Page 52 of Twisted Mates

“All right. If you do, just call me. Your phone is right there on the nightstand. I’m right across the hall.”

“Got it. Thanks, Care.”

“What are best friends for?”

As she leaves, I am grateful for the precarious truce we’ve called, but I’m still horrified at the fact that I was attacked and wondering who the hell did this to me.

SIXTEEN

Xander

As soon as the girls are out of sight, I scramble to clean everything up. I trash the bloody rags and bandage wrappers and bolt outside to canvas the property. Immediately I can see that whoever broke inalsodestroyed the cameras outside, including the ones by the gate. Fan-fucking-tastic. Telling Clayton that detail will be fun. Maybe I’ll just send him an email.

Dealing with all of this would be easier if I wasn’t limited by this body. I would be able to follow the scent of the boot imprints in the mud just off the porch. The best I’m able to figure is that the intruder took off into the forest. Who he is and how he got in will remain a mystery for another night.

I slip inside the house and set the alarm system again, double checking it for good measure. Maybe there aren’t any cameras now, but at least the alarm can be set. Why the hell it wasn’t before, I have no idea. When I’m satisfied that I’ll be alerted, I take the stairs two at a time. All the lights are low and there’s no one in the hallway. It gives me an ounce of peace to know the house is quiet for the night. Instead of going to my room, Iwalk down to Kai’s, knocking softly on the door. Alexia’s muffled voice tells me to enter, and I release a long breath.

When I see her tucked beneath the blankets, her body bandaged up and her jaw showing signs of bruising, my anger flares again. Clenching my fist at my side, I walk to the bed and sit down beside her, holding myself up by stretching one arm over her body and peering down at her.

“How are you feeling, Alexia?” I ask, trying like hell to control the tremor in my voice. The tremor that’s coming from nerves, anger, fear... goddess, I was so scared I was going to lose her when I saw her on the floor and bloody. That image still hasn’t left my brain, and I don’t know that it ever will.

She lifts one arm from under the cover and places her hand on top of mine. “I’m fine, Xander. Just a little sore is all. You stopped the bleeding from the cuts in time and with any luck there won’t be any scarring. Anyway, you know I’ll be feeling better by tomorrow with how fast we heal.”

“When I find who did this to you, I’m going to kill him. Nothing on this earth will stop me from spilling his blood.”

I regret voicing my feelings as soon as they leave me. That is until I meet her soft gaze. There is no fear, just pure awe written on her face. Did she not think I would avenge her? Has she not figured out that I would shred this world into pieces for her?

“You’d do that for me?” she whispers, her voice barely audible over the beating of my own heart.

“Alexia,” I say, leaning forward and brushing her hair off her forehead. “I don’t know how or when this happened, but somewhere over the course of the past week, I’ve become rather attached to you.” I brush my lips against hers. “I’d do any manner of illegal, immoral, or downright reckless things for you, little wolf.”

The sound that leaves her mouth is one I want to eat up. And if she weren’t injured right now, I'd take her right here. Tostop myself from doing just that, I stand and pace the room. My fingers brush over the back of my neck, lightly kneading the tension building in my muscles.

“Xander, you can’t say things like that,” she says, but her tone tells me she feels the exact opposite.

“And why’s that?”

“Because you’re making me feel things I don’t think I’m supposed to be feeling.”

I lower into the chair in the corner, lean back, and place an ankle over my thigh. “Well, I’m not going anywhere. You’ve got all night to tell me about these feelings you don’t think you should have for me.”

“You’re going to sit in that chair all night?”

“I’m not leaving your side, Alexia.”

Her brows furrow adorably in the middle of her forehead, and she crosses her arms over the blankets. “Then why don’t you come over here and lay down with me? Why sit all the way over there?”

Her question has my lips lifting in a smile. “Because I have a bad habit of putting my hands on you, and you need to rest after what you’ve been through.”

She pokes out her lower lip in a pout. “But what if I need your hands on me?” She stops short and her cheeks flush. “I mean, what if I just need you to hold me?”

I pull on my shirt and lift a brow. “I’m not sure you want me next to you right now. I’ve not had a chance to take a shower. And trust me, I ran hard on the treadmill. I was working off all the pent-up feelings I have for you.”

She chews her lower lip, fighting a smile. “Oh? And did it work?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you should go take a quick shower and take me back to your room because I need to feel you against me. Or...”She pulls herself to a seated position and leans against the headboard. “I feel kind of gross after being attacked and cut up. I could use a bath myself.”

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