Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I jolted, but she held me tight.
“Two, he will always be your sounding board,” she said softly. “He’s the rock that you’ll crash against, the meadow you’ll relax in, the wind that pushes you along. But please remember that he feels things as deeply as you do, and be careful which words you use when you’re hurt or angry.”
Shame made my throat tight.
“And last,” she said with a sigh. “You were incredibly brave.”
I tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t let me go.
“You may have been scared—I was too—but I’m so glad you were there next to me. We wouldn’t have made it without you, Lucy. You held them off until the boys got back.”
“So did you.”
“I did,” she agreed. “But without you, they would’ve overpowered us. It’s not an opinion. It’s a fact.”
“Can you remember those three things?” she asked, pulling away to look at my face.
“I’ll try.”
“Good.” She reached up and wiped the tears from my cheeks with her thumbs. “Charlie’s agreed to call me Mom, so you will too.”
I snorted.
“Hey, you didn’t make me that offer,” Reese complained from somewhere behind me.
I turned to find her and Beau standing at the entrance to the kitchen. A few feet away, Alice leaned on the doorframe leading into the hospital room.
“Of course, the offer is for you too,” Matilda replied with a smile.
“Good,” Reese said firmly. She looked at me. “I feel it all too,” she said sympathetically. “I just prefer to yell at Beau in our rooms.”
I nodded and glanced over at the table. Ambrose was sitting in one of the chairs, his elbows on his knees, head in his hands.
Agony was in every line of his body.
I’d wounded him. Remorse hit me like a slap in the face.
I was angry at what had happened. It wasn’t fair. I’d spent my entire life fighting. When did I get a break? I was so tired.
But what I’d ignored during my outburst was that I wasn’t even mad at Ambrose.
I knew, deep in my bones, that he would never let anything happen to me if he could help it.
He’d die for me without hesitation.
The same way Zeke had gone back into the viper’s nest to keep Charlie safe.
The same way I’d looked at the front door that night and known that I had to protect that entrance, even though I’d probably die in the process.
Ambrose and I were the same. A matched set.
I moved toward him and slid my hands into his hair.
Without hesitation, his arms encircled my hips, and he rested his face against my stomach.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was,” he argued, kissing me through my T-shirt. “But I swear it’ll never happen again.”
“We’ll stop them,” I said, tipping his head back.
“Fuck yeah, we will,” Chance said as he strode into the kitchen. “You’re done yelling now, right?”
I opened my mouth to say something when he hummed and wagged his finger at me. “I saved your life, so you have to be nice to me.”
I gawped at him.
“Unfortunately true,” Ambrose said as he rose to his feet. “He put pressure on your thigh until Alice could help you.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked in confusion.
“I was too busy carrying you out of the pile of bodies.” He winced as he realized what he’d said.
I tried to remember those moments, but it was just a blank spot in my memory.
“You were out of it,” Chance said, stuffing a piece of bread into his mouth. Pesto dropped down his chin. “Don’t worry, I won’t ever touch you when you’re conscious.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to realize—
“You know what I meant,” he snapped uncomfortably.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. He’d walked right into that one himself.
“Food,” Ambrose ordered quietly.
I tipped my head back to look at him, and he immediately dropped a soft kiss on my lips. “Never again. I promise.”
I nodded.
Alice had disappeared into the room with her mate again, but I thought about her as the rest of us sat down around the table to eat. She had to have known that the sedation hadn’t stopped the heat. She’d been monitoring us the entire time. So why hadn’t she called the men back? Had she understood the look I’d sent her? Had she known that I wouldn’t have wanted her to call Ambrose back, no matter how bad it got? Maybe it wasn’t as simple as that. Maybe she’d just made the decision alone, knowing that they had a better chance of coming back safely if Ambrose and Beau stayed with the group.
I didn’t think I’d ever ask her. What was done was done, and she was paying for it, anyway. Her mate still hadn’t woken up.
I looked around the table. Someone was missing.
“Wait, where’s Danny?”
Chapter 14
Ambrose
“When I suggested staying in bed for days, this wasn’t exactly what I meant,” I grumbled.