Page 186 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Ronan’s mouth tightened. It was not a smile. On him, it was close enough to mercy. “Sava stays outside the door. Two guards in the hall. Cormac, put wolves in the service passage.”

“Already done,” Cormac said.

“Then double them.”

Cormac nodded.

Ronan started for the door, then stopped beside me. His voice lowered until only I could hear, though Cassie probably heard anyway. The mark had been sharpening her senses for days.

“This is not over.”

“I know.”

“If Silas has moved from influence to assassination, he will not stop because the first attempt failed.”

“Neither will I.”

Ronan’s eyes held mine. Brother beneath Alpha, just for one breath. “That is what scares me.”

Then he left. Cormac followed, already speaking quietly into his phone. Sava remained long enough to check Cassie’s pulse again, glare at me, and adjust the blanket around her shoulders with surprising gentleness.

“You sleep,” she told Cassie. “If he broods too loudly, throw something at the door and I will come in.”

Cassie’s eyes were already half-closed. “What if I can’t lift anything?”

“Then insult him. He will carry the message.”

Sava left and closed the door.

The room quieted again, though the world beyond it had become sharper and more dangerous.

I sat beside Cassie. For a while, I didn’t touch her. I let her choose. Her breathing slowed, then hitched once when pain moved through her. I reached for the water, helped her drink, then set it aside.

Her fingers found mine in the dark.

“You said something,” she murmured.

My chest tightened. “I did.”

“I’m too tired to handle it properly.”

“I know.”

“I’m not ignoring it.”

“I know.”

Her thumb brushed my knuckles. “I’m also not saying it back just because we’re bleeding and everyone is insane.”

A quiet breath left me, almost a laugh, almost pain. “I would not want you to.”

“Yes, you would.”

“Yes,” I said. “I would. But I would not take it.”

Her eyes opened enough to find mine. There she was again. Exhausted. Injured. Impossible.

Alive.