My hot skin became cold. I let Emma go, and she slid off me, to the side of the bed. “I never left you. I merely needed time to grieve.”
“You were here, but your eyes were far away,” Emma replied. “I can always tell. You needed to go somewhere else to recover. You can’t give me your body when your mind is feeling broken.”
“I cannot forgive myself.”
“You must.” Emma redirected my attention to her by touching her fingers against the side of my face. “I have. There was nothing to forgive. And doing this, being like this together—healing— it’s the only way to make it better.”
I knew she was right. Relying on one’s mate was the only way to bring a shifter back from the brink. A sorceress could heal the inside of a wolf when there was no other way to fix what had been broken. Shifters were always sworn to their Marked, and as such, we relied on them for comfort. We protected them— but they saved us.
I went to reply, but my tongue didn’t have words to say. There was nothing Icouldsay, after everything that happened. All I knew was that Emma was saving me, day by day. She had from the beginning. And my only hope from recovering from my past remained in her.
A knock came at the door, saving me from having to respond.
“We know what you’re doing in there!” Odette yelled, and she giggled.
“Yeah, stop screwing around and come hang out with the rest of us,” Theo called.
Emma and I laughed. We put our heads together briefly before Emma cried out, “We’re coming!”
“I’d say so!” Odette squeaked, and she snickered.
Emma and I pulled on our clothes. I hesitated putting on my prosthetic, and hissed lightly when I fastened it over my still-bruised skin. Emma noticed.
“Does it hurt?” Emma asked.
“It’s fine,” I said, though that was a lie. It was bothering me.
I hobbled after Emma, though her eyes were hesitant. We met up with Theo and Odette in the hallway.
“Gods, when does it end?” I asked as I looked at them. Their outfits were matching again. Odette had somehow talked Theo into wearing a blue unicorn onesie. She was wearing a pink one. At some point they’d have class today, so they’d have to go back to their uniforms, thank the gods. Odette could tell Theo to jump off a bridge and he’d ask her which one.
“I know it’s getting out of hand,” Theo admitted. Odette giggled again.
“I think it’s cute,” Emma said. “Ethan, would you like to wear a wolf onesie?”
“No,” I deadpanned.
“Please?” Emma begged.
My mouth flattened. “Maybe in private.”
“It’s surprisingly comfortable,” Theo said as we wandered into the Rec Room.
The rest of our friends were gathered on the couches around the fireplace. Delmare was preparing a project for art class, while Stefan was set on annoying her— he kept tugging on the ends of her hair, and she playfully batted him off. Kiara was working on a paper, while Alexei sat across from her, reading something on his phone.
Odette sat on Theo’s lap, and they curled up together. They looked like they wanted to take a nap.
As I sat down next to Emma, a sharp twinge went through my hip, and I winced. The pain didn’t ebb, only grew, spreading across skin and bone as it radiated over the area where my prosthetic was attached.
“Are you okay?” Emma asked, immediately sensing my discomfort. Her gaze went down to my thigh, like she could tell it was bothering me.
“It hasn’t been the same since my time in prison,” I said. “I can’t wear my prosthetic for as long as I once could.” My inability to care for my amputation while incarcerated had done permanent damage.
“So take it off,” Stefan suggested. “No one gives a shit.”
I stiffened at his suggestion— but then again, why not? It wouldn’t matter, and I was in pain.
I moved to unfasten my prosthetic. I felt fairly self-conscious, but once I’d placed it to the side, I realized no one had been looking. Kiara remained bent over her paper, Stefan and Delmare were bickering, and Theo and Odette were still doing gods knew what. Emma relaxed the moment I did, glad I was easing into the moment.
