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I open my mouth to answer, but Paxton squeezes my hand and I go still. I look wide-eyed at him, desperate for him to give me any sign he’ll be okay. His mouth twitches, but otherwise, he doesn’t seem aware of what’s happening around him.
I force myself to answer Luca, “Yeah, I’m fine.” Even though I feel anything but.
Paxton squeezes my hand again.
“How out of it should he be?” I ask Luca quietly so that Al doesn’t feel obligated to answer. I need his focus to be solely on Paxton. “I swear I think he keeps squeezing my hand.”
“I’m not sure to be honest. He was coherent before we got him to drink the pain relief cocktail, so we know it’s that and not blood loss at least.”
“What if—”
This time there’s no mistaking the way Paxton squeezes my hand as I speak to Luca.Okay, I hear you.I glance apologetically at Luca. “Thanks for checking on me, but I’m okay. And you should probably stop touching me.”
Luca yanks his hand away and glances between Paxton and I. “Sorry, man. I don’t mean anything by it; I’ve learned my lesson.” He grimaces, and I sense I’m missing a story there, but I don’t pry. If Paxton doesn’t want me talking to Luca, I’m more than happy to appease the jealous jerk. In this moment, I would give Paxton Glass anything so long as he comes back to me.
* * *
I’m half-asleep on the floor when I’m jolted wide awake by fingers caressing my face. “Paxton?” My voice is hoarse from crying. After Al finished stitching Paxton up, Tobias brought me blankets and a pillow so I could set myself up next to him. I haven’t left his side since they finished. I vowed I wouldn’t until he woke up.
“Come here.” His voice is low and graveled from sleep.
I push myself up to a sitting position, but he shakes his head and pats the couch next to him. There’s a little room since he’s on his side, but not much.
“I don’t want to lie with you and risk hurting your back.”
“Get up here, Tasha. I don’t give a damn about my back.” He leans as far back against the cushions as he can. I’m still not sure, but I can tell from the stubborn line of his mouth that he won’t take no for an answer. I drag myself up onto the couch beside him.
Paxton puts his hand on my hip and drags me half under him. “Paxton!”
“I’ll be fine Tasha, I promise.” His body practically wraps around mine now, the two of us fused together. “I could hear you, you know.”
“What?”
“I could hear you talking to me while the old guy worked on my back. I heard your story about… Jimmy, and what you said about my family.” He says Jimmy’s name uncomfortably, as if he’s not sure he should say it aloud.
“You heard all of that?” A rush of embarrassment heats my blood. That rambling was really only for my own benefit. I wasn’t trying to guilt him while he was lying unconscious.
“Yeah, I did. And I heard you last night at the bonfire, too.” He draws his fingers through strands of my hair. “Give me time, Tasha. I’ll prove to you I’m willing to try.”
“Starting with Callie?” I raise a questioning eyebrow.
His mouth drops in a deep frown, the reluctance clear in how tightly he presses his lips together. “We’ll see.”
“I’m serious. She’s horrified by what she did, and she’s punishing herself by not quite letting herself be part of the group. I need you to have mercy, Paxton, because otherwise I don’t know how the two of us end up together in the end. Being Luna Sovereign means I will lead with mercy. I need a partner who does the same.”
He groans and shuts his eyes. “She could have gotten you hurt… Or taken from me.”
“I know, and I’m asking you to forgive her anyway. You’ve all spent a long time looking out only for yourselves. Give her—and the rest of your siblings—a chance to learn what it means to be a family first. Then judge them for their actions after that. Don’t judge a wolf for the things they do when they’re only trying to survive.”
Paxton’s dark eyes open and stare intensely down at me. “You know what?”
“What?” I whisper.
“You’re so damn beautiful it hurts.” He tilts his head to kiss me, and I forget all about what we were discussing in an instant.
Paxton is lucky to be alive; the rest of it we’ll keep figuring out. I wrap my hand around his arm, desperate to hold onto him.He’s alive.And that’s all that matters at the moment.
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