couple of days later, Wrath struggled to sit up before the brothers came in. He didn't want them to see him flat on his back. The IV running into his arm and all the machines behind him were bad enough.

But at least the catheter had been out since yesterday. And he'd managed to shave himself and take a shower. Having his hair clean was a beautiful thing.

"What are you doing?" Beth demanded as she caught him moving around.

"Sitting up¡ª"

"Oh, no, you don't." She grabbed the bed's remote and tilted up the head.

"Ah, hell, leelan, now I'm just lying down while sitting up."

"You're fine." She bent over to tuck the sheets in, and he caught sight of the curve of her breast. His body swelled. In the right place.

But the rush made him think of the scene he'd walked in on at that barn. Of her latched down to that table. He didn't care that lessers couldn't get it up.

He caught her hand. "Leelan? "

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you're all right?" They'd talked about what had happened, but still he worried.

"I told you. My thigh's healing up¡ª"

"Not just the physical stuff," he said, wanting to kill Billy Riddle all over again.

Her face clouded for an instant. "I told you, I'll be fine. Because I refuse to have it any other way."

"You're so brave. So resilient. You amaze me."

She smiled at him and leaned down for a quick kiss.

He held her in place, talking against her lips. "And thank you for saving my life. Not just back in that barn. But for all the rest of my days and nights."

He kissed her a little more deeply and was happy to hear her gasp of pleasure. The sound brought his erection back to life, and he brushed his fingertips over her collarbone.

"How 'bout you hop on up here with me?"

"I don't think you're quite ready for that yet."

"Wanna bet?" He took her hand and put it under the hospital sheets.

Her throaty laugh as she gripped him gently was yet another marvel. Just like her constant presence in his room, her fierce protection of him, her love, her strength.

She was everything to him. His whole world. He'd gone from being blas¨¦ about his death to being desperate to live. For her. For them. For their future.

"What do you say we give it another day?" she said.

"An hour."

"Until you can sit up on your own."

"Deal."

Thank God he was a fast healer.

Her hand left his body. "Should I let the brothers in?"

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Wait. I want you to know what I'm going to say."

He tugged her down, so she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm leaving the brotherhood."

She closed her eyes as if she didn't want him to see how relieved she was. "Truly?"

"Yeah. I've asked Tohr to be in charge. But I'm not taking a vacation. I have to start ruling our kind, Beth. And I need you to do it with me."

Her lids flipped open.

He touched her face. "We're talking king and queen time. And I'm going to be honest with you. I have no idea what I'm doing. I've got some ideas, but I'm going to need your help."

"Anything," she said. "Anything for you."

Wrath could only stare at her in wonder.

God, she really knocked him out. Here she was, ready to take on the world with him even though he was flat on his ass in a hospital bed. Her faith in him was astounding.

"Have I told you that I love you, leelan?"

"About five minutes ago. But I never get tired of hearing it."

He kissed her. "Get the brothers. Tell Butch to wait in the hall. But I want you to stay while I talk to them."

She let the warriors in and then came back to his side.

The brotherhood walked up to the bed cautiously. Although he'd had a brief meeting with Tohr that morning, this was the first time he'd seen the rest of his warriors, and the first time they'd seen him. There was a lot of shallow coughing, like there were lumps being cleared out of throats. He knew what that felt like. He had a knot in his own.

"My brothers¡ª"

At that moment, Havers came through the door. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ah, the good doctor," Wrath said. "Come in. We've got some unfinished business, you and I."

Havers had been in and out of the OR with regularity, but Wrath hadn't felt up to dealing with the situation until now.

"It's time," he commanded.

Havers took a deep breath and walked up to the bed. He bowed his head. "My lord."

"I understand you tried to have me killed."

To the male's credit, he didn't try to run. He didn't prevaricate. And although his sorrow and his regret were clear, he did not argue for leniency.

"Yes, I did, my lord. I was the one who approached him." He pointed to Zsadist. "And, when it was clear your brother would not betray you, the lesser."

Wrath nodded, having already talked to Tohrment about what had really gone down that night. Tohr had caught only part of Z's response.

"My lord, you should know that your brother was ready to kill me just for asking him."

Wrath eyed Zsadist, who was staring at the doctor like he wanted to mount the male's head on a wall. "Yeah, I heard that didn't go over too well. Z, I owe you an apology."

