Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
She wanted to sleep beside him, but there was barely room for her on the single bed, let alone both of them. Besides, Hunk would probably slice open his cheek if Dante tried. She gripped his hand. “Stay with me.”
He kissed her softly, amazed that such simple contact could soothe him. “You couldn’t get rid of me even if you wanted to.”
They both knew that he was talking about more than tonight.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“The wound is fully healed,” declared Grace after she had carefully examined Jaime’s leg the next morning. “I think it will still be a little tender to walk on for a few hours. By tonight, it’ll be fine again.”
Jaime looked at the panicky wolf who sat gingerly on the bed, as if his body weight could break her. “Happy now?”
Dante kissed her cheek and filled his lungs with her scent, reassuring himself and his wolf that she was fine. “I just wanted to be sure. You were almost killed last night. Give me a little space to be more overprotective than usual.”
“Give me a little space to breathe. I’ve agreed not to go to work, but there’s no way I’ll agree to sitting in this damn bed all day.”
The door opened, and Lydia strode inside with a tray of food. Gabe was close behind her, carrying two mugs of coffee. While Dante had been off interrogating the lone wolf last night, her brother had barged into the examination room and fussed over her for at least thirty minutes straight. It had taken Hope, Lydia, and Rhett to convince him to go to bed.
“Morning, sunshine,” drawled Gabe, who knew she was the world’s worst patient.
Scowling, she took the mug of coffee. “If you’ve come to fuss again, you can leave right now.
I’ve had enough of that from Popeye here.”
Dante nipped her earlobe punishingly. “You’d be the same if it was me.” She snorted. “No I wouldn’t, because you wouldn’t even be in this bed. You’d have been out of it the second the bandage was on.”
He couldn’t argue with that, so, stifling a smile, he said nothing and took a swig of his coffee before digging into the pancakes that Lydia had placed on the tray for him.
“Your silence speaks for you.”
Gabe chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Give him a break.”
She gasped. “Whose side are you on?”
“His, in this case. He just wants to take care of you. Let him.”
“Traitor.”
Suddenly there was a light knock on the door, followed immediately by Shaya peeking through.
“Is it okay to come in?”
“Yes, please do,” Jaime quickly replied before Dante could say something dumb about her needing peace and quiet. Shaya smiled and walked inside, and then a crowd of people followed behind her and piled into the room.
Dante went to object, but Grace shook her head, saying, “They just want to see that she’s okay.”
Begrudgingly, he didn’t comment as each of the pack—other than Greta—gave Jaime a brief hug, though he did release a low, territorial growl whenever one of the males touched her. Marcus earned a whack over the head when he kissed her smack on the mouth purely to rile him. Jaime raised a brow at Dante, but he just shot her a wide, unrepentant grin.
“How does the leg feel?” It was clear by the way Taryn was fidgeting that the healer in her was finding it hard to know that someone in her presence was injured.
“A little tender, but that’s it,” replied Jaime, flexing it. “Give me a couple of days and I’ll be ready to challenge Glory.”
Dante nearly choked on his food. “You will not.”
Her wolf growled, displeased by his objection and tone. Dante had told her all that he had learned from the lone wolf last night. There was really only one thing Jaime could do now. “Dante, that crazy-ass woman tried to have me killed. Call me strange, but I’m not prepared to let that go.”
“She’ll pay for what she did. It doesn’t mean you have to challenge her.”
“A few months ago, I wouldn’t have. But your training taught me how to keep a handle on my wolf when I’m fighting. Why not put those skills to good use? Besides, she’ll just keep doing stuff until I do. Generally people who want someone dead will not stop until they’ve succeeded.”
“Yep,” he agreed, playing with her hair, “but she’ll have to get through me to reach you, and that’s not going to happen. You don’t get involved at all. The enforcers and I will deal with it.”
“I’m not the type of person to sit on my ass while everyone else shovels the shit.” A huff escaped the old woman standing near the door. “If your wolf wasn’t insane and you weren’t such a liability, you wouldn’t have to, would you.”
“Uh-oh,” said Jaime. “Greta’s mouth is open and words are spilling out. That can’t be good.”