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Kinsley stood up a little straighter. “Did anyone… Are there any bodies?”
“Not that I’ve seen, thankfully,” Tuck answered. Even I lost some of the tension I’d been carrying since I’d figured out what was happening.
He continued. “We kept all of the guards here. None of them followed you all. Ryder was worried about the faction, and clearly his instincts were spot on. If they wouldn’t have had the witch helping them, we wouldn’t have had so many fires—”
Someone cried for help, stopping Tuck mid-sentence, and he ran to the left.
Kinsley’s eyes followed him until he disappeared into the house closest to us. “Ryder is an even better wolf than we’ve given him credit for.”
“I agree. Now let’s see how we can repay the help he’s given us.” My hand pressed against her lower spine, and we headed toward the nearest column of smoke.
* * *
Almost six hours later, and just as the sun was beginning to rise, we’d finally all made it back to the house for some sleep.
Kinsley was battling immense amounts of agony while the rest of us were only fighting off exhaustion.
We didn’t say a word to Lia and Markus before going to our room. I guided Kinsley to the bathroom before she could faceplant onto the bed.
After her battle with Dylan and then helping dozens of families find safe places to sleep, doing whatever we could to keep them calm, a shower was more than needed.
I was sure we’d both appreciate it later when we woke back up.
“I don’t know what I would have done if we’d found anyone dead,” Kinsley said quietly while I began to undress her.
“You would have mourned and then done what needed to be done, because that’s what leaders do,” I replied easily.
She shook her head. “I might have beaten Dylan, butamI a leader? If you hadn’t been here, I would have lost my shit tonight. I would have gone after those assholes instead of being here for the people who needed us.”
I stroked her soft cheek. “Nobody expects you to be perfect, Kinsley. There are going to be certain things you fail at, but what’s most important, and what will matter to the members of this House, is that you learn from your mistakes and do better the next time.”
“Who are you, and what did you do with my brooding mate?” she asked, leaning her head against my chest.
My arms wrapped tightly around her. “Oh, he’s still here, but that’s not who you needed tonight. Now let me get you clean so we can sleep. I can be ‘brooding’ again when we wake up.”
That finally had her chuckling as I turned on the shower.
She stepped in first, barely staying up on her feet, and I did my best to ignore the bruises that covered her neck, back, and leg. Dylan had been a fair match for her, but he hadn’t had the heart my mate did.
There was no scenario in which he would have ever beaten her.
Knowing that was the only thing that had kept me from getting involved. Especially when he’d drawn blood. Kinsley had done just what she’d needed to, and I was so fucking proud to call her mine.
Quickly, we washed and rinsed our bodies, then only managed to half dry off before making our way to the bed.
I tucked Kinsley against my side, but then she climbed on top of me, plastering herself to me.
“I need you,” she murmured, peppering light kisses over my chest.
My lips pressed against her forehead. “You have me. All of me.”
She shivered within my arms, and my hands roamed over her body as she moaned. “Make me forget the last eight hours.”
I wasn’t sure I could do that, but I also wasn’t going to tell herno.
Not tonight at least.
Chapter32
