Page 202 of His White Moonlight
“She’s sitting in the same chair that dozens of other people have sat in and has done more in the few weeks she’s been home than all of them combined, and you’re still saying she’s not worthy?Why?Just because she doesn’t have fur?What good is fur at the bank?What good is it when your mortgage needs to be paid?Only a small portion of our lives is lived in the woods.Get with the times.”
Dad looked angry until his gaze met mine, and he sighed.
“You’re more tolerant than everyone here, and I’m sorry for everything you’ve had to suffer, Sweetheart.”
His sincerity made my chest ache more than the cut on my arm.
“I think I need to go to the hospital now,” I said, looking at Bennett’s bloody hands.
“I’ll drive,” Mom said.
“I call shotgun,” Miranda said, surprising me.
Mom nodded, and Bennett scooped me up into his arms.I hissed at the renewed sting and throbbing in my cut and leaned into him as he ran.
* * *
A layerof taped gauze covered the seventeen stitches in my forearm.I made a face at it, knowing all the future trouble it would bring me.My bandaged palms were nothing in comparison.
“Hey, a little pain now saves you from a lot of pain later,” Miranda said.
I shot her a glare, and she shrugged before turning to watch Mom and Bennett talk to the doctor.
“How exactly are seventeen stitches going to help my long-term goals?”I asked under my breath.It wasn’t soft enough, though.Bennett’s gaze briefly flicked to me.
“My goal was to keep you from long-term hospitalization or death.I achieved it.You can thank me later with a shopping trip.That was a nice touch, by the way, asking for her eye.If she hadn’t rolled over so fast, I would have gone for it.There’s a designer bag I’ve had my eye on forever but can’t afford.”
“Are you forgetting that you still have to face any challenges for my position that are issued over the next three days?”
“Pfft.Do you honestly think any of them have the backbone to face me?”
I considered her question.“Maybe not the women from the office but…” I thought of Storm, weighing what I knew of her now, which was very little, against what I remembered of her when we were younger.
Before I could say anything else, Mom and Bennett came back to where I was sitting.
“You look exhausted, Sweetheart.Bennett has all the care instructions and can take you home now.Dad and I will come tomorrow to check in.”She leaned in to kiss my forehead, then faced Miranda.“I’ll give you a ride back.”
“Thanks, Mrs.Wulf.See you Monday, Wrenly.”
I watched the pair of them walk away and then looked up at Bennett.His jaw was tight.Again.Sensing he was a wolf on the edge, I gave him my best sad face.
“I’m hungry.”
He inhaled slowly, and his anger and frustration evaporated.
“What are you hungry for?”
“A greasy breakfast that we have to stop somewhere to eat.”
“Okay.”
He held out his hand, and I placed my good—well, better—one in it to stand.He didn’t let it go.We walked to the car like that, definitely reaching the five-minute time limit.But I didn’t say anything.I just let him open the door for me and got in.
The twenty-four-hour diner he found wasn’t exactly the cleanest and smelled like old fryer grease when we walked in, but I didn’t care.I hadn’t lied when I said I was hungry.It was close to three in the morning.
I ordered the “Big Man Breakfast” and smiled when Bennett did the same.
“What?”he asked when the waitress walked away.
