Page 38

VIOLET

I clawed to the surface, battling against the waves of agony. A whimper left my lips.

“Sweetheart?” The roughened voice sounded so deep and unfamiliar. I forced my eyes open, and it took a few moments for them to adjust with the sunlight beaming down. Graham’s rugged features hovered inches from my nose. He exhaled and his sandalwood scent teased my nose. “Thank Moon Goddess.” The relief in his voice was palpable. So many emotions flickered over his face. Too fast for me to follow.

“Graha—” I cut off with a groan. My Goddess, my face was on fire. The taste of blood coated my tongue, and I grimaced and then immediately regretted it. Agony prickled my face.

Graham came back into view, and he touched my face so lightly, I hardly felt the brush of his fingers.

His expression settled into one of concentration.

“Violet.” I blinked repeatedly. “Look at me.” The weight of the Alpha was behind his voice. It called my wolf and allowed me to rouse back to consciousness.

“Graham!?”

Maggie had arrived. Graham whipped his head toward her with a growl. I rolled my head to the side to get a look at her frozen a few feet away, her wide eyes flicking from me to her brother. She dropped her gaze, and she whined. Behind her, Adan paced. He would jump in and drag her away from the looks of his tension. He paced like a wolf on edge. They were going to give it away that they were mates if they kept it up.

I cleared my throat to talk, but opening my mouth hurt. Graham turned back to me, hovering.

“I have to check your body to see if you have anything broken, Violet.”

I hummed my assent. I would stick to not moving my jaw for a while. His hands slid down to my chest, and he began to gently press his fingertips into me. There was the dullest pain when he reached my side. I grunted and he yanked his hand away.

“Fuck,” he growled. He avoided my side, and he worked his way down my legs to my toes. Other than soreness, my face and side were what hurt most. Graham shuddered with his exhale. I wasn’t a fan of how pained he looked.

I experimentally moved my toes. My feet were fine. I gave it a shot with my legs and was able to move them. They pulsed from soreness, but nothing felt unbearable.

“Don’t move—” Graham cut off with a growl. I managed to prop myself on my elbows, and a tug at my side made me wince, causing unbearable pain to lance across my cheek.

My breathing hitched but I tried to keep my expression impassive.

“Violet,” he snapped. I scowled at him and immediately whimpered. He cursed and his hands slid under my knees and to my back, propping me up with ease. I went limp. He would take care of me. I could rest . . .

“Open your eyes.” The command reached through the fogginess. I did as ordered. We were inside now. Graham sighed with visible relief.

“Will she be okay?” Maggie’s question was choked.

“Yes. There’s no other option.” With that, the ceiling changed into the familiar bedroom. “I’m going to set you on the bed, Sweetheart.” The revenant way he caressed the nickname with his tongue shouldn’t be what I focused on. He lowered me onto the bed with such care it made tears flood my eyes.

“You will be okay,” he whispered. I didn’t bother trying to nod or say anything because it would just cause pain. He grabbed my hand and squeezed once.

A loud bang had him slipping his grip from mine and striding to the door.

Simon burst inside before Graham was through the threshold.

“Why did you move her before the doctor arrived?” he snarled, going after Graham, who met him head on.

Graham shoved Simon, but he didn’t back away. A slim, older female approached my bedside and hovered over me, her eyes flicking side to side.

“Stop,” I croaked and groaned with pain. Immediate stillness came over both of them. With a final bare of his teeth, Simon approached my bedside. He hadn’t looked at me, not really looked at me, based on how pale he became. His eyes widened.

A choked sound left him. Like he was being tortured. He dropped to his knees next to the bed and grabbed my hand.

“Violet,” he whispered. His nostrils flared and he bowed his head over our clasped hands, body close to trembling.

He seemed terribly upset.

Tears surfaced and trickled out of the corners of my eyes. I squeezed his hand. He exhaled slowly and finally dragged his eyes to mine. His expression was fixed in an angry mask, but the sadness and guilt were clear. So much emotion writhed inside of him.

But it was the sadness that sucker punched me in the face. It hurt more than anything Amber had done to me.

Both of them had shredded up the woman he loved. As my mate, he was driven to protect me. His instincts had forced his actions.

A gentle touch on my side brought my gaze to the older female. She worked her hands down my body similarly to how Graham had, but hers were meticulously pushing areas. She pressed her fingers into my left side. I flinched and it made my face burst into agony. I whimpered, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes.

“Nothing is broken on her body, but she’s severely bruised,” she said meekly. She pressed down on the spot on my side again. She hummed. “You see how she stiffens. I think she has bruised ribs.”

She tugged the bottom of my shirt up until it was bunched under my breasts. Simon tucked a blanket around my waist. He looked at the spot the woman studied and made a choked sound, turning his head. I squeezed his hand.

