Page 66 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Ronan handed her the phone but didn’t step away.

She typed slowly, one-handed. Her thumb trembled. The effort brought sweat to her upper lip, and the mark darkened along the edge of the bandage.

I gripped my own knee to keep from reaching for her.

She typed for nearly a minute, then held the phone toward Ronan without looking at him.

He read it.

“What did you write?” I asked.

Her eyes flicked to me. “Why?”

“Because if he stops worrying, you may rest.”

Something in her face changed. She didn’t soften. It was not that. She simply looked at me as if I had said something more human than she expected and she resented having to notice.

Ronan read aloud.

Dad, I am still here. I am not okay, but I am alive. They are being weird about visitors because of infection and liability. Please stay calm, which means do not let Linda improvise. I need you steady more than I need you loud. I love you.

Ronan looked at her. “Acceptable.”

“I am honored by the prison warden’s approval.”

He sent it.

A reply came almost at once.

Dad: Steady. I promise. Linda says she makes no promises but respects your phrasing.

For a moment, Cassie’s mouth trembled close to a smile. It vanished when Ronan took the phone back.

“Can I talk to Tessa?” she asked.

“No.”

Pain moved across her face, and this time it had nothing to do with the mark.

“She thinks this is her fault.”

Ronan said nothing.

I looked at him. “Let her send one message.”

Cassie’s expression closed. “I didn’t ask you to negotiate for me.”

I lowered my head once. “You are right.”

“I know I am right.”

There was the faintest thread of strength in that. I held on to it because it meant the fever had not taken all of her.

She turned back to Ronan. “My sister gets a message. Not because he said so. Because she is my sister, and because I chased her dog, and because she may be a selfish disaster with beautiful hair, but she is currently sitting somewhere thinking I might die because she asked me to be in a wedding she should have known better than to plan.”

Ronan stared at her and Cassie stared back. Her face was pale. Her hair tangled. Her body nearly broken by the night. She should have looked weak.

She didn’t. She looked pinned down, which was different, and pinned things could still have teeth.