But he was alive. I pressed my face into his neck, inhaling his scent, grounding myself in it.
“Thank you,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “For coming.”
“I almost didn’t stop,” I rasped. “I was so close, Sean…”
He cupped my face in his hands, warm and bloody. “But you did. You came back. That’s what matters.”
I pulled him into me, not caring how much it hurt, not caring how wrecked we were. He was alive. And he still believed in me, even at my worst.
I held on to him like he was the only real thing left in the world. Because right then… he was.
Chapter 20
Beau/ Sean
BEAU
I didn’t want to move. Sean was warm against me, bloodied and bruised, but alive.
I kept my arms around him like that alone would keep him breathing. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him on the ground again, bleeding, shaking, nearly broken.
I’d never felt that kind of fear before. The kind that turned my bones to ice and my blood to fire at the same time.
Footsteps crunched through the underbrush. I tensed instinctively, ready to put Sean behind me again, but the voice that came was familiar.
“Beau!”
Rafael.
Callum was with him. Alongside them was the last person I expected to see in the woods: Sheriff Hank Miller. The sheriff stopped cold when he saw the carnage.
Vito was still out cold, crumpled at the base of a tree. Orin lay face-down in the dirt, blood pooling beneath his side. The smell was everywhere. It clung to the trees, to the wind.
Miller went pale. “Oh my…”
“They’re alive. Just unconscious,” Callum said calmly, already crouching beside Orin to check his pulse. His fingers pressed against the wolf’s neck with practiced efficiency.
“Still breathing,” Callum confirmed. “Broken ribs, at least.”
That seemed to satisfy the sheriff, who exhaled shakily and turned toward me.
I hadn’t let go of Sean. His breath ghosted weakly across my chest, and my hand stayed wrapped around the back of his head like I could anchor him to the world.
“Mr. Holloway. Beau,” Miller said, gently. Like someone approaching a cornered animal. “Rafael filled me in. But I’m gonna need you and Sean to come back with me to the station. Just to give your statements.”
A low growl rumbled in my throat before I could stop it. Sean stirred, lifting his hand to stroke my arm. Just a soft brush of fingers, but it pulled me back from the edge.
I closed my eyes and reined the bear in. He was still pacing under my skin, furious and protective, but not wild.
“My mate’s hurt,” I said through my teeth, voice still thick with the shift. “I’m taking him to the hospital. You can send someone there for our statements.”
Miller blinked, clearly unsure what to do with the word mate, but nodded.
“Yeah, of course. Just protocol, you know. I’ll send Lee or Jackson over to get the report once you’re both settled,” Miller said.
“Appreciate it,” I muttered.
I turned to Callum as I stood with Sean in my arms, careful not to jostle him too much.