“What about her face? She’s struggling to speak.” Graham sounded so rude. I stopped myself from glaring at him. I’d learned my lesson the first time, but I did try to convey that he needed to calm down via my eyes.

The poor older female had done nothing to me. She was trying to help.

“Luna, I will have to touch your face. It will hurt.”

The title rammed into me. Luna. I was her Luna because I was Simon’s mate, but she didn’t know I still debated claiming him.

I hummed my assent. She hovered, scanning me. Her eyes kept flickering like she was worried she was about to be attacked. She pressed her fingertips to my face. I jerked with each probe.

All their pacing was putting me on edge.

“Her jaw needs to be set back in place.”

That bitch had dislocated my jaw?

“We can take her to the hospital to get some x-rays done, or I can set it now.”

“Fuck,” Simon hissed. He stood from where he knelt at my side. He turned his back to me.

“Do it,” I whispered with effort.

Graham shoved his fingers through his hair.

I motioned Maggie over from where she hovered near the door. She slowly approached.

Using two fingers, I pointed at my mates.

“Leave,” I whispered.

Maggie nodded, immediately getting what I was saying. Simon turned around. I turned my head just slightly to look at him. He returned to my side, lowering until he covered inches from me.

His lips thinned and emotions flittered in his brown eyes. He opened his mouth and then closed it, working his jaw.

I wasn’t sure what bubbled behind the mask of pain, but I needed him to know I felt for him.

“Sorry you had to kill the woman you loved,” I whispered as best I could.

He stilled. His body began to tremble, but rage crept over his features. He blamed me for her death, he had to.

More tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. My jaw needed to be set back in place, and I didn’t want them here.

“Go,” I croaked and turned to Maggie. If they saw the pack doctor reset my jaw, they might murder her.

“She wants you to leave,” Maggie insisted, crossing her arms, but keeping her gaze lowered. It was kind of funny how she showed submission yet pure stubbornness.

Simon’s body lurched like he’d been hit. He turned back to scan my face. I blinked a few times to get rid of the tears and sucked a breath in through my nose.

“Go,” I repeated. He finally jolted out of his frozen state. The trembling only became worse. He slowly backed away. With a final lingering look, he left.

I turned my attention expectantly to Graham.

Graham scowled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Please,” I begged.

“You’re only working her up by arguing, Graham.” He growled at Maggie.

“Please make sure Simon’s okay.” I struggled to breathe and groaned, closing my eyes. When I opened them, he hovered over my face. I met his eyes and I couldn’t help the flood of moisture. “Please?—”

“Fine,” Graham grunted. He turned to his sister.

“Do not leave her side.” She nodded hurriedly. He turned to me. “Bryan and Adan will be right outside for your protection.” He smoothed my hair back from my face like he was touching porcelain.

“I’m not going to break.” I tried for some levity, but the grimace likely ruined it.

The corners of his eyes became pinched. His hand shook as he removed it from my face.

“I’ll be back soon.” With that promise, he left, the door shutting behind him. Maggie hovered over me, fussing, but all I could think about was the hole in my chest. What would happen now? Graham was livid with Simon. And Simon . . . he’d lost her because of me. The knot in my throat throbbed and tears leaked.

It'd been days since I cried. I didn’t recall going this long without bursting into tears. I’d been getting used to the feeling.

“Luna, this will really hurt, are you sure?” The healer lowered her voice. “I should go get my medication?—”

“Just do it,” I gritted out and closed my eyes.

“I’ll go wash my hands,” the doctor said and hurried out of the bedroom.

Maggie’s hand slid into mine.

“Squeeze the hell out of it. Hey, we can practice for when you give my brother pups.”

I snorted and immediately wanted to slap myself.

“Sorry, not the time.”

“No kids anytime soon.”

“Pft, girl, with all that banging we have to get you on birth control.” I tapped my arm. “You have the insert.” I put my thumb up. No way would I have risked it. I’d gotten it put in the first time Elton made a pass at me. It’d instilled fear that if he raped me, he’d put a pup in me, tying me to that bastard.

The doctor cleared her throat.

“Oh right, let me go on the other side,” Maggie said sheepishly and hurried around the bed to grab my other hand.

I closed my eyes again. Gentle fingers pressed below my jaw and her thumb slipped between my lips and over the lower back teeth.

“Inhale.”

I sucked in a gusty breath, my stomach a mess of nerves. “Exhale.”

Mid-exhale she pressed both fingers, causing searing pain. Tears blinded my vision, and I squeezed Maggie’s hand until it popped.

If I screamed as I wanted, it would send my mates into a flurry.

A loud snap thundered in my ear and my jaw. Lights burst behind my eyelids, and I curved onto my side that didn’t hurt and cupped my hands over my face, letting out a sob. That hurt, but even worse was the ache in my chest.

“I’ll go fetch pain medication,” the doctor said, hurrying out the door.