MasukSelene’s POVRonan made it halfway down the hall before his steps slowed enough that Darius moved closer.“I’m fine.”Darius put a hand under his arm anyway. “You’ve said that three times since we left the room.”“Because you keep touching me.”“Because you keep trying to fall.”“I’m walking.”“You’re leaning.”Ronan turned his head toward him, but Darius kept moving. I followed a few steps behind them, watching the clean shirt pull over the fresh bandage around Ronan’s stomach every time he took another step. Damon had put the knife deep enough that Ronan could pretend all he wanted, but his body wasn’t cooperating.By the time we reached the council room, more of his weight had shifted onto Darius. Ronan pulled away the second they reached the chair and lowered himself into it slowly, one hand flattening against his side.Darius dragged another chair toward the wall. “Want me to get you a pillow?”Ronan looked at him. “Want me to replace my Beta?”“You’d have to stand long enough to
Cassius’s POVBren missed the second check-in.The first one could have been explained away. A patrol running late. Somebody too close to the drop. Ronan moving men after getting back to BloodHowl. I had left it alone because men who panicked over every missed hour created more problems than the silence ever did.The second one came and went without anything from Calder either.I finished reading the page in front of me before looking at the man standing near the smaller table.“Call again.”He picked up the phone we kept for the eastern route and dialed. I could hear it ringing from where I sat. It went unanswered until the line disconnected on its own.He lowered the phone. “Nothing.”“Calder?”“No contact.”“From any of the secondary points?”“None.”I closed the folder.That was more useful than another call.Bren had been inside BloodHowl too long to miss two check-ins because he forgot. Calder knew how to get out without coming back through the same route he used going in. If ne
Ronan’s POV“Put him somewhere Bren can’t hear him scream.”Darius took Calder by the arm and handed him off to two men near the storehouse. “Back room. Two guards outside. Nobody talks to him.” One of the men nodded and started walking Calder across the yard while the other stayed close enough to catch him if he tried anything. Calder glanced over his shoulder once. I was still watching when the healer stepped in front of me and blocked the path.“You’re not following them yet.”“I wasn’t asking.”“Good, because I wasn’t giving you a choice.” She pointed toward the bench where Selene sat while another strip of clean cloth was wrapped around her shoulder. “Sit down before I have two patients on the ground.”Selene looked over at me while the healer tied off the bandage. “You could try listening to her once.”“You went into the woods after three men were attacked.”“I can shift without ripping stitches out of my stomach.”“Side.”“What?”“The wound is in my side.”She stared at me. “Th
Selene’s POVThe howl dragged me out of sleep hard enough that I nearly took Ronan’s arm with me when I sat up.He woke at the same time. His hand slid off my stomach as another howl carried in from the eastern side of BloodHowl, lower than the first and cut short before it finished.Ronan shoved the blanket down and started getting out of bed.“Don’t.”He didn’t even look at me. “That came from the east line.”“I heard it.”His feet hit the floor. He reached for the trousers he had dropped beside the chair earlier, got one leg into them, then stopped with his hand pressed against his bandage.I climbed out on the other side and grabbed his shirt before he could bend for it. “You pulled three stitches this afternoon getting out of a wagon because apparently using the step like a normal person was beneath you. Where are you planning to go?”“Outside.”“No shit.”Someone pounded on the door before he could answer.“Alpha.”Ronan got there first. He opened it with one hand still braced a
Selene’s POVThe healer finished tying the fresh bandage around Ronan’s middle and checked the stitches one last time before stepping back. He had pulled three of them when he climbed out of the wagon, and she had already told him twice that he was done for the next few hours.“You’re going upstairs,” she said while she gathered the bloody cloths from the tray beside him. “Eat something. Drink something. Lie down.”“I need the watch records.”“Darius can bring them when he has them.”“I want to see Bren.”“Not today.”Ronan looked up at her, but she had already turned away to rinse her hands. I picked up his shirt before he could start again and held it out. He took it from me and slid one arm into the sleeve. When he reached behind himself for the other side, the movement pulled across his stomach and stopped him. He waited, tried again, then let the fabric fall back against his side.I stepped closer and took it from his hand. “Let me.”He dropped his arm.I eased the shirt around h
Ronan’s POVBy the time the sky started lightening, most of the camp was already coming down.Men moved through the cold gray morning pulling stakes, rolling canvas, tying down supplies and putting out what was left of the fires. Nobody needed Darius barking orders at them. After what had happened during the night, everyone wanted out of there.I sat outside the command tent because the healer had threatened to put me flat on my back if I tried helping.My side throbbed beneath the bandage with every breath.I ignored it.Darius came toward me from the line of horses. His looked ready to go, saddlebags already tied down.“Corbin’s loaded. He complained the whole time.”“That means he’s alive.”“Pretty much what the healer said.”I looked past him toward the wagons. “Bren?”“Separate transport. Six guards.”“Keep it that way.”“He won’t get near Corbin.”I nodded.Darius hesitated.I knew what he was about to say before he said it.“Mathis is ready.”My eyes went toward the covered wag