The warrior shrugged. "Don't bother. They bore me."

Wrath smiled, thinking that was so like Z. Pissed off no matter the circumstance.

Havers looked around at the brothers. "Here in front of these witnesses, I accept the sentence of death."

Wrath stared hard at the doctor. And thought of all those years the male's sister had suffered. Even though Wrath had never intended for her life to be so grueling, the outcome had been his fault.

"Marissa was the reason, wasn't she?" Wrath said.

Havers nodded. "Yes, my lord."

"Then I'm not going to kill you. You did it because of the way I treated your loved one. Vengeance is something I can understand."

Havers seemed to wobble from shock. Then he dropped the chart he was holding and collapsed by the bed, grabbing Wrath's hand and putting his forehead on it. "My lord. Your mercy knows no bounds."

"Yeah, the hell it doesn't. I am giving you your life as a gift to your sister. If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'm coming after you with a dagger. We clear?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Now leave us. You can poke and prod me later. But knock before you come in, got it?"

"Yes, my lord."

As Havers scooted out the door, Wrath kissed Beth's hand. "Just in case we're busy," he whispered to her.

A low, collective chuckle filled the room.

He glared at the brothers to shut them up and then made his pronouncement. He knew he'd shocked the hell out of his warriors when there was a long silence.

"So are you down with Tohr, or what?" he asked the group.

"Yeah," Rhage said. "I can deal."

Vishous and Phury nodded.

"Z?"

The warrior rolled his black eyes. "Come on, man. What does it matter to me? You, Tohr. Britney Spears."

Wrath laughed. "Was that a joke, Z? After all this time, have you finally found your sense of humor? Hell, you're giving me another reason to live."

Z flushed and snarled a little while the others chided him.

Wrath took a deep breath. "And my brothers, there's something else. I'm ascending to the throne. As I've told Tohr, we need to rebuild. We need to revive the race."

The brothers stared. And then one by one, they came up to the bed and swore their fealty in the old language, taking his hand, kissing the inside of his wrist. Their grave reverence shook him, moved him.

The Scribe Virgin was right, he thought. These were his people. How could he not lead them?

When the warriors were finished with their oaths, he looked at Vishous. "Did you get the jars of the two lessers from that barn?"

V frowned. "There was only one. The recruit that you and I met the night of your mating. I went back and stabbed the body while you were being operated on. Got his jar from the house."

Wrath shook his head. "There were two. There were definitely two. The other one was the lesser who was driving that Hummer."

"You sure he went down?"

"He was on the ground with a blow to the head." Abruptly, Wrath sensed Beth's disquiet and squeezed her hand. "Enough, we'll talk about this later."

"No, it's all right¡ª" she began.

"Later." He kissed the back of her hand and stroked it across his cheek. Holding on to her eyes with his own, he tried to reassure her, hating the world he'd brought her into.

When she smiled at him, Wrath tugged her down for a quick kiss and then looked back at the brothers.

"One more thing," he said. "You're going to move in together. I want the brotherhood in one place. At least for the next couple of years."

Tohr winced. "Man, Wellsie's going to hate that. We just finished installing her dream kitchen."

"We'll work out something for you two. Especially because there's a child on the way. But the rest of you are going to be roommates."

There were grumbles. Serious grumbles.

"Hey, it could be worse," he said. "I could make you live with me."

"Good point," Rhage said. "Man, Beth, if you ever need a break from him¡ª"

Wrath growled.

"What I was gonna say," Hollywood drawled, "was that she could move in with all of us for a while. We'll always take care of her."

Wrath glanced up at Beth. God, she was so beautiful. His partner. His lover. His queen.

He smiled, unable to look away from her eyes. "Leave us, gentlemen. I want to be alone with my shellan."

As the brothers filed out, they were laughing with masculine appreciation. As if they knew exactly what was on his mind.

Wrath struggled on the bed, trying to force himself upright so that he bore the weight of his upper body on his hips.

Beth watched him the whole time, refusing to help.

When he was steady, he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He could feel her skin already.

"Wrath," she said with warning as he beamed at her.

"Come on up here, leelan. A deal's a deal."

Even if all he could do was hold her, he just needed her in his arms.