Zander grinned at her. "Why don't you lie down with me?" he suggested. "I bet I'd feel a lot more comfortable with you here." He patted the mattress next to him.
Bonnie hesitated. That was actually pretty tempting. She was about to snuggle up to him when a brisk knock came on the door.
Bonnie waved Zander back onto the bed as he started to rise. "I'll get it," she told him. "It's probably one of the guys." Not that Zander's Packmates bothered to knock much, but maybe they were using their best manners, assuming Bonnie would be there.
Another sharp tap came as Bonnie crossed the room. "All right, hold your horses," she muttered, opening the door.
In the hallway, her hand raised to knock yet again, stood a complete stranger, a girl with hair cut in a long blond bob. Her small, precise features mirrored Bonnie's own surprise.
"Is Zander here?" the girl asked, frowning.
"Um," Bonnie said, feeling thrown. "Yeah, he's . . ."
Then Zander came up behind her. "Well, hi, Shay," he said, his voice slightly unsure. He was smiling, though. "What're you doing here?"
The girl - Shay, Bonnie thought, what kind of name was that? - glanced at Bonnie instead of answering, and Zander flushed. "Oh," he said. "Yeah, Bonnie, this is Shay, who's a friend from back home. Shay, this is my girlfriend, Bonnie."
"Nice to meet you, Bonnie," Shay said coolly, raising one eyebrow. Her eyes traced over Zander's na**d chest, lingering for a moment on the purpling bruise, and his cheeks flushed pink. "Been busy?" she asked.
"Come on in," he said, and backed away from the door, reaching for his shirt. "I, uh, was just putting some ice on my shoulder."
"Nice to meet you, too," Bonnie said, a little late, as she made room for Shay to pass her. Since when did Zander have female friends? Other than Bonnie, and Bonnie's friends, he lived in an exclusively male world.
"I need to talk to you. Alone," Shay said to Zander, shooting him a meaningful look and then cutting her eyes sharply to Bonnie.
Zander rolled his eyes. "Subtle, Shay," he said. "But it's okay. Bonnie knows about me and the rest of the Pack."
A second eyebrow climbed up Shay's forehead to join the first. "Do you think that's wise?" she asked.
Zander's lips quirked into the half smile Bonnie loved. "Believe me, it's not the weirdest thing Bonnie knows," he said.
"O-kay," Shay said slowly. She fixed Bonnie with a long, speculative look and Bonnie stuck out her chin defiantly and glared right back at her. Finally, Shay shrugged. "I guess I lost my right to give you advice a while back," she said, then lowered her voice, as if she was afraid someone might be eavesdropping from the hallway. "The High Wolf Council sent me," she said quietly. "They're not happy with what they're hearing about the vampires at Dalcrest. They thought maybe I could help you guys find some direction."
Zander's jaw tightened. "Our direction's fine, thanks," he said.
"Oh, don't be like that," Shay said. "I'm not trying to Alpha you." She reached out and touched his arm lightly, letting her hand linger on it. "It was a good excuse to come visit," she said, even more softly. "I was sorry about how things ended the last time we saw each other."
Bonnie glanced down at herself. Shay was so focused on Zander that Bonnie had started to wonder if maybe she had disappeared and left them thinking they were alone together. But nope, same solid Bonnie.
"Oh," she said, startled, as everything Shay had said suddenly clicked into place. "You're a werewolf."