Page 44 of Rejected By My Shadow Alpha
He skidded to a stop, his massive form panting and snarling. Then slowly, he turned and shifted back. Naked, bleeding, and glorious. I grabbed a bed lining from the clothes line and rushed to him, covering him, my heart still thundering in my chest. His arms were torn, scratches deep and raw, blood dripping onto the grass, but he was alive. Thank the Goddess, he was alive.
"You're hurt," I said, reaching for him.
"I'm fine."
"You're bleeding," I snapped. "Don't argue."
I picked his clothes up from the floor and held his hand. He let me lead him inside. My hands trembled as I pushed him onto the clinic bench. I grabbed supplies from the cabinet, trying to calm the quake inside me. If he hadn't been here, if he hadn't acted when he did. I shut my eyes. Liora. That wolf. It seemed madness had clouded its senses. What if it had gotten to her?
I watched Drew wash his hands in the sink, his back bruised with claw marks. I guided him to sit down and fought the tears brimming in my eyes, my heart grateful he had been around on such a day as this.
"Thank you for saving her," I whispered, pressing gauze to his arm.
Drew looked up, his eyes dark. "I'll always protect her. I'll protect both of you. I don't care how much you push me away. I'm not walking away again."
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to focus on the wound, not the ache building in my chest.
"Did you recognize the wolf?" he asked.
"No." My voice was barely audible. "It wasn't from around here. I've never seen it before."
He cursed under his breath, his jaw tightening. "Then someone sent it, or something darker is happening."
I didn't argue. I just cleaned his wounds in silence, but I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. He'd fought for herwithout hesitation, and he'd bled and saved her again. He showed a fierce, relentless protectiveness, and I was still keeping the truth from him.
Was I doing the right thing? For the first time in a long time, I wasn't so sure.
Chapter 19
Drew
She was trembling. Her fingers fluttered at my wound with gentle precision, but I could see how shaken she still was. Her shoulders were tense, her mouth tight, her eyes glassy with everything she was trying not to feel, and yet, as she dabbed at the claw mark on my arm, I felt her soften, bit by bit, like something inside her was unraveling against her will.
She lifted the cotton ball toward my face, her gaze soft on the claw mark on my cheek. "This might sting," she murmured.
I caught her hand before she could touch me, gently wrapping my fingers around her wrist. Her breath hitched. Her eyes darted to mine, wide and wary, her breath still uneven. I didn't speak. I just guided her hand to my face, letting her press it gently to the scratch across my cheek. I didn't flinch, even though the wound still throbbed beneath the pressure.
She pulled back slightly. "Did I hurt you?"
I shook my head, still holding her hand against my face, my eyes pinned to her. "No. I'll be fine. I'm already healing."
Her eyes dropped to the wound, now just faint, fading marks beneath her fingers. I saw it in her expression then, the way her eyes traced the closing cut, her lips parting just slightly. She wasn't thinking about the wound anymore.
She was thinking about me.
The space between us shrank, even though neither of us moved. I leaned into her hand and closed my eyes, inhaling her scent. Goddess, it hit me like wildfire. She still smelled like rose and rain, like the wild in bloom. My arms moved around her waist, and I pulled her against me, slowly and deliberately, until her body met mine, and I rested my head on her abdomen.
She stilled.
Then slowly, so slowly, her hands moved to cradle my head. Her fingers slipped into my hair, trembling just slightly. The feel of her holding me like that, Goddess, it shattered something in me.
"I'll protect you," I murmured into her warmth. "You and Liora. I swear it, Ruby. I'll burn the world down if I have to. Just let me in."
She didn't answer, but she didn't pull away. I lifted my head and looked up at her, my heart pounding. She looked unsure and torn, but she didn't stop me when I gently guided her to my lap. At first, she straddled me sideways, cautious and guarded. But then, I guided her to face me, and slowly I moved her until she was fully facing me, sitting on my lap, legs straddling my waist. Her body pressed into mine, chest to chest, heat to heat.
Her emerald eyes flashed with desire and unspoken want as she faced me. I caressed her cheek, her luscious lips begging for a kiss. I felt my erection stretching beneath the thin bed linen, and she gasped the moment she felt me hard, straining, and aching for her. Her eyes widened. Her breath caught. I saw the flush bloom on her cheeks and down her throat.
"Drew," she whispered, stunned and breathless.
