I put a hand to my throbbing lip, and it came away stained with blood.
“Do Ilookokay?” I asked grumpily, ignoring his hand and using the machine to pull myself to my feet. Wincing at the way my body protested the movement, I stalked over and grabbed Alanna from her playpen. I couldn’t help but smile when she gurgled happily at me.
“And put on a shirt,” I threw over my shoulder as I left. “No one needs to see all that.”
His warm, pleased chuckle followed me out the door.
Later that evening,Riggs called a Clan dinner. I wasn’t part of the Clan and had been planning on having dinner in my room, but Taco cajoled me into attending.
Before heading to the kitchen, though, I made my way to Matteo’s room. The door was open as I approached, and it looked like Mathan was just leaving. He nodded at me, barely cordial, before quickly heading off.
I knocked lightly on the open door, then pushed it wider and peeked inside. “How’re you doing?”
He was propped up on pillows, sitting up in bed. The curtains were open, letting the fading daylight spill soft color across the room.
His space was big and airy, with a large bed dominating the room, bookshelves along one wall filled with hundreds of books, and a desk tucked into a small nook with a tidy surface. Through an open door, I spotted a spacious en suite bathroom. A couch sat in the nook beneath a large TV mounted to the wall.
He grimaced. “Better. The potions, and whatever Dice gave me, are working. She said it might take a while. Every cell in my body is damaged. My shifter genes are trying to repair it, and the medicine is helping, but they need time to work.”
I sat gingerly in a nearby recliner, stopping the rocking motion with my foot.
“You don’t sound happy about that,” I said.
“I’m not.” With shaky hands, he brought a water bottle to his lips and drank deeply. I wanted to help, but restrained the urge. “Where’s Alanna?”
I rolled my eyes. “Where else? One of the Clan has her. She’s being passed from one set of arms to the next. She even sleeps in someone’s arms.”
Matteo chuckled. His face was less gray now, I noticed, and closer to his natural olive tone. His hazel eyes also looked less red and puffy.
“That sounds ideal for a baby. She’s well loved.”
“She’s going to get spoiled.”
He leaned back, thoughtful. “Is it possible to spoil a baby with too much love? I think sometimes people spoil their children with things, thinking it’s the same. But I think it would be very hard to spoil a child with too much love. She probably feels very secure.”
My heart ached at what he wasn’t saying. And even though none of this was my fault, and I was doing the best I could, Alanna’s first few months of life had been a nightmare. Safety, security, and abundant love would go a long way toward helping her feel less anxious.
“I’ve noticed she seems more at ease now that she’s around the Clan,” I said quietly.
Matteo nodded, his expression subdued. “You know none of this has been your fault, right?”
I shifted. “Well, I did leave her. Who knows what that did to her.”
He smiled gently. “You left to get help. You left suddenly because you didn’t know if you could do it if you dragged it out. You left her in one of the safest places in the world, with people who took excellent care of her. You went in person because you wanted to make sure the Prime couldn’t say no—not that he would have—but you didn’t know that.”
I rubbed a finger along the seam of my jeans. “I’d only known Riggs a few weeks, Matteo, and I left her with him. Surely that must make me a terrible choice for Alanna’s guardian.”
Matteo shook his head, his gaze steady on mine. “He’s your mate. You knew his character from the beginning.”
He cracked a smile. “How’s that going, by the way? I heard about your incident in the gym earlier.”
He looked like he was trying not to laugh, and I scowled at him.
“Nothing’s going,” I said. “I’m waiting until Alanna is safe before I open myself up to anything.”
Matteo finally chuckled, shaking his head. “Good luck with that. I’ve heard the mating pull is difficult to ignore.”
I scrunched my face at him, then stood. “Do you need anything? I can make you a plate and bring it to you before I eat.”
