Page 29 of Blood and Trouble

“Fuck if I know.”

Ava scowled and ran her gaze over me. “What happened to you?”

Ah. Yes.

About that.

I stared at my torso, my ribs showing through my emaciated frame, my stomach caving in on itself. I looked like shit. I felt like shit.

When I didn’t immediately answer, she pushed herself up and grabbed my shoulder. “Lycan. What happened to your neck?”

I grimaced as she traced her fingertips over the tender puncture wounds.

“Oh, my God.” She brought a hand to her mouth. “What happened to me?”

Her panic raced through my veins like an icy deluge as her mind struggled to catch up to the last…seventy-two?…ninety-six?…hours.

“Hey, you’re okay,” I said, turning to face her. “It’s okay. It’s over now.”

“I bit you!” She pushed her hands back through her hair, her eyes wide with horror. “We got married, and then I woke up and then…it’s blurry, but I know I bit you. Oh, God. I drank your blood. What the hell is going on?”

“Trouble, listen to me.” I grabbed her jaw to hold her gaze to mine, hoping the touch would ground her. “We’re alive, and we’re healthy. We can figure out the rest, okay?”

Tears bubbled in the corners of her eyes before streaming down her cheeks, and she threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. I ignored every muscle in my body that protested the action and focused on her heartbeat, on how being this close to me made her soften.

“I want you to go take a shower while I get us some food,” I said. “Then we’ll eat, and I’ll explain everything.”

“What about you?” She glanced down at my bloodstained chest and cumstained stomach. “You need a shower, too.”

I did, but the animal in me told me to care for her first. She needed nourishment, and that fucker wouldn’t stop riding me until he saw her clean and fed.

“I’m right behind you, okay?” I nodded toward the bathroom. “Go.”

She squinted in hesitation before ultimately sliding off the mattress to do as I said, softly closing the door behind her. I rubbed my hands over my face and grabbed my phone, sighing at the ten missed calls from various members of the pack.

Mill.

Kodiak.

Sol.

Orion.

Sol again.

Ren.

Channing.

Fucking Maeve, of all people.

They must have sensed it, must have known Ava had transitioned.

Just as I went to call Kodiak, my gaze caught on a text that made my heart plummet.

Poe.

“Fuck.” I hovered over the notification, willing myself to read it.