Page 66 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

Chapter 21 - Fred

The sound of that rifle would live inside my skull forever. As soon as Bernadetti was executed, Liam huffed with relief, snuggling deeper into my lap despite how much we had snapped at each other in the safe house before the battle. Sometimes, things just weren’t worth fighting over.

Like whether or not pop music was playing in the lobby of the medical center. Though it made me grit my teeth, I bore it, carrying a potted bulb—the non-poisonous and non-biting kind—with me down the hallway and to the right.

Room 105 was lit with afternoon light plus some extra lamps in the corner. Scuffed tile decorated the floor and a hospital cot stood in the middle of the far-left wall, along with a beeping heart monitor and a pole holding up the saline drip. Much like the floor, Liam was scuffed up, but I’d seen him look worse.Somuch worse.

His hazel eyes swirled in my direction, softening when he spotted the plant under my arm. I held it up while walking inside, pausing to shut the door. Top secrets needed to be traded here. I didn’t want any nurses overhearing us.

That would require me to use my forget-me oil in my pocket.

I rounded the cot and set the plant on the bedside table. Giant yellow roses sat in a large glass vase with a huge white ribbon around them that held a card.Kylie.

I chuckled while grabbing a chair from the corner and dragging it up to the bed. “I see your sister came by.”

“Yep.”

“She doing okay?”

Liam squinted at me. “We’ve been back for twelve hours, and you haven’t said anything to Kylie?”

I shrugged while focusing on the crisp cotton bedsheets. “Well, she’s not my mission anymore.”

“That’s a load of shit.”

Anger swelled in my chest as confusion clouded my brain. “You were mad about the bites. Now you’re telling me to talk to her. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t get it either.”

My gaze flickered up to him. “What’s there to get?”

“I don’t know, man. I told her you’re a complete grump and you never see the positive side of things.”

I tilted my head back, studying him curiously.

“You’re a neat freak,” he said while holding out one finger. “And you’re super prissy about your plants,” he added as he held out another finger. “And—” He held up a third finger. “You never told me you took a liking to my sister while you were watching her.”

My eyes bulged. “Well, I didn’t think I—I mean, I didn’tsaythat I—” I scratched my cheek anxiously. “Alright, fine. You caught me. I fell for your sister while I was watching her.Fine.”

“I know I can be a huge asshole about shit.”

“You’re telling me.”

He sucked air into his lungs like he needed it for the tirade he was about to go on. But instead of throwing curses or warning me that he would break my knuckles the moment her heart was broken, he sighed.

He shrugged his shoulders. “She’s crazy about you.”

I blinked rapidly. “What? How do you know?”

“She wouldn’t shut up about how brave it was that you bit her neck. I see she bit you too. She told me—” He gestured to my throat, causing my cheeks to burn as I raised my hand to cover the hickey-like mark. “She told me how you dideverythingkeep her safe.”

I idly rubbed the scar tissue on my neck. Sweet goddess, it made me miss her to sit here like this, to hear that pop music, to touch this mark made by her delicate mouth.

I tried to tear my focus away from the cotton sheets, but they were holding me steady. “I’m sorry. It’s just—well, when we got back, I didn’t know what to say to her.”

“You mean you got scared.”

“That’s not exactly true.”

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