Before I could press him, a faint knock came from the half-open door. My inner beast roared back to life, fighting against my control and leaving no doubt in my mind who was at the door before they requested entry.
“Can I come in?” Ari’s voice was quiet but not shaky as he stepped inside.
“Of course, you can, baby,” I assured him, my hungry eyes roving over him as my heart sped up. “Damn, I’m so glad to see you.”
Ari’s sweet responding smile didn’t quite meet his eyes and as he pulled his jacket off, a flash of white peeked out from under the t-shirt where his shoulder and neck met.
A bandage. My mate was wearing a bandage on the spot where a mating bite would be.
My mind flashed back to the half-formed memory of the black werewolf pinned beneath me and I felt my eyes widen in horror. Ari bit down on his bottom lip, his brow furrowing, and the words were out before I could stop them.
“Oh, my God. What the hell have I done?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ari
It’s going to be fine.
It’s going to be fine.
It’s going to be fine.
From the moment that Roger’s team members had wrestled him away from me and dragged him off to parts unknown, it seemed that that was all anyone had said to me.
Kade had growled it under his breath as he held me tight to keep me from intervening, his massive arms straining around my chest as he stopped me from chasing after the soldiers who had just removed my Alpha. Jeremy murmured it gently as he cleaned and bandaged the wound on my shoulder and then held me as tears flooded down my cheeks. Even Director Keir had assured me of it as I struggled with the physical implications of life changes I had never even contemplated.
The words were playing on repeat in my mind when I hesitated at the door to Roger’s recovery room and knocked. They muted when Roger saw the bandage on my neck, his face twisting into a mask of horror. They disappeared altogether when he barked out the question of what he’d done.
It was not a response that promised everything would be fine.
Still, where my past self would have hunched over to hide or fled from the problem, I squared my shoulders as far as I could and walked over to the bed with my head held high.
Roger was sitting up and leaning against the wall, naked from the waist up but his lower half covered by a light sheet. When I reached the bed, I saw his long fingers twitch as though he was trying not to reach for me and a tiny spark of hope that itwouldbe fine flared in my chest.
“Can we have a few minutes alone?” I asked the room in general, my eyes still glued to Roger’s fingers.
“Are you sure?” Kade’s voice came from the doorway, reminding me that I wasn’t alone.
“Yes,” I said firmly, almost surprised to realize that I was sure. No matter what else happened, no matter how he responded, Roger would never hurt me.
Not in a bad way, anyhow. The internal presence that I was still getting used to all but purred in agreement.
“Fang?” The older man who’d been in the room when I arrived was looking past me.
“Yeah, Commander. We’ll holler if we need you,” Roger confirmed, his voice tight. He waited until the door closed behind them to raise his hand, holding it out to me with the palm up. “Ari, baby, are you okay?”
“I think so,” I said slowly. “I’m…confused,” I admitted, stroking my palm over Roger’s outstretched one but pulling my hand away before he could close his fingers around it. “A little worried about what happens now.” I finally raised my eyes to Roger’s only to flinch at the concern I saw in them. “Are you okay?”
Roger sighed deeply. “They think so. Did someone tell you what happened? To me, I mean?”
I nodded. “A bad reaction to a sedative.”
Roger tried to smile but it was forced. “I, ah, don’t remember most of it but what I think I remember doesn’t speak very highly of my treatment of you.”
Unable to stop myself, I laughed.
“That’s funny?” Roger asked, confused.
