Page 189 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

I looked up at her.

She held my stare. “You trust me to keep her breathing, or you do not.”

“That is not the question.”

“It is one of them. The other is whether you can walk away from this bed for twenty minutes without proving every frightened wolf in the building correct.”

My jaw tightened. Cassie’s fingers flexed around mine in her sleep, as if even unconscious she had felt the room shift.

Sava noticed, of course.

“She is listening for you,” she said. “Even like this. Her body is tired enough to shut down, and she is still spending strength tracking your mood. Do not make that another injury.”

I looked down at Cassie. The blankets were tucked carefully around her. A strand of hair clung to her cheek. Her mouth was softer in sleep, but not peaceful. She looked like a woman who had learned too much and survived anyway.

I bent and pressed my mouth to her temple.

She exhaled.

“I will be close,” I whispered.

I didn’t know if she heard me but I needed to say it anyway.

Sava moved toward the bedside chair. “I will bolt the door after you leave.”

“A bolt will not stop me if she needs me.”

“No,” Sava said. “It will reassure her if she wakes and you are gone.”

That found the place it was meant to cut. Cassie would trust a locked door more than she trusted the men outside it. She was learning our world too well.

I stood before the thought could become another reason to refuse.

Cormac waited in the sitting room with his coat off, sleeves rolled to his forearms, and blood dried in a dark smear near one elbow. Two cups of coffee sat untouched on the table. He looked toward the bedroom first, then at me.

“You look terrible,” he said.

“Sava already tried that.”

“She likely used better bedside manner.”

“She threatened to drug me.”

“I said better, not kinder.”

I crossed the room. “Where is Ronan?”

“Below. Council annex.”

My wolf lifted its head.

Cormac noticed. His face lost the last hint of humor. “Evelyn has been detained.”

I started for the door.

“Alive,” he added.

“For now.” I growled.