“You just compared Angel to a fish,” I say with a slight growl that makes Alex’s eyes widen further as he stares at me.
“I’m trying to lessen the trauma,” Sadie Lynn snaps at me.
Both me and my wolf swallow. “Sorry. Long day.”
“Here, let me take him,” Pryce says.
“No more walking on ice, Alex,” Sadie Lynn says as she hands the boy to him.
Damien’s wolf skids to a halt after racing his way back from the other shore. He shifts, quickly scans faces, bodies, no doubt doing a head count then assessing injuries. He grants himself one deep breath before rounding on Sadie Lynn.
“You and I will discuss this tomorrow morning. Before you meet the kids.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Angel speaks up, her voice scratchy. “I was in charge of watching Alex. I let myself get distracted.”
“She’s in charge. I deal with her. Everyone, go home or get back to work. We’re done here.”
Sadie Lynn lifts her chin. “This won’t happen again, Alpha.”
Angel bites her lip and tears form in her eyes as she looks at me, as if asking how she can fix this. I hold my hand up, telling her to stand down.
Howls, two, three, sound in the distance towards the border.
“Fuck. What now?” Damien listens to the howls, discerning if they’re conveying trespasser, injury, or attack. “Frank, Garrett,with me. Hayden, finish up here.” He shifts and bounds down the shoreline before veering into the woods.
“You sure you’re okay?” It’s the first words I’ve spoken to Angel since I threw her out of my home, the night my wolf started biting me and never stopped. Until now. Can’t say that I blame him any. I was an ass to her.
“I’m fine, Garrett. Just cold and incredibly tired.”
I crouch in front of her and cup her cheek. She leans into my palm, her eyes closing as a smile spreads on her face. “So nice…”
Fuck, touching her heats me in a way no blanket ever will.
“Garrett, you’ve been given an order,” Hayden says.
Her teeth begin to chatter, which means her wolf’s struggling to get her core temperature up. And she’s still bleeding from where my wolf grabbed hold of her shoulder.
“Now, Garrett.”
“Don’t anger your alpha because of me. Not again,” she whispers.
I don’t fucking care who I anger, but I won’t put her in that position again. Her wound is minor and Pryce won’t leave here until he’s sure she’ll be okay. “No more swimming, promise?”
“Not until summer, in a lake, with a bathing suit on.”
“A bathing suit, Angel? That’s a little extreme, wouldn’t you say?”
Red spreads across her cheeks.
“I like swimming, but the river’s too cold,” Alex says and several shifters laugh. Not me. He and Angel came too close to dying. But his presence keeps me from lashing out at anyone, namely Sadie Lynn. Damien’s right, she’s in charge of the kids.
I’m still not entirely sure how Alex and Angel ended up in the river, and it’s not my place to tell Sadie Lynn how to do her job. Damien will do that tomorrow. But I’m sorely tempted to take my anger out on someone. This never should have happened.
“Garrett, areyouokay?” Angel says through her shivering.
“Fine. Dandy. Peachy. What happened here, Angel?”
