His lower lip jutted out. “But I am.”
I groaned. “Shut up,” I said softly. “This is not your fault.”
His eyes flickered away. “If I hadn’t gone in that direction--”
“Ramsay,” I warned him.
“Matheson, can you just let me take some damn responsibility for this?” he growled. “I was being careless. Reckless, even. I never thought some damn humans would be able to do this to me, but here we are.”
We were both quiet for a moment.
“I’m the one who should be sorry,” I muttered. “You were gone for a whole day before we went looking.” A tired, bitter energy filled me. “Eric told me to wait. He said you were probably fine.”
“Don’t blame him,” Ramsay said gently. “I know you’re angry, but he doesn’t deserve it. You know that.”
I deflated. As the anger left me, I just felt weak and exhausted. Too tired to even cry.
“We looked all over for you,” I mumbled. “The whole territory. Even Noro helped.”
Ramsay smiled a little, the corners of his lips twitching. “I know. He’s the one who found me set in the trap. He was trying to help until--well, they got him too.”
I winced, remembering the sight of them both bloodied. I shut my eyes. Ramsay shuffled forward and pressed his forehead to mine.
“Hey,” Ramsay said. “You fixed Noro’s wing, right?”
My eyes snapped open as realization hit me like a slap of cold air. “Yes.”
A slow grin spread across his face. “And you fixed Eric’s arm, too, right?”
I already started wriggling in the restraints, but quickly found out it was useless with my human limbs. With a growl of frustration, I let the shift take over me. The tight pressure on my wrists worsened, the friction getting hotter as my body changed and I let out a soft whine of pain. As soon as I had my wolf’s teeth, I bit through the rope and shook myself off.
My wolf’s affectionate side took over. The urge to lick Ramsay’s face was too strong to ignore. He chuckled as I groomed him, licking his face and hair.
“All right, all right,” he said.
I shifted back, blushing in embarrassment. “Sorry. I couldn’t stop it.”
Now that I had hands again, I lifted Ramsay’s tattered shirt to get a better look at him. I bit my lip. He was bloody and bruised.
“Oh,” I whimpered.
Ramsay winced as I gently touched his abdomen. “It’s not that bad. Well. That’s a lie, it really sucks. But I did fight back pretty hard when they caught me. I probably could’ve gotten out of it less fucked up if I hadn’t struggled.”
I huffed. “Of course you did. Now hold still.”
Ramsay breathed deeply and tried to relax as my hands moved over his sensitive skin. I shut my eyes, focusing my magic into my fingertips more desperately than I ever had before. In my mind’s eye I imagined Ramsay, fit and healthy without a scratch on him. My skin buzzed with mild sensation, but I forced myself not to open my eyes and break the spell. I let the soothing, cool energy flow into Ramsay.
After a few moments, I heard him groan and sigh. I opened my eyes, then frowned. Though most of his deepest bruises and wounds had healed, he was still noticeably injured.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
“For what?” Ramsay asked, blinking. “Mathe, you healed me!”
“Not entirely.”
Ramsay sat up. “Oh, come on. I feel way better than I did before.”
He leaned in and kissed me. My stress melted. I sighed into his mouth, letting myself have a moment of repose.
