Maya dropped down on the bed ungracefully as she heard Derek's declaration.

He has lost his wolf? No, not good at all.

She already knew that it was the aftermath of his interaction with the orb which Melvina had told her about. The object that had almost killed him. It hadn't succeeded, but it had managed to silence his wolf. She hoped that it was a temporary problem.

Turning aside to look at him, she noticed that his shoulders were dropped low, his head bent. He looked like a lost child, and a worried old man at the same time.

Sighing, she drew close to him, and enclosed him in...