Page 27 of The Enemy to the Living (The Wild Hunt #2)

I lie there for a while still, the air growing cooler around me.

My senses are already a little sharper, the scratches on my body slowly healing.

Every time a worry rises, every time my mind slips, trying to replay the way I yelled at Drew or the deal I struck with the twins or the vampire I killed or my parents—I push it away and let my mind float, lost in the moment.

I come back to myself only when I hear soft footsteps on the grass. Breathe in, breathe out. I know who it is before he even lies down next to me.

“I didn’t see you come out,” Asher says. “I was waiting.” His hand rests next to mine, the space between our fingers warm.

“Went out the back.”

“You didn’t want to see me?”

I reach for his hand instead of replying. I didn’t, maybe, but I’m glad he’s here. He grips my hand like it’s a lifeline and when I roll over onto my side, not opening my eyes, Asher just wraps his other arm around me and holds me close.

“How did it go tonight?” he asks, then huffs a faint laugh. “No, I know. Seems better than last time, though.”

I hum in agreement and press my face against his throat.

He goes tense for a second before he relaxes, still holding me tight. “Good. That’s good.”

“Did you… Did everything go okay with you?”

“Hm? I think so.” Asher sweeps a hand up and down my back and that sore spot I felt earlier in my chest pulses. I shuffle a little closer. “Still got a ways to go. Then all we have to do is work on getting your wolf back. I know I said I’d help with that. I’m sorry I haven’t.”

“It’s okay. You’re busy.”

Asher makes a quiet sound, but he doesn’t seem bothered about talking more, and neither am I. I want to kiss him again, see if he’ll kiss me back, but I’m also comfortable, even if we’re lying in the grass. I don’t want to move. I just want to enjoy this moment.

It’s broken when my phone rings. It buzzes against my hip and Asher laughs, hand sliding down my ribs and to the waistband of my joggers. I don’t feel any pain at all—the scratches are already gone.

“Fuck,” I mutter. All the worries I’d pushed away come storming back as one. “ Fuck .”

Asher presses a kiss to the top of my head. “It’s okay. See who it is.”

My heart stops when I take my phone out of my pocket.

It’s Kieran.

I sit up, and Asher follows me, frowning when he studies my face. “If you don’t want to answer—”

“No, I-I have to.”

He wouldn’t call to throw me out of his pack, would he? I know what I said about him, but—

I missed him too, after he left. I’m sure he never spared a thought for me, but he was always cool to hang out with when Drew and I were kids.

And I was—sometimes still am—so, so jealous of the bond he and Drew shared.

I know it wasn’t always sunshine and roses, but I don’t want the harsh words I threw at Drew to be all they think of me now.

I answer just before it goes to voicemail. “H-hello?”

“Quinn? Quinn! Thank fuck, where are you?”

“Out.”

“Yeah, no, I know, I know. Are you all right? Safe?”

I hear voices in the background, a panicked murmur. One sounds like Drew, and I shy away from the sound. Asher is still holding me. His chest is solid when I lean against it.

“I’m safe.”

“Look, I-I don’t know what’s going on with you, okay, but I need to be sure you’re safe. You heard about the wolf that was dropped off at Deacon’s pack house? Bryn?”

I swallow around the sudden lump in my throat, stomach twisting. Oh. Oh, no .

“Y-yeah, I did.”

“He died, Quinn. Earlier tonight.”

My lips wobble, tears springing to my eyes. I try to blink them back, but they’re already spilling, and I know if I make a sound, I’ll give myself away. As far as Kieran knows, I never met Bryn.

But I did. I liked him. He looked out for me.

And I watched them hurt him. I saw them kill him.

Asher holds me against him and gently pries the phone from my grasp. Kieran’s saying something—my name, I think—but I can’t focus on that at all.

“Kieran? It’s Asher.”

I jerk my head up, but Asher shakes his own. He keeps the phone close so I can hear Kieran still, and I press my hand to my mouth in an attempt to stifle a sob.

“What are you doing with him?”

“Don’t worry about that. What’s going on there?”

“I’m calling everyone back. We don’t know how this wolf was taken. It’s not safe.”

Asher looks at me. I shake my head. I can’t go back. I can’t .

“I’ll bring him back as soon as I can.”

“Asher!” Kieran’s voice holds the edge of a growl and I shrink further into Asher’s arms.

There’s another murmur, this one with low, soothing tones. Lucien, I think. Kieran says something I can’t hear, and then he’s back at the phone again.

“Fine,” he says sullenly. “I already got your number from Deacon. If I call, you pick up, understand?”

Asher nods, the corner of his mouth quirking ever so slightly. “Got it, alpha.”

“Take care of him, Asher. I don’t give a flying fuck about the Hunt. He’s your priority.”

“I know.”

Kieran huffs but says goodbye to both of us before he hangs up.

Asher puts my phone in his pocket and holds me more tightly against him.

I’m still crying—have been the entire time he had my phone—but now the sobs break free in earnest, wracking my entire body.

Asher cradles the back of my head. He doesn’t speak, and he doesn’t get impatient.

He just holds me and waits, letting me know he’s there.

After a while, the tears stop. Maybe I’m all out of them. Asher runs his fingers through my hair and makes a gentle, soothing sound.

“Let me know when you’re ready to stand,” he murmurs. Light is beginning to creep into the sky, and I hiccup another sob. How long have we been here?

“I don’t want to go back there.”

“Okay. Do you want to go to mine?”

I nod. He kisses the top of my head again and squeezes me gently.

“All right, we’ll go there. I’ll make you a hot drink, and you can shower. You can go to sleep for a while.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“Of course I will.”

I shake all over, holding him a little tighter. Asher doesn’t let go. He waits until I’m ready to stand, then leads me out of the park.

“I’m gonna get us a taxi, okay?” he murmurs. He’s still keeping me close, and when I look at him, I don’t know if it’s more for my benefit or his. He looks wrung-out, too.

“Yeah.” I watch him order it and cling to his hand. “Did you know Bryn?”

“I went to see him after it happened,” Asher murmurs. A shadow crosses his face. “I’ve never seen a wolf like that before. It felt—”

“What?”

“Unnatural.” He shivers and looks away from me. “Afterwards, I kept thinking that’ll be me one day.”

I tighten my grip on his hand. “It won’t.”

“It will. Not soon, I hope, but it will. If the Huntsman—” He swallows the rest of what he wants to say and shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry about your friend.”

I sniff. I can’t talk about what happened in that room. “It feels like it was my fault.”

Asher takes hold of my face, tipping it up so I’m looking at him. “It wasn’t . I promise you, Quinn, it wasn’t your fault. Whatever deal Bryn made, he made it. And the fae who tricked him—that was what they planned to do. You had no way of knowing and no way to help him.”

“I just—all of it—”

“Quinn.” Asher sounds hurt. No, devastated. “I mean it.”

I know he does. I know it. And truth be told, that knowledge eases my worries the tiniest amount.

“You don’t ever have to go back there if you don’t want to,” Asher murmurs as the taxi pulls up.

I stare up at him. He means that, too. I let him usher me into the back of the car, and when I rest my head on his shoulder, he holds me tighter still.