Page 57 of Daisy

"August," I whisper, embarrassed but still smiling.

"What? I'm just saying, you've got good taste." His voice is warm with affection. "Hawk's going to be over the moon when he finds out he made such an impression."

The thought makes my stomach flutter with something that might be excitement instead of fear.

I settle back into my pillow, still smiling in the darkness. This feeling. Talking openly, laughing, even thinking about someone I might want, it's all so new. So different from the life I knew before.

Who I am when no one's telling me who to be.

Maybe I don't have to be perfect all the time.

"Get some sleep," August murmurs softly. "Sweet dreams, Daisy."

I close my eyes, but rest feels impossible. My body still hums with new awareness, with the memory of pleasure and the lingering knowledge that somewhere through that wall, there are people who might actually care about me.

And for the first time in my life, that doesn't just terrify me.

It makes me curious.

Chapter 17

Cassian

The highway's a blur.

My hands grip the wheel too tight. Knuckles white. August keeps reaching for the radio, then stopping. Like he knows nothing's gonna sound right when we're driving back into hell.

Six hours on the road already. Left at dawn. Won't get back until after midnight if we're lucky. Six hours of her scent still stuck to my clothes, making my head fuzzy. Making every alpha instinct I have want to turn around. Get back to her. Make sure she's safe.

"You're going to break the steering wheel," August says softly.

I force my hands to loosen. Don't look at him. Can't. He'll see everything I'm trying not to think about.

"She flinched." The words come out rough. "This morning. When I moved."

August's scent shifts. That warm cedar thing he does when he's thinking, mixed with bergamot that means he's choosing his words careful.

"She's been conditioned to fear alphas," he says quietly.

"Look at me." I finally turn, meet his eyes. "Really look."

He does. Takes in the scars mapping my face. The broken nose. The way violence carved itself into every inch of me.

"I see you," he says. Simple. Like it's easy.

But it's not easy. Not for her.

"I'm exactly what she should be afraid of."

"Bullshit."

August doesn't curse much. When he does, it means something.

"You saved her."

"Hawk saved her. I just... showed up."

"You always show up."