Her screams were making his beast prowl in his mind, pushing at his skin to be set free. The scent of his own blood in the air brought the healer to his bedroom door. He had to tamp down his need to protect Tessa and let the male inside.

"I will examine her and give her a sedative," Harold stated as he pulled on a pair of black gloves. They were supposed to keep Tessa from being hurt by the touch of another male. At this point, Drake wouldn't know the difference if the gloves didn't work. Her pain was just too much.

Harold removed a vial and a syringe, filling the needle halfway with medication, and walked over to the bed. Drake held her tightly, trying his hardest to keep her from thrashing around the bed too much. He didn't want her to fall off or hurt herself during the change.

"Roll her toward me so I can access her hip, please," Harold ordered. Drake did as he was told and watched as the healer moved her shorts out of the way, exposing the top of her hip. The injection was quick, and his mate didn't even flinch or try to bat away the healer's hand.

"Thank you," Drake said, gritting his teeth as Tessa continued to squirm and cry from the pain.

"Give the meds about five to ten minutes to work," Harold urged as he disposed of the needle. "I'll be in your living quarters if you need me."

Drake nodded and watched as Harold left the room. The male closed the door and left them alone. He wouldn't be far, taking up residency in Drake's personal living space on the other side of the door.

Tessa's screams were quieting, and Drake was thankful she wasn't in pain. The medicine was working enough to calm her to nothing more than some deep panting. His bear relaxed in his mind, and he wondered if maybe he would be able to go through this without loosing his fucking mind.

He'd never seen a human changed, but had heard of it being done. It wasn't a common occurrence in the shifter world. Before they had been found out by the humans, shifters mostly kept to themselves. Occasionally, one would find their mate in a human and a change would occur if they were destined to be mates. Sometimes, changing a human was necessary in keeping them alive. He knew a few of those cats had changed their human mates over the past few years.

"If you can hear me, little one, I am here with you," Drake whispered as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. She was hot, but shivering. He moved from the bed to gather a thin sheet to lay over her body. She didn't try to kick it away.

The next two hours, he laid with her, petting her as the blood he had given her worked throughout her body. She never cried out, but Drake knew she was still in some pain by the expressions on her face. Her lips were drawn into a thin line and her eyes were squeezed as tightly shut as she could make them.

Drake checked her over, lifting her eyelid to see if there were any changes, and frowned when there were none. It was going to be a long three days, waiting for his mate to come back to him.

He wanted to marry her by human customs. It was imperative she become a Morgan. Some shifters didn't abide by those traditions, living as mated couples without the legal documentation. Many months ago, Drake would've been okay with the same thing, but since meeting Tessa and knowing about her past, he wanted to make that female his in every way possible.

Getting rid of that motherfucker's last name would be the next order of business. Drake was okay with going directly to the court house as soon as she woke up, but he wondered if she wanted a real wedding. The thought of all the frilly attachments that came along with that kind of ceremony gave him a case of the hives.

A scream bubbled out of her throat and Drake immediately reached for her, calling out for the healer. Her hold on his arm was painful, and he took that as a good sign; the blood was working.

"It's going to be another hour before I can give her more medicine," Harold frowned. "Do I need to get your brothers? Because this is about to get bad until I can inject her again."

"No," he barked. "I'm going to be fine." He knew what he'd said was a lie. As Tessa thrashed on the bed, he felt his beast's agitation boiling beneath his skin. With the next scream, his fangs burst through his gums and he roared at the healer, warning him away from his mate.

The more she screamed, the more Drake's beast pushed for release.

Harold held his hands out in front of him and backed out the door. Within minutes, his brothers entered the room, and that was when all hell broke loose.

Tessa opened her mouth to scream and blood poured out, cutting off her oxygen.

"Healer!" all three men yelled.