Page 28 of Refuge

“Foster Manning raped one of the women in my pack.” Eric’s voice held strong, no fear edged his words. “It was my right to—”

“Lie!” the woman hissed, shaking her head violently, then screamed, “Liar. My brother would never do anything like that. You took the only person left in my life.”

“It’s not a lie.” Sherry moved forward slowly. “It was me. He raped me.”

The gun shifted slightly toward Sherry, who was in front of Leeza, but still too far away for Leeza to do anything.

“So you’re the one who had my brother killed?” The woman was definitely crazy. Now that Leeza could see her face clearly, she noticed her eyes were wide and empty. “I’ll kill you first.”

She saw the woman raise the gun preparing to shoot at the same time Eric and Kile made their move, but they were too far away. Leeza screamed as loud as she could, drawing the woman’s attention, and the sound of a gunshot echoed in her head as she was pushed to the ground.

The air left her body as something big held her pinned. Hearing shouts and screams, she shifted to see Cole on top of her. He slowly lifted his head, his eyes barely focused as he looked down at her.

“I love you,” he barely whispered as a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. His body went limp on top of hers.

“Cole,” Leeza gasped, pulling an arm free and touching his face with light taps. When he didn’t respond, she panicked. “Cole!”

His weight was lifted off her, and she quickly scrambled to her knees. Her eyes went directly to his chest where blood spread and was soaking his shirt a bright red.

“No!” she screamed. “No! Cole!”

Chapter 15

Leeza sat in a room at Lance’s home, her eyes not leaving Cole’s wolf. After he was shot, Gemma called Lance. The bullet needed to come out, and Lance had a full-time veterinarian on his staff. Once the bullet had been removed, Eric and Kile were able to get Cole to shift.

For two weeks she had sat in this room watching him breathe. Praying for him to jump up totally healed, but so far, nothing. When he'd become restless, she would shift and lie next to him, hoping her wolf could calm him, and usually, it worked, but today was the worst. Nothing seemed to soothe him.

Her eyes were bloodshot from tears and lack of sleep. She was exhausted, but she would never give up on him. He would survive this. Lying down next to him, she ran her hand through his soft fur.

“Come on, Cole,” she whispered, as she had every day for two weeks, for hours upon hours. “Please come back to me. I swear I’ll stop being a pain in your ass. I’ll even move in with you. I’ll be the perfect little mate, and you can boss me around. Just please live.” Tears leaked from her eyes.

His wolf moved only slightly, but that was it. “Dammit!” She cried harder. “Why did you jump in front of me? Why did you do that, Cole?”

Sitting up, she stood and paced the room, but stopped when the door opened. Lance stood there, his eyes going from her to Cole, then back to her.

“You look like shit.” Lance frowned, then looked at the plate of untouched food. “You need sleep and food, Leeza. You’re not helping him by not taking care of yourself, and when he does get better, he’s not going to be happy to see you like this.”

She rolled her eyes at him. The movement made her dizzy. She weaved and stumbled sideways. When he reached for her, she held up her hands, stopping him. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine.” Lance’s voice turned angry. “I’ve called Eric. He’s on his way over here.”

“I’m not leaving him,” she growled, suddenly afraid that Eric would do just that and make her leave. “I’ll fight whoever tries to make me. Just leave me alone.”

“Calm down.” Lance reached for her and took her by the arms, forcefully sitting her down. He knelt in front of her. “No one is going to make you leave. I won’t let them, but, Leeza, you need to take care of yourself because once he comes through this, he’s going to need you.”

She knew he was right, but her world that she hadn’t realized would stop without Cole Jackson had done just that. Stopped. Tears came in earnest, flowing hard and fast. Lance took her in his arms, and she let him.

“If you don’t let go of her, Cutter, you’re a dead man.” Cole’s voice, weak yet strong, broke them apart.

Leeza stood so fast the chair flew out from under her, hitting the floor. She prayed she wasn’t hearing things, but when she looked to see Cole lying naked on the makeshift bed on the floor, she hurried toward him and fell to her knees. Tears of joy filled her throat, so all she could do was stare and cry, afraid to touch him in case she hurt him.

Cole reached out, touching her cheek. “As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. You need to take care of yourself. I’m going to be fine.”

A hysterical laugh finally escaped her closed-off throat. She reached for the sheet that lay next to him and covered him up. “Please tell me this is real. You’re really going to be okay?”

“Never better.” Cringing, he shifted his weight, but finally sat up. “Just took me a little longer to heal from that one.”

“That one?” Leeza frowned. “You’ve been shot before?”

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