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“I would bleed for you again, little wolf. Whatever you need.”
I shook my head as guilt crashed into me. “I didn’t—I—”
Heath swiped a tear from my eye and brought it to his lips. “I made you cry. I deserved every blow you struck. I’m sorry for ever hurting you.”
Somehow, with the depth of his words, I knew he wasn’t really talking about just now. Of course, he hadn’t meant to trigger me, but he’d admitted that he meant to hurt me the first and only time we’d had sex alone together.
“Heath…” I sighed.
“Are you okay, moonbeam?” Flint asked me. “I left the two of you alone because I hoped you’d talk. But if you want me to stay… I will.”
I smiled up at Flint, the only consistent one of them all. He’d protected me from the beginning, and I knew he always would.
“I think I’m okay now,” I said. “And thank you for coming to rescue me, even if it was my own memories I needed rescuing from.”
Flint bent down to softly kiss me, his lips doing little more than meeting mine before he pulled back. “Always.” Then a stern look came over him. “I’ll bring you up some food, and I expect you to actually eat it this time.”
I chuckled, sensing it had been a difficult five days for them. If the dark circles under their eyes were anything to go by, neither of them had gotten much sleep.
“And now that it’s dawn, Gage will be back. He’ll want to see for himself that you’re okay.”
I nodded, but my stomach clenched. Good thing the pack alpha hadn’t been here to see me acting so weak. Now that the heat was over, where did I stand with the pack?
Before I could figure out how to broach the topic with Flint, he left me behind. At the doorway, he turned back and smiled gently at me. Then he moved silently toward the stairs.
I turned back to face something far scarier than memories. It was time to move forward from the past and figure out things with Heath.
The enigmatic man gave me a slow, shy smile. “I hope it’s not too triggering to suggest we bathe?”
Chapter 23
Heath
I hadn’t meant to trigger Freya. I hadn’t even realized that was what it was until I’d gently grasped her shoulder to turn her to face me and she’d blindly lashed out. Once I understood, though, I knew I was the right man to be there for her. Out of all of us, I deserved these wounds.
Her suffering drove my wolf insane.
Protect,he demanded, but there was nothing to protect her from.
Watching her relive her trauma only made me feel more guilty for what I’d done. She’d been through so much already. Then I’d been careless with her, treating her like she meant nothing to me. Just like her old pack had done to her.
Despite everything she’d been through, she’d never once broken. Freya was stronger than that. Maybe stronger than all of us. She struggled valiantly against her past, fighting back, not whimpering and cowering.
And, based on the hits she’d gotten on me, I was sure the wolves who’d attacked her hadn’t always gotten away injury-free. She lacked confidence in her own strength and abilities, but it was clear to me that she was more than capable of holding her own. Maybe not against alphas or multiple attackers, but the girl packed a mean punch. And a tenacious ferocity that only came from fighting to survive.
Protecting her from her past was impossible, so instead, I promised myself I would be there to protect her from now on. And help her learn to protect herself — she wasn’t the kind of wolf who wanted someone to take her fights for her. She just wanted, and needed, someone to fight beside her.
She was still a little shaky from reliving harsh memories, so I followed Freya into the bathroom, both of us still naked. She flipped on the light, then gasped and brought her hands to my face. I glanced at the mirror to see a bruise under my eye where she’d punched me.
“Heath, I’m so sorry—”
I took her hands in mine, pulling them away from my face. “Never apologize for defending yourself.”
“It wasn’t you. I mean, I was having flashbacks—”
“You were still being attacked, Freya. Always fight back, little wolf.”
“I’m still sorry for hurting you,” she frowned.
