44

WARNER

I shove through the front glass doors to the emergency care, hating the sterile smell of the place and how it dampens Zoey’s trail. The minute I pulled into the parking lot, I knew Raider was right.

Zoey is here.

And she’s bleeding.

A young nurse sits at the front desk, and her eyes widen at my abrupt arrival. I don’t stop to ask her directions. The place is small, and I know exactly which way to go.

“Not another one. Sir! It’s already too—” The swinging doors that lead back to the treatment area cut her off.

The space full of medical devices sends me back to the night I revealed my true self to Zoey. A whisper of fear at the memory of the dead look in her eyes creeps through me. I thought I might have lost her then.

Please tell me I’m not going to lose her now .

Despite the place being empty of other patients, I can’t see Zoey right away. There’s a human wall between the two of us.

“Where is she?” Again, I’m coming at the Gunner brothers, all aggression, the words low and rumbling with a growl I can’t keep contained.

Three of them whirl around, clearly shocked by my sudden appearance, but Abram keeps his gaze on his sister. And with their turning, I finally catch a glimpse of her.

She’s sitting up on the bed. That’s where the good news ends.

“Warner!”

At the sight of her pained smile, my frantic anger gets pushed aside by my helpless worry.

“Zoey.” Before her family can decide if they want to keep acting like the human barrier, I’m stepping between them, reaching for her. Only my hands hover an inch away, as I’m worried about causing additional pain. “What happened?”

She’s covered in scratches, most just tiny abrasions, but there’s a thick one at the base of her neck, and there looks to be hastily tied bandages around spots on her arms and her legs. Bandages with growing red stains. The beginnings of bruises shadow her forehead, cheek, elbows, and knees. One ankle has started to swell, and she holds one arm to her chest, the angle of it off.

These aren’t the signs of a small stumble. Whatever I missed looks to have gotten away with almost killing the woman I love.

I love.

I love her.

And here she is, broken and bloody from some mystery event. If I don’t find out who or what hurt her soon, the violence boiling in my brain might find an unintended target.

“Here. Could you hold this one? It doesn’t hurt as much.” Zoey offers her left hand to me, and I accept it, cradling her palm as carefully as I would a baby chick.

“Did someone attack you?” A trembling starts in my chest, the product of barely contained rage. My wolf wants to break free and lay waste to the world.

She looks surprised and confused. “What? No. I fell.”

“You fell ?” I finally tear my eyes away from her for a moment, only to give Abram the most disgusted, hate-filled glare I can manage.

The excuse for her injures is the oldest in the book when it comes to abuse.

Brother or not, when I discover which one of these men hurt Zoey, he’ll be lucky if I only kill him.

The blond man seems upset, returning my angry scowl with a tense jaw and helpless eyes. “She did fall.”

“And who the fuck helped her?” I hiss.

Zoey snatches her hand back from mine, and I’m not surprised. I don’t recognize myself in this moment. When I turn my head, planning to apologize for scaring her, a palm meets my face.

But not in a slap, like I deserve. Instead, Zoey smooths her hand over my cheek, petting me.

“Calm down. It’s okay. I’m okay.” Again, she gives me an attempt at a smile, but I can see her pain in the expression.

I huff out a humorless laugh. “Hell, Zoey. You look like you got into a brawl with a wild animal. You are not okay.”

She trails her fingers over my face again, the tips of them tangling in my hair. “Well, I’ll be okay. It’s just some bruises. A cut or two.”

“All right. We’ve clearly surpassed the acceptable amount of protectors.” A doctor—whose name I can’t remember—speaks with a loud, commanding tone as he maneuvers between two of Zoey’s brothers, rolling a tray in front of him that contains some wicked-looking, curved needles.

How often did she get stitched up before coming to Pine Falls? Because here, it seems to be happening every other day.

“We have a very comfortable waiting room, and I’m sure Nurse Laura would be happy to brew some tea for you all while you wait.” The doctor tilts his head toward the doors I recently burst through, and I spot the curly-haired nurse glaring daggers at me.

Funny, before I fell for Zoey, I was much better at getting people to like me.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Abram declares, and all the brothers nod in agreement.

The doctor, who I see now is wearing a name tag that declares him as Dr. Briggs, doesn’t seem intimidated by the blond giant’s glower.

“Yes, you are. This is my treatment area, and to give your sister proper care, I need you all out of my way.” As Abram moves to argue, Dr. Briggs holds up a staying hand. “I’m not heartless. Miss Gunner can choose one of you to stay with her if she wants a companion.”

“I’ll stay.” Her oldest brother says the words faster than I can think them.

Just as I’m about to step into his space, Zoey slides her hand back into mine.

“Abram,” she says, gaining his attention immediately, “I appreciate the offer, but you’re getting too intense. You’re making me nervous. Warner is going to stay with me.”

A prideful warmth fills my chest.

Of course, Abram doesn’t simply accept that.

“ I’m intense? That guy came in here, ready to murder.” Abram points at me.

He’s not wrong.

Zoey frowns at her brother, then turns back to me. “Warner, would you mind sitting in that chair?” She tilts her head toward a seat next to the bed. Since it’s too far away from her for me to keep ahold of her hand, I press a kiss to her thankfully cut-free palm before doing as I was told. Zoey smiles at me, then gives her brother a more rueful version of the expression.

“I’ve asked all of you to chill out and sit down since we got here. Thank you for acting the hero, but right now, I just need to be the one in charge of me.”

Abram stares between the two of us before releasing a frustrated but resigned sigh. “We’ll be right outside those doors.”

“I know you will.”

The brothers file out, all of them throwing glances back at their sister. Each one looks equally concerned, which makes it impossible to tell who might have hurt her.

Once it’s just the three of us left, the doctor proceeds to disinfect her cuts. Zoey’s lips press tight, going white around the edges. She’s in pain, and I don’t want to add to her discomfort, but not knowing what really happened is making my wolf turn rabid. Helpless anger presses against the edges of my thoughts.

“Zoey?” I move to the edge of my seat, scooting it closer and offering my hand, which she takes with her uninjured one. “Can you please tell me what happened? Saying you fell doesn’t explain all of this.” I gesture to her skin, riddled with cuts, and her limbs that are possibly broken.

Dr. Briggs threads his needle. “You can talk, just try to keep still. This shouldn’t hurt with the numbing agent.”

Zoey gives a nod before refocusing on me. “When I said fell, I didn’t mean I’d tripped.”

The sight of the metal piercing the skin on her neck tries to distract me from her explanation. I remind my wolf that the needle is helping her, just like when she got her arm stitched up.

She continues, unaware of how close I am to losing it, “My brothers were making the cabin feel crowded, so I went out to the tree house. Every time I’ve been up there before, the thing has felt solid. But I guess it is a few decades old. Anyway, I climbed up, and the second I stepped onto the floor, my weight must’ve set it off-balance somehow. The whole thing fell and me along with it.”

“Shit,” I mutter.

That tree house is at least fifteen feet off the ground. Maybe twenty. I was right. She could have died.

With my thoughts threatening to descend into a panic spiral, I’m shocked to hear her light chuckle. When I glance up, Dr. Briggs meets my stare with a confused one of his own as he pauses his stitching.

“How does your head feel, Zoey?” the doctor asks. “Are you dizzy?”

“Oh, no. Sorry. I know this isn’t a laughing moment. It’s only …” She glances at me, biting her lip. Another giggle slips out, and it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. “Warner, you still have glitter in your hair.”

That’s when I know, without a doubt …

Zoey Gunner is my future.