Instead of giving me an understanding nod and walking away, my pack mate only looks more disturbed.
“Thought it was her, but them fuckers were crowded so close around her, didn’t get a good look.”
“What are you saying, Raider?”My wolf paces anxiously in my chest, setting my pulse pounding.
“We were riding through town and saw them take her into emergency care?—”
“What?!”My stool topples over as I shoot to my feet and sprint.
Zoey is hurt.
44
WARNER
I shovethrough the front glass doors to the emergency care, hating the sterile smell of the place and how it dampens Zoey’s trail.The minute I pulled into the parking lot, I knew Raider was right.
Zoey is here.
And she’s bleeding.
A young nurse sits at the front desk, and her eyes widen at my abrupt arrival.I don’t stop to ask her directions.The place is small, and I know exactly which way to go.
“Not another one.Sir!It’s already too—” The swinging doors that lead back to the treatment area cut her off.
The space full of medical devices sends me back to the night I revealed my true self to Zoey.A whisper of fear at the memory of the dead look in her eyes creeps through me.I thought I might have lost her then.
Please tell me I’m not going to lose her now.
Despite the place being empty of other patients, I can’t see Zoey right away.There’s a human wall between the two of us.
“Where is she?”Again, I’m coming at the Gunner brothers, all aggression, the words low and rumbling with a growl I can’t keep contained.
Three of them whirl around, clearly shocked by my sudden appearance, but Abram keeps his gaze on his sister.And with their turning, I finally catch a glimpse of her.
She’s sitting up on the bed.That’s where the good news ends.
“Warner!”
At the sight of her pained smile, my frantic anger gets pushed aside by my helpless worry.
“Zoey.”Before her family can decide if they want to keep acting like the human barrier, I’m stepping between them, reaching for her.Only my hands hover an inch away, as I’m worried about causing additional pain.“What happened?”
She’s covered in scratches, most just tiny abrasions, but there’s a thick one at the base of her neck, and there looks to be hastily tied bandages around spots on her arms and her legs.Bandages with growing red stains.The beginnings of bruises shadow her forehead, cheek, elbows, and knees.One ankle has started to swell, and she holds one arm to her chest, the angle of it off.
These aren’t the signs of a small stumble.Whatever I missed looks to have gotten away with almost killing the woman I love.
I love.
I love her.
And here she is, broken and bloody from some mystery event.If I don’t find out who or what hurt her soon, the violence boiling in my brain might find an unintended target.
“Here.Could you hold this one?It doesn’t hurt as much.”Zoey offers her left hand to me, and I accept it, cradling her palm as carefully as I would a baby chick.
“Did someone attack you?”A trembling starts in my chest, the product of barely contained rage.My wolf wants to break free and lay waste to the world.
She looks surprised and confused.“What?No.I fell.”
