Page 48 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

“Thank you for the soul-burning shot. May I have another, please?” Talking hurt less than it had but was still tender.

He chuckled and helped me back into bed.

“Bennett hadn’t exaggerated your sense of humor.”

I frowned at the doctor. “He talked to you about me?”

He smiled. It was a nice smile, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. He looked tired. Not sleepy tired, but life tired.

“We went to school together. Bennett, Konni, and me. My name’s Giovanni. You can call me Gio. Now, let’s get your vitals so I can report back to your mate.”

“Potential mate.”

He made a noncommittal sound as he used a light to check my eyes. He checked my throat, told me to try to rest it for the next few days, confirmed I’d bruised my jawbone, and was feeling my back when Bennett rushed into the room.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at Gio.

“Doctoring, Bennett. That’s all,” Gio said.

Bennett’s gaze shifted to mine. I saw worry and raw fear there and wanted to look away, but I knew that’d only make things worse. His hands were shaking, and his hair looked messily styled, which I knew meant he’d been running his hands through it. Blood dotted the collar of his shirt.

“Is that my blood or the other guy’s?” I asked.

“The other guy’s,” Bennett said roughly.

Gio pulled the back of my shirt down.

“She said her back hurt. The bruises aren’t deep, and nothing seems broken. If you want, we can do some X-rays.”

Bennett’s gaze stayed on me.

“Your choice,” he said.

I shook my head. “Not much can be done for a fractured rib anyway.”

“Odd thing for someone your age to know,” Gio said.

I glanced at him. “The school I went to, though, is known for its great education.”

“They offer medical courses now?”

“No.”

He frowned and glanced at Bennett.

“I’ll leave you two to talk and get the discharge papers ready.”

“Thank you, Gio,” Bennett said as the doctor left.

Alone, we stared at one another.

“I’ll go first,” I said when the silence stretched. “I don’t blame you for anything that happened last night. If you try continuing anything that I started when I wasn’t in my right mind, I will, though.”

He tucked his hands into his pockets and nodded once.

“Mom said you know who drugged you and paid the man to attack you.”

“I do. Don’t you want to ask if I know the guy?”

Surprise shifted over his expression before his mask slipped into place.

“I’m sorry. I assumed you didn’t. Do you know him?”

“No. I just wanted to know if Lindi's comments made you doubt me. What took you so long?”

He briefly closed his eyes, his expression pained, before he hid that away.

“Lindi.”

He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t need to. I knew how she worked. Yet, he hadn’t stayed with her. He hadn’t believed a word she’d said. He’d believed me. He’d stayed with me.

I’d always heard that mates were protective of each other, but it was the first time I’d felt it.

“What would you do if I gave you the name of the person who drugged me?”

He opened his eyes, and the intensity of his gaze made me hopeful for the revenge I might finally get.

“Anything you want me to do,” he said.

I smiled and drew my knees up to my chest under the hospital gown. “I like that answer.”

He slowly approached the bed and sat in Mom’s chair.

“Will you tell me?”

“Will you promise not to do anything, no matter how small, without my approval first?”

He leaned forward, leaning his arms on his knees.

“I promise.”

“What pictures did Lindi show you?”

He got out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and handed it to me.

I saw the texts from her. Simpering. Flirtatious. Finally, the pictures that the guys she’d paid to beat me up had taken with me. Their faces were cut off in each one. But not the rest of them.

The sight of the dick too close to my bloody face repulsed me, and I gave the phone back to Bennett.

“What was the story she gave?”

“Are the pictures real?” he asked.

“They are.”

Bennett looked down at the floor as his chair started to make clicking sounds due to the tremors running through his body.

“His dick didn’t stay there for long,” I said.

“I was winded from running, fell, and pretended to be unconscious while they took the pictures. When I knew what they meant to do, I stopped pretending. I grabbed that bottle next to me on the ground—you can see it in the picture—broke it, and made them bleed before running again.”

I grabbed my cup to take a drink to soothe my throat.

“When did that happen?”

“End of sophmore year.”

“No one said you were hurt.”

“No one knew. The makeup Mom gave me that month went to good use.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face.

“ I sent the makeup, Wrenly. Me. And the purses. And the clothes. I was so…oblivious. I thought you were thriving. Happy. What really happened? Where did all the things I sent go? Who hurt you enough that you know about broken ribs?”

“One thing at a time,” I said. “Let’s deal with last night first, okay?”

His shaking only got worse, though. I took another drink.

“The internet told me about the ribs. I thought one was broken at one point after a bad fall. It wasn’t, but I learned things. I learned a lot there, Bennett. Stuff that’s made me who I am. Now, if you want to know who’s responsible for what happened last night, you need to take a few breaths.”

Once he stopped shaking, I said, “Lindi arranged it. I don’t have the proof. But I think we can get it. She’s probably already wiped the surveillance footage and paid off the waiter who gave me the champagne. But you have more money and can smell a lie. Talk to the waiter.”

“What do you plan to do with the proof?” Bennett asked. “Drugging you probably won’t get her more than a year of jail time.”

