Page 9

I clenched my teeth so hard they might break.

His lack of belief in me hurt the most.

Out of all of them . . . I’d weakened for him the most. I believed in him and everything he promised.

My nose burned and I gritted my teeth harder, keeping those tears inside even though it hurt.

“What happened to you?” Asher loomed beside the end of the bed, gaze roving over my body.

I focused on my clenched hand. I’d been clasping it so tight my nails created little dents on my palm.

“Fetch Jax to check her wounds,” Tobias ordered.

“She is mine, I will tend to her.” Asher set the tray on the nightstand.

“She is not only yours,” Tobias hissed.

“I’ve fucked and fed from her.”

Tobias’s nostrils flared, his shoulders rising and falling.

“Do not speak of her as if she were a whore.”

“Do me a favor and shove your sanctimonious morals up your ass.” Asher brushed his hands across his chest as he straightened, smearing some red substance across the silk fabric.

Tobias flashed to Asher. I startled, struggling to make sense of Tobias wrapping his hands around Asher’s throat. I couldn’t tear my attention off the train wreck happening a few feet away from me. Even though the English vampire was a few inches shorter, and slighter than the Viking, menace emanated from him.

“Do it,” Asher smirked.

Tobias’s eyes flashed red, but he finally dropped Asher. “Get Jax to heal her.” With that he slammed the door behind him.

The thud of the door echoed in the silence.

Asher’s gaze settled on me.

His words wouldn’t leave my thoughts, nor the look on his face as he ordered me to leave. My lungs squeezed and made it difficult to breathe.

Jax had accused me of stealing and Asher had kicked me out.

Sure from an outside perspective, it was his brother versus me, but I had given him everything, willingly. I’d expected a little more defense on my behalf.

Asher dropped to his knees and his waist hovered by the top of the tall bed.

“What happened, Catalina?” He gingerly touched the top of the cast on my leg and I stiffened.

“Don’t touch me,” I wheezed, inching back a little more. It sent a shockwave of agony through my limbs. I squeezed the pillow I still held to my chest.

“Don’t be stubborn.”

I gritted my teeth. Stubborn? How was this stubbornness? It was only self-preservation!

“No,” I shouted in his face.

Asher’s blue eyes widened and he studied my features.

“Why are you angry?”

I blinked, no way he was serious. It was enough to calm the verging hysterics. His expression didn’t waver.