Hawk's Slave by Jordan Summers

him to live.
    “Can’t you do something?” She turned to Shadow.
    “Magic can only do so much when one isn’t a Sorce,” he said. “I’ve used the darkest spells I know just to keep him alive, but...”
    “But what?” Opal asked.
    “The spell won’t hold. He’s badly injured,” Shadow said. “He needs to shift, but he’s too weak to do so.”
    Opal bit her lip. There had to be something they could do. They couldn’t just stand by and let him die. It wasn’t right. She glanced around the small space. Other than a couple of cabinets shoved against the wall and the med unit, there wasn’t anything else in the room.
    “You need to leave,” Shadow said, then pulled a shirt out of one of the cabinets and handed it to her.
    Opal slipped it over her head, then faced him. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
    “There’s nothing you can do,” Shadow said.
    “I said I’m not leaving,” she snarled.
    Fallon looked at her as if it were the first time he was seeing her. “She can stay,” he said, then pressed a button on the wall. A chair unfolded beside the med chamber.
    Opal nodded to him, then sat down, her attention already returning to Hawk. He couldn’t die. She wouldn’t let him.
    “We can’t leave her in here with the captain,” Shadow said. “It’s not safe.”
    “He went back for her,” Fallon said.
    “We can’t trust her,” he snarled.
    “He fought for her. That mark on her neck is from him.” Fallon looked at Opal. “Besides, she knows what will happen if she tries to harm him.”
    Opal ignored them as they left the room. Her sole focus remained on Hawk. “Live, damn you,” she murmured.
    The med unit continued to pump oxygen and medicine into the air around Hawk. After an hour, she expected him to start breathing better, but if anything, his breathing had gotten worse.
    He moaned in his sleep and scratched at his skin, which brought out more cries of pain.
    Opal didn’t bother to hold back her tears. They streamed down her cheeks onto her shirt. She felt helpless as death stalked this once beautiful man.
    “No!” She shot to her feet and tapped on the outside of the container. “Do you hear me, Hawk? I said no! You are not getting away from me that easily.”
    Opal stripped off her shirt, then dropped it onto the floor. She closed her eyes and embraced the shift. Dark fur covered her skin as her jaw broadened. Sharp teeth filled her mouth and her senses came alive.
    She could smell Hawk. The smell of death lingered around him, waiting patiently for him to give up. Opal yowled. Her screech echoed in the small space. She stood on her hind legs, resting her paws on the clear cylinder. She stared down at Hawk, but he didn’t move.
    Opal roared again, then scent marked the ground next to the med chamber. She made sure that the scent she left was that of a female cat in heat. She jumped back up so she could watch Hawk’s face.
    For a moment, nothing happened. Opal’s hearts sank. It wasn’t working. Her claws scraped the outside of the container. Hawk’s nose twitched.
    She was so distraught that Opal thought she’d imagined it. Then his nose twitched again and his eyes fluttered open. The molten gold was swimming in pain, but he seemed alert. He didn’t turn his head, but his gaze shifted to the left until he was staring at her.
    Opal snarled and released more of her scent. Hawk’s nostrils flared and his eyes seemed to change to an even deeper amber. Fur rippled over one arm and he winced.
    She jumped up onto the top of the chamber and swished her tail. A growl rumbled out of the unit. Opal laid down upon the chamber and groomed herself.
    Another growl came from inside the unit. This time louder. She glanced at Hawk and curled her lip in a silent snarl.
    Claws shot out of his fingertips and fur spread over his skin. Hawk clenched his jaw in pain and threw his head back as the change took him.
    Opal jumped off the med chamber and shifted into her human form long enough