Page 60 of Nick
Sarah’s voice broke through the silence.“Karla won’t hurt anyone again.I made sure of it.”
“Mama fought the mean lady,” Javi piped up, his small voice filled with a mix of awe and gravity.“She saved me.”
“Your mama is very brave,” Nick said, his voice steady despite the swell of emotions threatening to break through his composure.“Just like you.”
“Mama’s really strong too,” Javi murmured, his voice muffled against Nick’s shoulder.
“Strongest person I know,” Nick agreed, his words for both his son and the woman before him.
Sarah took a tentative step forward, her hand reaching out.Nick reached back with his free hand, tangling his fingers with hers, pulling her closer.
The distance between them vanished in an instant, and as he held Javi with one arm, Nick wrapped his other around Sarah, drawing her into his embrace.
She fit against him perfectly, the missing piece he’d been longing for.
His lips found hers in a long kiss.
Nick tasted victory on Sarah’s lips, sweet and heady.Finally, he pulled away slightly, resting his forehead against Sarah’s, and whispered, “We did it.”
Javi giggled softly between them.Nick felt his heart swell, knowing that this, right here, was what true strength looked like.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
Then Sarah winced in pain.
“I thought you said you weren’t hurt.”
“Nothing new.Oh.But I still hurt from earlier,” she gasped.
His gaze swept over her, taking in the bruises and cuts that marred her skin.
“We do have to get Javi home,” Sarah said.
Nick knew Sarah’s concern for Javier eclipsed even her own pain, a maternal instinct as fierce as any protective drive he felt.“We’ll get you cleaned up too.”
Sarah nodded, relief shining in her gaze.
“Quickly,” she urged, a shiver passing through her frame.
He paused long enough to take Percy’s keys from Vincent’s pocket.“No one else will be needing these,” he said.“I think the cars belong to the pack now.”
“I think they’re yours, if you want them,” Sarah said.“And you can be the new alpha too—if you want to be.”
“God, no,” he said.“I hate politics.Let’s leave that to someone else.”
“As long as it’s someone good,” Sarah said.Then she gasped again, clutching her side in pain.
He didn’t waste another moment before steering them back down toward the car.
In the gravel parking lot, Bronx materialized from the shadows like a specter.He handed over a small bottle of pain meds without a word, his deep-set eyes meeting Nick’s for just a moment.Then he disappeared again.
Back at Sarah’s trailer, Nick carried Javi as he guided Sarah inside.Her steps faltered, her strength waning.
Inside, he handed Javi over to Una.“Could you get him to bed?”
Una held the boy close.“Of course.”She disappeared down the hallway, murmuring to the child as he began telling her about the battle.
“Take these,” Nick instructed Sarah quietly, pressing the bottle of painkillers into her hand.The pills would dull the pain, at least temporarily, until her shifter healing could do the rest.