“Even two days in jail are enough to ruin her reputation. That’s good enough for me.”

“Will it stop her from coming after you again?” he asked.

I considered what he was saying and shook my head.

“Did she hurt you in school?”

“Yes, Bennett,” I said in frustration. “She hurt me. Again and again and again. Directly and indirectly. Do you feel better having a name? I hope you sleep like an angel tonight.”

He closed his eyes.

“I won’t sleep until she’s completely destroyed. Since drugging isn’t enough, is there anything else we can get her for…legally?”

My annoyance evaporated. “Legally? Are there illegal ways to get her?”

“I’m not sure how to feel about the excitement in your scent at the prospect of doing illegal things.”

“Go with gratitude. What are the illegal options?”

He opened his eyes and looked at me.

“I meant, if there aren’t things that might put her away for the rest of her life, then we can do things that don’t involve the police, like putting pressure on her family’s business until they cut her off. Until she’s in a position to suffer some of the hardships you’ve suffered.”

My mind went to all of the things she’d done to me over the years. Things Bennett would go to jail for if he did them. He was a pain in my ass, but I didn’t want him to go to jail.

“She doesn’t need to suffer all of them,” I said after a moment. “She just needs to lose all the power and influence she loves abusing so that it’s harder for her to make anyone else suffer in the future.”

“I’ll make it happen. Will you trust me with the details? I’d rather you didn’t know everything. Plausible deniability.”

“As long as everything you do is within the law, you don’t have to tell me how you take away her power, influence, and money. Just tell me when it’s done.”

“Deal.”

His expression shifted, filling with guilt.

“Will forgiving me ever be possible?”

The question surprised me because he wasn’t asking for forgiveness or how to make up for what happened. Did he finally realize the depth in which he’d hurt me? Why did that make my heart hurt?

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Even if you don’t, will you tell me everything someday? When you’re ready?”

“Telling you would only hurt you. Why should we both suffer?”

“That’s what mates do. They shoulder life’s burdens together. Always.”

“But I’m not your mate.”

“Since I’m the cause of your burden, shouldn’t I be responsible for sharing it with you?”

This less demanding version of Bennett was nice. And dangerous.

“Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

He glanced down at his clasped hands.

“I want to hold you and comfort you so badly, Wrenly, and it kills me that you don’t find comfort in being held.”

“I do find comfort in hugs and being held, just not every hug or hold. Especially when I don’t trust the meaning behind them.”

His gaze flew to mine. “Comfort only. Nothing else.”

My heart skipped a beat as I saw the need and hope in his gaze as he waited for my answer.

“Since you made my chin feel better, I’ll allow a brief hug,” I said.

He had me on his lap and wrapped in his embrace a second later, somehow not tugging on the I.V. in my hand. His slow inhale while his face was buried in the crook of my neck and the slight shiver oddly relaxed me.

“Better?” I asked.

“I should be asking you that.”

“We both know this hug is more for you than me. I’m fine.”

“You’re not. Konni said you knew you were going to get hurt last night. And I don’t think it was premonition but experience that gave you that level of insight.” His hold tightened. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You would have focused on the wrong thing, like you always do. ‘Give me a name, Wrenly.’ You’re desperate to cast blame and right the wrongs.”

“What should I do instead?”

“Ask why. Why does someone hate me enough to hurt me?”

“Okay. Why does someone hate you enough to hurt you?”

“Because everyone thinks I’m not worthy to be a part of the Wulf family.

Everyone except you and the other family members.

You have no idea what kind of target has been on my back since the day Mom brought me home…

because of you. You want to beat everyone down for their jealousy and hate, but you’re not addressing the real issue. ”

“What’s the real issue?”

“Their perception of the Wulf family and their perception of me in it. You’re not blind, Bennett.

You saw how often the pack girls bullied me when I was growing up.

All the scrapes and scratches that were written off as shifters learning not to be too rough with a human.

Instead of claws that leave marks, I got hair pulling and tripping.

I get pinned against a bathroom door or held to the wall by the throat.

I will never measure up to you in the pack’s eyes or elite society’s eyes.

Ever. Why do you think I want to attend a school where the Wulf name isn’t known?

I’m tired of fighting, Bennett. I want to be able to let my guard down and not wake up with my heart racing and my fists ready anymore. ”

Pulling back, I met his frustrated gaze.

“I know my worth. I’m amazing. My resilience and grades prove it.

What I’m saying isn’t self-pity. It’s just reality.

And I know you want to deny it. But before you do, use your eyes.

Pay attention to how people look at me when they think no one is watching.

Listen to the whispers. Put your view of me aside and see me through an outsider's eyes, not to change your opinion but to open your understanding of what I’ve been facing. Okay?”

He nodded, kissed my forehead, and pulled me back into his hug.

I melted into it, letting him comfort me like he wanted.

A few minutes later, I heard the door open.

“Please tell me she wasn’t drugged again,” Konni said.

I rolled my eyes at him without lifting my head.

“Your timing is perfect,” Bennett said. “There’s something I’m going to need your help with.”