Psy & Changelings 01 - Slave to Sensation

kneeling down beside the bed to stroke her spiky hair. There was something heartbreaking about seeing three predatory males, used to protecting their women, trying to be strong while their souls were being torn to pieces.
    Inside the darkness of Brenna’s mind, Sascha whispered, You’re home, Brenna.
    It’s a lie.
    Can’t you feel them? Hawke, Riley, Andrew . . . they’re here and they’re waiting for you.
    A silence so full of terrified hope that Sascha shivered.
    They found you. They avenged your honor. She was mated to an alpha Hunter. She knew the value of vengeance, the importance of honor, the power of loyalty. Don’t make them wait any longer—I think their hearts are going to break.
    I can’t bear any more. Tears sounded in every word. What if this is a dream, you’re a dream, and I wake to him? I might never escape again and I’m so tired.
    Sascha thought about who Brenna had been before Enrique, about who she still was deep in her soul. She thought of Rina and Mercy, of their will, their pride. You have so much heart it humbles me and you fought a brave fight. If you want to slip into the last sleep, no one will judge you. You’ve earned your peace.
    I don’t want to die.
    Then choose to live. Sascha wasn’t playing games. She’d told the absolute truth—Brenna had earned her right to die. We miss you.
    Who are you?
    I’m Sascha, mate to Lucas Hunter and a healer of DarkRiver. She was no longer a woman who belonged nowhere, no longer part of a race that would’ve punished her for her gift. Pride shimmered in her tone. Accepted, more than accepted by her new family, she’d never mourn who she’d once been.
    Sascha, I’m broken.
    So was I, Brenna. She reached out and hugged the girl’s floundering spirit. What is broken can be healed.
    Help me. The voice was resolute, that flickering flame settling to a slender column of purity. I won’t give in to death. Help me wake up to reality . . . whatever that might be.
    Pride for the young woman’s courage mixed with anguish for the pain she’d suffered, but Sascha let her feel only the pride. I’m here. Slowly, she guided Brenna’s broken mind through the shreds of her spirit.
    Can this ever be fixed? Brenna asked, aware of the extent of the damage that had been done to her.
    I was born to heal you. And if it took every second of the remainder of her time on this Earth, she would heal Brenna.
    Take me home, Sascha.
    Sascha opened her eyes perhaps an hour after she’d spoken to Hawke, and found herself sitting on the bed beside Brenna, her hand in the young woman’s. She had no recollection of moving there, or of clasping her other hand with Lucas’s. Brenna’s brothers and Hawke surrounded the bed, touching their packmate wherever they could.
    â€œWake up, Brenna.” Sascha brushed a gentle kiss on her forehead. As she sat back up, the girl’s eyelids fluttered and then opened. Wary eyes met Sascha’s. With a smile, Sascha said, “Hey, sleepyhead.”
    Brenna blinked. One of her brothers choked back a cry and pushed in front of Sascha to cup his sister’s face with hands that were consciously gentle. “Bren? God damn it, Bren, you had us worried to death.”
    Over the top of Riley’s head, Sascha met brown eyes filled with so much joy it was almost blinding. She got off the bed and let Lucas hold her. Now it was time for the wolves to heal Brenna, to cover her in their love and affection. Sascha would return to help her repair her mind and soul, but for today, this was enough.
    â€œLet’s go home,” she said to Lucas.
    He ran his knuckles down her cheek and dropped a kiss on her nose. “Still mad, Sascha darling?”
    â€œYes.” Her hug was fierce. She lived with guilt every day of her life for condemning him to death.
    Â 
    Â 
    A week later, she picked up Julian and rubbed his belly. The little cub growled and asked for more. Laughing, she gave him what he wanted. Tammy was out of town for the day and when she’d asked Sascha to look after the cubs, she’d jumped at the chance. They’d turned up at Lucas’s lair as two adorable boys in blue jeans and T-shirts, but minutes later, she’d found two cubs chewing on her boots.
    â€œYou look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Lucas said from the doorway, a strained smile on his face.
    She knew the reason for the