She nodded, kneeling down in front of my seat so we were at eye level. I couldn’t read her expression, but she shocked the fuck out of me when she reached out, palm up in offering.
Hesitantly, I placed my hand in hers. She clasped my hand, the warmth and acceptance I felt at the simple touch astounding. Beyond anything I deserved, and it was humbling. Shame covered me from head to toe at how badly I’d treated this woman, when literally all she’d offered me was kindness and acceptance.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
My throat was too clogged with emotion to say a word, so I simply shook my head, hoping she could see what I couldn’t say in that moment. My gratitude. My unworthiness. The desperate way I wished I could be good enough for her.
“Okay. I’m here if you change your mind. I’d better start your exam, though, because we don’t want the Hungarians following us to Greece now, do we?”
“Fuck no.”
She smiled at that, squeezing once before releasing my hand. But the memory of her touch, her unconditional acceptance, was never going to leave me. It was seared on my soul, a beautiful brand amid the mess of scars new and old that made up the rest of me.
Her touch was professional as she gently checked several of my wounds, and I managed not to wince through sheer force of will. When she paused at one on my shoulder, I looked up at her.
“I think this might be the one. The wound here was shallow and has already healed, but I believe there’s something under the skin. I’m going to see if Brielle can confirm for me, because it’s small, and I don’t want to cut into you just to find out I’m wrong. I’ll be right back.”
A minute later, both healers stood in front of me, poking at the outer edge of my shoulder. Brielle briefly closed her eyes, then nodded. “Yep. Foreign object, about the right size. I can have that out in a few minutes. Do you want a local anesthetic for the pain?”
“No. Just get it out.”
“Got it.” Brielle was all business as she unrolled the mini surgical kit and swabbed my skin with disinfectant.
A quick glance up at Olivia, and I was acting rashly again. I held out my free hand, palm up, mirroring the gesture she’d given me a few moments before. She stared at it for only a second before stepping up and placing her hand in mine.
Unfamiliar warmth and longing filled me as I let myself get lost in her eyes, and I barely noticed when Brielle took the scalpel to my shoulder.
“Okay, you’re good to go. I’m not even going to stitch it, because it’s shallow and it’s already starting to knit back up. I’ll give this to Reed in case he wants to check anything on it before destroying it.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, clinging to the contact with my mate.
My mate.
It was such a surreal admission, even in the private shroud of my own thoughts. The rest of the pack was walking back up the aisle, and I heard Brielle whisper something as she handed the tracker off to Reed.
“Olivia, I-” Stabbing pain stole my breath, and I grabbed at my right eye and the scar over it as I hissed between my teeth.
“Lucien? What’s wrong? Lucien!”
I couldn’t answer, couldn’t think, couldn’t even stay upright as the pain paralyzed me, and the whole world tilted on its side as I slid toward the floor.Olivia
Itried to catch Lucien as he slumped over, getting a whole lot of bare skin and not a lot of leverage, and ended up on the floor myself, his head cushioned on my chest.
He clutched his face, his cries of pain having drawn nearly everyone-except Galyna, who was also in rough shape-to the front of the jet.
“What’s happening?” I directed the question to Brielle, who’d knelt beside us and already had her hands on Lucien’s shoulder, funneling her power into him.
“I’m not sure.”
I didn’t like the way her voice shook with uncertainty, not one bit. But before I could respond, fur sprouted along the backs of Lucien’s arms, his fingertips turning claw tipped as they fell away from his scar. When my eyes met his, they glowed orange with his wolf, and long, sharp canines protruded from his mouth.
“Lucien?” His name was a terrified whisper on my lips, but he was mere inches from me, so he heard it.
His only response was a growl, harsh and threatening as he bared his teeth at Brielle.
Kane shoved between them in a flash, snatching the diminutive omega behind his much-larger bulk.
“Lucien! That’s enough!” Kane’s face contorted with fury as he lashed out with his suffocating dominance.
But Lucien didn’t even flinch as his eyes began to flicker, the cool orange giving way to flecks of red.
“What’s happening?” I didn’t know who I was asking, only that I was afraid for Lucien.
I stared in horror at his eyes, possibilities running through my mind at a mile a minute. But the only time a wolf’s eyes went red was when they were feral. There was nothing in this moment that should have caused that.
But a second later, when Lucien lunged away from me, it wasn’t toward Kane. It was toward Samuel.
“Lucien, no!” I moved without thinking as Lucien leapt at the other male, throwing myself between them at the last second.
Everything happened at once. Lucien smashed into me, sandwiching me between their chests as he took a vicious swipe with his clawed fingers at Samuel’s throat.
Samuel managed to dodge, but the strike caught me on the forehead.
For a split second, I felt no pain, only shock. When the agony broke through, it was terrible. I gasped and clutched my face, blood oozing between my fingers and dripping into my eyes as nausea roiled in my stomach.
Hands were on me before I could process whose they were or where they came from-big, masculine hands-and then I was snatched out of the way, the world spinning with the speed of it. Reed’s face was in front of mine, concern etching his handsome features as he loomed over me.
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply