Page 79 of My Solemn Vow

When I preheat the oven to the correct temperature, I see why he wanted to deal with the bread. My hand is covered in drying blood. But it’s not only my hand. It’s all the way up my arm.

Valor spins me back to face him, and it shakes me out of staring at my appendage. “You were magnificent. Go get cleaned up. I can take care of this.”

The gentle touch of his lips on my forehead is unexpected and sends warmth through my body, and for a moment, I let myself want more.

35

VALOR

MY WIFE, MY DAUGHTER, MY FAMILY

I wash my hands and stare at the loaf of bread. When I poked it, the indent bounced back, and after looking it up on the internet, I know it needs more time.

But standing here, watching the bread rise, my brain runs on overtime, replaying the moment of Antonella’s shame from what Marc did to her.

The way she clenched her eyes closed, then turned her head away. It wasn’t until that quarter turn, when she faced away from me, that her shoulders rose and fell with what seemed like sobs. Ones I don’t even think she was aware of.

She didn’t wipe tears off her face. It was like she had been so lost in her head about it.

Our mate was wounded, and now we will make them pay. All of them.My wolf and I agree.

There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to leave that alone. I need to, at the very least, make sure it’s not out on the internet. I may never be able to trace it if it was sent from user to user, but if it’s out there for the world to see, it needs to come down at all costs.

My chest swells with pride as I recall the power she packed behind each punch.

Our mate is strong.My wolf pushes.

I haven’t even corrected him that she isn’t. Anyone would be proud to have a woman that strong. I’m married to her. She gets to be mine.

Gavin doesn’t keep his fuckin’ mouth shut when it comes to things like this. He’ll tell people she helped me with a piece of shit in my chair. He won’t disclose who it was or why he was there, but Gavin will absolutely tell them how she snapped and had to be restrained.

They’ll respect her. It’ll prove how right we are. How right she is for the pack.My wolf pictures us standing together before the pack and her acceptance into it.All she needs is a wolf.

A pit of dread sinks in my stomach. I showed her way too much wolf today, and I’m... it... Showing her has to happen sooner or later. I’ll have to show her and then tell her that I have to give her a wolf.

I’m not squeamish. I just filleted someone’s leg. But thinking of telling her makes me sick to my stomach. It makes me curl my toes in my shoes and grip the counter.

The timer beeps on my phone, and I’m quick to turn it off. Sometime, while I was lost in my head, the bread rose higher. I test it before following Antonella’s instructions and double-checking the internet. After setting another timer, I look at the message on my phone from Royal.

It’s a bunch of pictures of Kerrianne playing with robot controllers, shaking someone’s hand, and another of her face in an astronaut cutout.

I smile before heading upstairs to the bedroom.

Antonella is quiet but not frozen. She goes through the motions of showering, maybe scrubbing her skin a little too hard, but not dwelling on it. And by the time I step under thewater, she’s ready to step out. I want to stop her and keep her with me, but I don’t.

The little touches we share light fires in me, and I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to quell them. I won’t push her, especially knowing that she’s been violated like that. Marc may not have touched her body without consent, but that doesn’t mean I can.

She’s in clean lounging clothes when I step out but is sitting on the vanity rather than having left the room.

Antonella whispers, “Thank you for not letting him live.”

“No one hurts what’s mine and gets to survive. My wife, my daughter, my family. You’re all off limits.”

36

VALOR

A GROWING PUP