Bride

Misery goes in and out of pained consciousness, hearing Lowe and the doctor discussing how her Vampyre body will deal with the poison. She can hear Lowe refuse to leave her side and decide to move Ana to a secret place. Misery wakes up weak but suddenly better. Outside her room is an enormous wolf. It is Lowe, who herds her back inside to her closet. She curls up with him and sleeps.

In a flashback, Misery remembers Serena’s anger at the Collateral system. Misery now understands her friend’s anger for the first time, realizing it’s because she has someone she cares about and wants to keep safe—Lowe.

In the present, Misery finds Lowe in the living room talking to his seconds. He smells her and tells everyone to go. She’s been sleeping for five days. He tells her they narrowly missed going to war with the Vampyres. Misery worries the poison was meant for Ana. Lowe says there’d been no indication it was from Emery. He wants to hide Misery, as he failed to protect her. He admits it was hard to let anyone else touch or care for her. She insists on staying and wants to shower. He draws a bath for her. She places his hand on her leg under the water, kisses him, and asks how Weres have sex. He lets her guide him into giving her an orgasm with his fingers. She asks if they can kiss since they haven’t yet. It’s awkward at first, but once they figure it out, it’s good. Back in her closet, he pleasures her again with his mouth. She is unbuttoning his jeans when his cell phone rings.

It is Owen on FaceTime. He tells her to come home. Lowe leans into the screen and says she is his responsibility. Owen looks at them and rolls his eyes at their obvious sexual relationship. He tells Misery that someone broke into Serena’s apartment. He wants to meet and talk. He confesses he’s glad Misery is okay.

Misery hasn’t fed in a week and is weak. In the kitchen, Alex and Lowe are looking at a computer. Alex tells her he found a connection with Serena. She was going to interview a man named Thomas Jalakas who was part of the Human-Were Bureau in the past. Lowe and Misery speculate that Jalakas is Ana’s father, as he looks like Ana in his photo. They find that he died in a car accident two weeks after Serena disappeared.

Lowe comforts Misery, saying it doesn’t mean Serena is dead. He reasons that whoever killed Jalakas had the resources to make it appear like an accident and probably did the same with Serena. They decide to ask Davenport, the ex-Governor, about it. Misery goes to feed from a bag but Lowe insists she drink from him. Misery says she shouldn’t since it will make feelings develop between them. He says he is ready for the consequences. Misery realizes that in the past she’d always come second, but Lowe makes her feel different. She bites him. It turns him on and he carries her upstairs and they strip. She asks for a condom and he says they can’t have sex, that they aren’t compatible. He says it isn’t a Vampyre and Were thing, but that it will be different because she is special to him. He says he can show her and tells her to feed more. They both achieve orgasm, moving against each other, and he guides her hand to his penis, which is expanding at the base. She then understands what he meant about not being compatible.

Misery and Lowe enjoy bickering about what gift to bring Davenport when they go to dinner and determine they both don’t like him. Misery realizes she is having fun for the first time with someone who isn’t Serena.

At dinner with Davenport, they converse awkwardly about previous disastrous Were and Vampyre unions. When Davenport is disrespectful about Jalakas being a lady’s man and knowing Lowe’s mother, Lowe pins him to the wall. He asks Davenport why he had Jalakas killed, ignoring the guards yelling at him with guns. Davenport says Jalakas was talking to journalists about Davenport embezzling.

Lowe and Misery speculate how Serena got information about Ana through Jalakas. Lowe suggests Serena was the one giving information to Jalakas about his potential daughter. They speculate that Serena is hiding, but Misery refuses to believe she’d put a child in danger for a story. They drive into Vampyre territory to meet Owen. Misery is surprised that she’s happy to see him, but then sees he’s brought a Were woman. Misery realizes she is seeing Lowe’s mate, Gabi.

Misery is nervous and Lowe holds her hand. She is thrown off, not expecting him to act tenderly in front of his mate. Owen mocks their obvious chemistry. He reveals that the security cameras outside Serena’s house were tampered with only for the day of the break-in. Gabi reveals she knows what is happening and sympathizes with Misery, surprising her. Owen says he is going to attempt a hostile takeover of his father’s place on the counsel, which means he his planning on killing him. He says he wants Misery’s support. She is shocked and afraid for him. She realizes he is not the immature playboy she thought he was and that he is motivated by how badly Misery was treated. He wants to form better alliances. Lowe says he’ll welcome a leader with ideas like Owen’s.

Lowe checks in with Gabi, who says things are going well, that she’s taking classes online with her extra time. Lowe gets her major wrong, confusing Misery. As they leave, Misery notes Lowe isn’t watching Gabi leave and doesn’t seem emotional at all about seeing her. She realizes Gabi isn’t actually Lowe’s mate.