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I held my hands over his abdomen, while he stared up at me with hungry eyes and his dick strained behind the zipper of his jeans. When I was done, he was going to push for more from me. The idea made me sick to my stomach.

You could kill him.

I could. If I used every last drop of my power, I could cave in that rib cage, fracturing bones and impaling his organs, while he thrashed and screamed.

I could take that knife from the sheath at his hip, the one he used to cut off Luke’s finger, and while he struggled to breathe, hack off his head.

I moved my hands over him, seeking out the damage, the weak spots not fully healed. They’d be so easy to rebreak. With just a little push of my magic at first, that’s all it would take, then a bit more.

“Can you feel the warmth?” I asked Poe.

He groaned in a way that was purely sexual, arching a little, his eyes closing. “Yeah, fuck. That feels good.”

Something moved outside the window. I searched the shadows. Jagger stepped forward, huge and inked and utterly naked. His lips were peeled back, his fangs extended, and like he could read my mind, he shook his head. Don’t kill him.

If I killed him here, if I made him scream in agony, others would come running.

I’d be caught, Luke and I would be killed, Jagger would burst in here, and all hell would break loose between the demons and the hounds.

He could get hurt as well. This was bigger than me.

There were other lives at stake. I had to rein in my emotions and stomp down the burning rage inside me.

Instead of breaking him, when I sent him a rush of power, I whispered a spell that had the same effect as sedation. “You might feel drowsy as the healing magic works to knit your bones together,” I said.

His eyes opened, and he shook his head, but it was already taking effect. “Don’t wanna be drowsy, Sutton,” he kind of slurred as he grabbed his dick and squeezed. “Got other plans…for…you.”

He passed out.

I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to take away his pain, but he’d be suspicious if he woke and his ribs were still badly injured. I healed them as best as I could and continued to chant my sedation spell. He’d be out for the rest of the night with how much magic I’d used on him.

Jagger was still watching, and goose bumps prickled all over me. He jerked his head to the side, telling me it was time to go. He was right.

Lars walked in. “What are you still doing here?”

I jumped and spun around, my hand flying to my chest. I sucked in a deep breath, not wanting to show my panic. “I was working on Poe’s ribs. They’ll be much better when he wakes, but he’ll sleep heavily the rest of the night.”

Lars looked over my shoulder at his friend, eyes narrowing. Poe was breathing heavily, obviously still alive. Not the pile of ash I’d wanted to leave behind.

He waved me forward. “Fine, let’s go.” He grabbed my arm and marched me back through the house, shoved me out the front door, and closed it.

That was more than fine with me. I rushed to my car and tore out of there.

When I reached the end of the long driveway, I looked back and Jagger was again in his hound form, following me.

When I was sure no one was around, I pulled over to the side of the road.

He shifted as he approached the passenger side, opened the door, grabbed his jeans, tugged them on, and got in beside me.

“Okay?” he asked.

“No.” I was far from okay. “They cut Luke’s finger off.”

“There was nothing you could’ve done to stop it.”

I nodded, but I was shaking as the adrenaline and fear began to seep from my body, leaving me cold.

“There was nothing you could do, Sutton,” he said once more. “He’s alive. That’s all that matters.”

I nodded again, glancing his way. His expression was strained, the tendons and veins in his neck bulging. He was struggling with his control right then for some reason, and if I hadn’t looked at him, I wouldn’t have known, he’d hidden it so well.

“Are you about to go hound in my car or something?” I said. It was easier to talk about him than what I just went through.

“I’m good.”

“You look about ready to Hulk out.”

The hand resting on his knee, squeezed into a tight fist. “You were just in a house with demons who not only could, but wanted to hurt you. Poe touched you more than once, and I can still smell his stench on you, Lars’s as well.

So yeah, I’m struggling with my control because the urge to go back there and turn them all to ash is fucking with me pretty hard right now. ”

“You need to stop saying things like that.” I couldn’t take it. I was trying hard to be strong. I couldn’t let myself trust the things he was saying. His instincts were leading him, not some imaginary feelings for me. He thought he wanted me now, but what about next week, or next month?

“It’s the truth, Sutton,” he said and shifted in his seat so he was facing me more. “What I did, what I said?—”

I wrenched the car to the side of the road. “I need to go to work. You’ll need to go hound and run the rest of the way.”

“Sutton—”

“I’m going to be late.” I risked another glance his way. “And I’ll be going straight home after my shift and staying there, so I won’t need your protection.”

He sat there for several long seconds, the silence ticking by. Finally, he nodded and turned to get out, but then he looked back. “I know you’re a warrior, sunshine, I’ve seen the fucking scars, but you don’t need to do it all alone anymore. I’m here now, and I’ve got you.”

I stared at him in shock, my blood rushing through my ears.

“No matter how long it takes,” he said, green eyes holding mine, “I will wait for you.” Then he got out and shut the door.

I sped back out onto the street as fast as I could.

My heart thudded in my chest as I shook my head and gripped the wheel tight.

They were pretty words, but they didn’t wipe clean the hurt he’d caused, and honestly, I wasn’t sure anything could.

He left me , more than once, he fought the truth because he never wanted this, and he sure as fuck never wanted it to be me, and I told myself that over and over again.

Because knowing it, unfortunately, didn’t stop me from wanting him.