Page 63 of A Wolf’s Wound

Ryder

Of all the ways I’ve idly wondered what it would be like when I knew I’d found my mate, this never made the list.

Hannah’s staring at me like I’ve just grown another head. Gavin and her stepfather are both looking at me with very serious expressions. Hannah’s mother grabs my mom’s hand, and I don’t know if it’s in excitement or shock. And of course, we’re surrounded by death and injured shifters.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make everyone except me and Hannah disappear.

Or teleport us any place where we could be alone together to absorb this news.

I want to know how Hannah feels and what she’s thinking.

I want her to have space to share her fears and uncertainties, and for her to listen to mine.

I want to be somewhere that doesn’t smell of death and echo with the moans of injured shifters.

Since none of that is possible, I try to make the best of this incredibly weird and awkward situation. “Um, yeah,” I say to Hannah, forcing myself to just look at her and not our families. “You’re my mate.”

“No fucking way,” she says, but her voice is more amazed than upset. At least, that’s what I hope I’m hearing.

“I’m afraid so,” I say, trying to smile.

“How long have you known about this?” Hannah asks me.

“About thirty seconds longer than you,” I say honestly. “I wasn’t sure if that’s what it meant until Gavin said it was.”

Hannah arches an eyebrow at me, clearly not buying it. “Really? Then why did you ask how I felt about mates after we—”

“Hannah!” I cut her off, heat already beginning to crawl up my neck. She glances around, seeming to remember that both of our mothers are standing mere feet away before turning a deep shade of crimson. If I wasn’t feeling similarly right now, I would laugh.

“I swear I’m telling the truth. I wasn’t sure that’s what it was until Gavin confirmed it,” I promise her. Despite averting that particular, most certainly minor, crisis, the heat in my face doesn’t fade. Instead, it prickles up my spine uncomfortably, my head spinning slightly.

“Holy shit,” Hannah says softly.

I nod, and all of a sudden a wave of dizziness hits me. I stagger backward, feeling lightheaded and nauseated, the heat I was experiencing moments ago turning into a raging inferno beneath my skin. I try to take a deep breath, but that just makes me feel sicker. So does standing up straight.

“Sorry,” I say from my half-crouch, raising my head to see Hannah staring at me, but this time her eyes are wide with shock. “Come on, I’m not doing that badly,” I say, trying to reassure her. But just as the words leave my mouth, I realize that no, I am actually doing that badly.

All I can feel right now is how injured I am.

The cuts on my head throb, it hurts to breathe, and my legs are so gashed up that my jeans are pasted to them with blood.

I feel my knees tremble and then collapse onto the ground, my vision blurring as the adrenaline that’s been keeping me upright suddenly vanishes from my system.

I don’t actually pass out. But I stay on the ground, breathing heavily, as I hear my brothers shouting and my mother’s voice. They’re all coming toward me but then there’s Hannah leaning over me.

“Give him space!” she yells. “Ryder, don’t worry, you’re going to be okay,” Hannah says to me in a quieter voice.

“What do you need?” a voice behind me asks. It’s Hannah’s mother.

“Gauze, thread, and sterile needles,” Hannah tells her.

I close my eyes as another bolt of dizziness slices through me. When I open them Hannah’s cleaning my face. “I shouldn’t have let you leave earlier,” she mutters, more to herself than to me. “I should have checked you out first.”

“I wouldn’t have let you,” I tell her.

“Trying to be macho, huh?” Hannah says. “This might hurt.”

“I’m always trying to be macho,” I say as a needle pokes my skin. “Ouch!”

“Sorry. I just numbed the area. This cut on your forehead is pretty deep.” Hannah leans closer and frowns. “I’ll do my best to make sure you won’t have a scar, but no promises.”

“That’s okay. I hear that chicks dig scars.”

“Yes, almost as much as they dig being called ‘chicks,’” Hannah says, and I grin.

“I’ll remember that.”

She shakes her head, but her eyes look amused as she begins stitching. “Let me know if the pain gets too bad or you think you might pass out again.”

“Technically, I never lost consciousness,” I say.

“Technically, I don’t care,” she replies. “You’re a mess, Ryder.”

“So I’ve been told.” I close my eyes.

“No!” Hannah says sternly.

“What?” I ask, my eyes flying open.

“No closing your eyes, no taking a nap until I’ve had a chance to assess you for a concussion.”

“Okay, that makes sense.”

“So,” Hannah says after a brief silence.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know, I’m trying to think of a way to keep you awake,” she admits. “But my small talk skills are kind of shot to hell right now.”

“I can’t imagine why,” I say and she chuckles. “Hey, do you have a death wish or something?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Hannah says. “Why do you ask?”

“Because jumping in front of Shadow earlier was either the action of an incredibly brave woman or one with a death wish.”

“I wasn’t really thinking,” Hannah says. “I just did what felt right.”

“You shouldn’t have jumped in front of him,” I say. “You had no idea how I was going to react.”

“Yes, I did,” Hannah says seriously. She pauses in her work and stares at me. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me, Ryder.”

I stare back in shock. I didn’t think Hannah trusted me, yet here she is saying she was confident I wouldn’t hurt her?

“Don’t look so surprised,” Hannah says, resuming her stitching.

“I can’t help it!” I say. “Since when did you begin trusting me?”

“I just did,” Hannah says, not meeting my eyes.

“No, seriously,” I insist.

“I don’t know! Don’t make a big deal out of it, okay?”

“Hannah, this is a huge deal. Not just that you trust me but that you somehow knew I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Are you kidding me?” I ask in surprise. “You, more than anyone, should have known better.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you’ve had years of training about exactly how disease and poison can affect rational thought and actions. You could probably teach a graduate-level course in the subject!”

“Yeah, probably.”

“So you know all this, and you still jump in front of me when my mind is actively being fucked up by that scent. How did you know you would be okay? How did you know I wouldn’t hurt you?”

“Because,” Hannah says and shrugs.

“No way, that’s not good enough. Look,” I say, struggling to sit up, “I might be bleeding all over my body and in so much pain I can’t see straight, but I can still tell when something’s not adding up.”

“Maybe you’re confused because you have a concussion,” Hannah says, placing her hands on my chest to stop me from moving. “Lie back down, please.”

I resume my position on the ground as she places a gauze bandage on my forehead. “Even if I do have a concussion, you’re still not making any sense.”

Hannah sits back and looks at me. “I think your other facial cuts just need bandages, not stitches. Your legs might have some cuts that need stitches but I’d like to get you somewhere with better light to determine that.

You stay here and I’ll see if Evan or your mom can take you to the hospital.

” She glances around and frowns. “The one time I could use someone to help me, and everyone’s disappeared. ”

“I guess they’re busy,” I say.

“That’s an understatement,” Hannah replies. I grin at her. “Wait here, I’ll get someone to help us.”

“Hold on.” I reach up and grab her hand. “You can get someone else in a minute, but please stay with me.”

Hannah crouches back down. “Are you okay?”

“I need to know, Hannah,” I say softly. “How did you know that I wasn’t going to hurt you? What made you get in between me and Shadow?”

Hannah shrugs again and looks away. “Because I love you, Ryder.”