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We stare at each other.
I shift from foot to foot, suddenly uncomfortable. “Well, uh, I just wanted to say sorry.”
He nods.
Our next silence stretches two seconds too long.
“I’ll leave you alone then.” Turning quickly, I walk away, eager to make a rapid escape.
There are some things worse than the possibility of being mauled to death by a wolf.
Grief.
Not all monsters are as terrifying as the one that reminds you of all you’ve lost and you wish you could forget, but will cling to you forever. Some things help. Not many. They don’t take the grief away, but they make it a little less sharp, a little easier to bear. Enough that you can breathe.
For a second. Maybe even two.
I know one of those things. Just one. I remember it because of what happened in a hospital room a long time ago. I’d lost someone I was too young to understand how deeply it would cut me until someone who once loved me gave this thing to me.
I get halfway down the hallway, my bare feet soundless on the thin, beige carpet.
And I stop, chewing on my lip.
I remember the pain in his eyes, the mud dusting his knees, and the dirt crusting his nails from burying a brother he must have loved and hated in equal measure.
A brother who betrayed him with his mate. But a brother he still loved enough to want to save his life.
“You’re an idiot, Saige,” I mutter under my breath. “If anyone deserves a wolf mauling, it’s you.”
I spin around and stalk back down the hallway and into Dariel’s room because I didn’t follow him to his room to apologize.
He hasn’t moved.
I walk right up to him, lift my arms, and hug him, ignoring the pull on my bruised stomach. And I hug himhard, because if anyone ever looked like they needed a hug, Dariel does. Trust me. I know.
Every muscle in his body locks tight. I think he stops breathing. Or if he does inhale, I don’t hear him do so.
“You still owe me an apology. One I won’t accept.” My voice is muffled from his chest because I don’t peel my face away to speak. “And it doesn’t mean I like you or forgive you. Because I don’t.”
He releases a slow breath, and muscle by muscle, he slowly relaxes.
He slides his arms around my back as he returns the hug, though not as hard as I’m hugging him. Lowering his head, his lips brush the top of my hair.
“I understand.” His voice is as serious as always, but I think if I were to lift my head, I might find a trace of a smile in his eyes.
Terror sticks in my throat as I relive the moment when I first saw Leo’s dead green stare. My throat is tight, and my eyes burn as I whisper, “I’m glad it wasn’t you. I thought… When I first saw him, I thought it was you.”
He freezes a split second before his arms tighten around me, drawing me closer to the warmth of his chest. For a cold, hard man, he knows how to give a good hug. One that doesn’t put any pressure on my belly, and one that makes me feel warm, protected, and safe.
He smells like fresh earth, the barest hint of something woodsy, and amber. It’s a combination that brings me more comfort than it should when he tried to kill me not all that long ago.
Strange.
I don’t know how long we stay wrapped in each other’s arms. As the seconds tick into minutes, the tension in Dariel’s body eases away until we’re propping each other up.
The rustle of sheets and a soft cough return me to the present. Aden or Kade must be waking up.
I unwind my arms from Dariel’s back and lift my head. Before Rylan attacked, Kade and Dariel were taking turns staying up all night. If Dariel was up all night, as I suspect, then it makes sense he will sleep now and Kade will take over.
