Page 14 of Daisy

"Walk away," the stranger said to the alpha on the ground. His voice was calm, conversational. "Now."

The alpha scrambled to his feet and ran.

The stranger turned to me, and I got my first good look at his face. High cheekbones, a scar through his left eyebrow, and those amber eyes that seemed to see straight through me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." I swallowed hard. "Thank you."

He nodded once, like it was nothing. Like he made a habit of appearing out of nowhere to save strangers from drunk alphas.

That's when I noticed the blood.

It wasn't just on his knuckles. His shirt was torn and stained, and he was favoring his left side like his ribs were hurt.

"You're bleeding," I said.

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing." I stepped closer, my instincts overriding my fear. "You're hurt. Let me?—"

"I'm fine." But his voice was tight with pain, and when he tried to walk away, he stumbled slightly.

"No, you're not." I caught his arm. "Come on. I live two blocks from here. Let me clean those cuts."

For a moment, I thought he'd refuse. Pull away and disappear back into whatever darkness had produced him. But then he looked at me with those impossible amber eyes, and something shifted.

"Okay," he said quietly.

My apartment was small, cramped, filled with books and not much else. But it was clean and safe, and I had a first aidkit under the bathroom sink thanks to years of paranoia after Ryan died.

The stranger—Cassian, he told me when I asked—sat on my couch and let me clean the cuts on his knuckles and check his ribs for breaks. He didn't talk much, just watched me work with an intensity that should have been uncomfortable.

"What happened to you?" I asked as I bandaged a particularly deep cut.

"Fight," he said simply.

"Over what?"

He was quiet for so long I thought he wouldn't answer. "Money. Food. Place to sleep tonight."

My heart clenched. "You don't have anywhere to go?"

"I'll figure something out." He started to stand. "Thanks for patching me up."

"Wait." The word came out before I could stop it. "You could... you could stay here. Tonight. Just until morning."

Cassian stared at me like I'd offered him the moon. "You don't know me."

"I know you saved me from that alpha. I know you're hurt and have nowhere to sleep." I met his eyes. "That's enough."

He stayed. Slept on my couch, was gone before I woke up the next morning. I thought that was the end of it.

But the next night, when I left the library, he was there. Waiting across the street like a shadow given form.

"What are you doing here?" I called.

"Making sure you get home safe," he called back.