Page 124 of Knot What I Expected

He can't be.

“Careful, Honey Girl.”

That voice.

My entire body reacts before my brain catches up.

Heat rushes through me.

My pulse goes wild.

And suddenly I can smell him.

Smoke.

Pine.

Male.

Wolf.

Havoc.

I spin around so fast his hands slide from my shoulders to my waist.

And there he is.

My stupid heart leaps. Actually fucking leaps. Relief hits me first. So hard and so unexpectedly that my eyes sting.

He's alive.

He's here.

He's okay.

Except—no.

He's not okay.

“Havoc?”

He looks terrible.

Beautiful. But terrible.

His blond hair is still damp, like he showered in a hurry. Shadows darken the skin beneath those impossible golden eyes. There's a small burn along the side of his neck disappearing beneath his T-shirt, and the way he holds his left shoulder isn't quite right.

His face is drawn with exhaustion.

His T-shirt stretches across his chest, but something about his posture is too stiff.

Pain.

He's in pain.

All the petty hurt I’ve been nursing all week vanishes.

“What happened?”