My wolf faints.
Okay, okay, no big deal. Stay calm. Be cool.
To stay grounded, I stim my feet, causing the blanket to move off me. Distracted, he stares down at my leg.
His wolf surfaces, and his voice is low. “Jay...”
He’s about to declare something sweet, so I try to calm myself.Here it comes...
Instead, he gently grabs my leg, turning it toward him to get a closer look. He growls. Caleb slowly turns his head to me. And when he does, his lip is turned up in a snarl, and his eyes blaze into my soul. “Who did this to you?”
My inner thigh has the wordmurderercarved into it.
“I–I don’t know their names.”
“Theirnames? There was more than one?” he bellows.
His nostrils flare. As much as he has shown he hates me, the versions of him I’ve seen are put to shame by the way he looks now.
I gulp. “I don’t want to make it a big deal.”
Because it’s a big deal. And once upon a time, it was to me, but unfortunately, I’m used to it. Their treatment toward me isn’t a surprise. I should’ve known better than to follow them.
“It’s a very big deal. What happened to you? I left the conference room, and you weren’t in the study.”
“A guy told me—”
How do I tell him they lured me out by dangling Caleb in front of me?Hey, I think I’m starting to have feelings for you. I guess they thought I did, too because who wouldn’t have wishful thinking when it comes to the handsome future alpha of a pack?
Could I tell him I was so desperate for time with him that I followed strangers into the woods?
Caleb waits for me to finish my answer.
“I thought I was following your orders.”
“What orders?”
“They told me . . .”
They didn’t really tell me anything. Maybe I made it all up in my head. What he said was ominous, and what I interpreted was out of desire. I feel so stupid. “They told me that you needed to speak to me and planned to meet me in the woods after your meeting ended. That it was important.”
In hindsight, that could’ve been anything.
“Jay, listen to me carefully. I had nothing to do with what happened to you, but I will have everything to do with making sure it never happens again.”
See? He wants to protect us. He cares, my wolf says.
“How? I don’t even know who they were.”
One told me their name. I don’t know if it’s the blood loss, but I can’t remember.
He wraps his hand around my thigh and tugs me gently toward him and leans his face close. His nose grazes my leg as he sniffs for evidence that someone has touched me. He stops ata spot on my shin and drags his tongue across the length of my fresh wound.
He growls, “But I do. And they will pay with their lives.”
Chapter THIRTY-FIVE
Caleb
