Page 116 of The Wolf King

I’m angry. So angry. There is a wilder emotion inside me too. And it wants release.

His eyes narrow. “Take. It. Off.”

He has a wolf inside him.

And it want to provoke it.

“No,” I say.

He crashes to his knees and cries out. The unlit candle sitting on his small table falls onto its side, and the floorboards splinter beneath the strain of catching him.

“Callum!”

He grabs his shoulder. “Fuck.”

All the heat drains out of me, and I drop to floor in front of him. “You’re hurt.”

“I got shot. Silver. Thought I’d got all the bullet out.” He releases a soft, pained laugh. “Obviously not.”

I lift his chin. “Let me see.”

“It’s nothing.” He shrugs me away. “Don’t worry yourself, Princess. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

He lets me undo the buttons of his damp shirt, and I push it off his shoulders to reveal his strong, muscular chest.

My breath hitches at the sight of him.

He’s dripping with sweat, and it highlights the ridges of his torso, and his large biceps.

He was shirtless the first time we met, but then, the sheer size of him was threatening. Now, a completely different feeling stirs inside me.

Until my gaze moves to his shoulder.

The veins spreading from his bullet wound are black. It’s not healing, and I catch the scent of something herbal among the blood. Something that makes my stomach turn.

“It’ll be fine.” Callum’s eyelids are drooping. “I’ve been shot with silver before. My body will push it out, eventually. It’s just...” He takes a deep, wheezing breath. “Just a wee bit painful in the meantime.”

“Callum.” I try to sound gentle, but my heart is pounding. “The bullet had wolfsbane on it. You’re not going to heal on your own. I need to go and get—”

“No,” he growls.

“He has the antidote.”

Callum’s eyes blaze. “I’d rather die than havehimin here.”

“No you wouldn’t, you stubborn wolf!”

I stand up, and he grabs my ankle.

“No.”

He’s so weak that when I jerk away, he has to slam his hand against the ground to stop himself from toppling over.

His chambers spin around me, and fear tightens around my heart.

I shake my head. “I won’t let you die.”

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