Page 64 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Sava’s mouth twitched despite herself.

I looked at Cassie. “She will want to answer.”

“Yes,” Ronan said. “And she will, when she can do it without telling him she is locked in a room with wolves.”

“She already knows not to tell him.”

“She knows while awake. Pain changes judgment. Fear changes judgment. You of all people should understand that.”

I did. That was why the words cut.

Ronan set the phone facedown on the table. “Lucien will keep the family contained. The wedding is delayed. The groom has been warned off making her look unstable. The father is angry but rational. The aunt is angry and less rational, which Lucien believes is useful because she has focused most of it on Grant.”

“Good.”

Ronan’s gaze lifted. “Do not involve yourself with the groom.”

“He involved himself with her.”

“You do not know that.”

I looked at him.

Ronan sighed through his nose. “You know enough. That is worse.”

I knew the scent Grant had left on Cassie’s skin when she fell into the circle. I knew the way her body had sharpened when Lucien said Grant was already making her absence sound like instability.

I knew men.

Grant Carrington was the sort who cut with a smile and made the bleeding woman apologize for staining the floor.

My wolf wanted to meet him. The man did too.

That made restraint harder.

Ronan read my face. “If Grant Carrington dies today, this becomes impossible to manage.”

“I know.”

“If he is harmed today, this becomes difficult to manage.”

“I know.”

“If he is frightened badly enough to leave, call police, or stir the family, I will know where to look.”

“I said I know.”

“Good. Then hear this too. Cassie’s feelings about him are hers. Not yours. The harm he did before she fell into our world is not an invitation for your wolf to claim vengeance.”

My hands opened and closed once.

Ronan’s voice hardened. “Do you understand me?”

I did. I hated it, but I did. My wolf wanted to sort every threat around her into simple categories. Bite. Break. Remove. Protect.

Cassie would not thank me for turning her life into another territory dispute.

“Yes,” I said.