Samir held her gaze for moment too long to be casual. There was something beyond strategy there; there was real fear, and he wasn't accustomed allowing anyone seeing him like that. "I'm not dying."

"Your wolf is," she corrected, and correction wasn't blow, but line drawn on ground. "And if it dies, you don't come out of this intact."

He closed eyes for second, as if statement had reached exact point he'd been avoiding facing. When opening again, there was less resistance and more ...