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Chapter 187

JESSICA

“Are you sure you didn’t see anything?”

“No.”

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Grayson is suspicious. I can see it in his eyes when he found us in that cell after the Triad left. I know I’m supposed to tell him everything but how can I do that when he’s the one lying to me?

“Jess.”

I forced my hands steady on the bandage, keeping my gaze low. “I said no. You gonna ask me a third time, Alpha, or actually let me patch you up?”

A muscle ticked in his cheek. He didn’t believe me. He never would. Around us, others murmured–no casualties, they said. Lucky. Blessed. I heard the claim, but the forest still hummed with a different voice: the Triads‘ echo, patient and hungry.

My wolf growled low in my chest.

Grayson didn’t ask again. He just stared at me–tired eyes, jaw tight, and I realized, all at once, how damn wounded he looked. A slow exhale left him, and he released my wrist only to slide his hand to my waist. “Fine,” he said, voice rough but quieter now. “If you say no, I’ll believe you.”

Before I could react, he pulled me in, guiding me until I straddled his lap, the bandages forgotten. His arms wrapped tight around me, one hand spread firm across my spine, the other caging my hip as though he could fuse me into him.

“Grayson-” I started, but his mouth was already brushing my temple, his voice breaking softer.

“You scare me half to death every time you’re not in my sight. Do you know that? I fight, I bleed, I tear rogues apart–but it’s this,” his grip tightened, breath shuddering against my hair, “the thought of losing you, that ruins me.”

I realized I wasn’t just holding him… he was holding me. Broken, desperate, and impossibly alive.

Slowly, carefully, I cupped his jaw in my palms, tilting his head until our foreheads pressed together. “I’m… I’m sorry if I scared you again.”

fail at protecting you,

in them. Is that how he always felt? That no matter what he did,

line of his cheekbones. “You protect me, Grayson. And I’m grateful

buried his face in my neck, letting out a rough, uneven breath. “I… I just…” His hands gripped my

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Chapter 187

when it comes to keeping you safe, I

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leaned in and kissed him, hard, shutting his mouth with everything I wanted to say–the fears, the rage, the ache of knowing how much he carried. His lips parted instantly, groaning

breathed against him, tugging gently at his hair, letting him feel

“Understood?”

ragged, licking his lips, eyes dark and molten,

I knew we had a long night ahead–too many to fix, too much blood, too many aching bodies. Tomorrow there will be

someone’s happy,” Kade called,

crawling up my neck, cheeks burning. Damn him. Always ruining

through my chest and ignited something dangerous in me. Before I could even blink, he scooped me

arms curled around his neck, pulse hammering,

even think about trying to wriggle free,” he muttered, half

and because it felt good to make him carry me. “You sure you don’t want to keep bleeding on me a while longer?” I teased, not really caring if the others

“Shut up, trouble.” His mouth ghosted the shell of my ear. “Get used to me carrying you. Tonight

I dared, soft

middle of the chaos, but by Kade and the others–by safety–and his hands lingered on my waist as

bring the questions that might ruin us both – did Grayson

didn’t give me time to dwell. His arms tightened, and without a word he hoisted me up again, carrying me through the darkness. I thought he was taking me to our bed, but then he turned, not toward our chambers. The steps grew unfamiliar, the torches fewer, the air colder. My wolf

rough kiss to

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Chapter 187

are you taking me?”

“You’ll see, baby.”

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