Page 27 of Protected By the Wolf

He jerked, eyes wide with shock and relief. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been filled with a ton of rocks and am swimming through the ocean toward land.”

He blinked. “That’s very descriptive.”

“Well, try waking up from that exact image and then feeling it for real.” I tried to sit up but fell backward before I could even bend at my waist.

Jacob put a hand on my chest, pressing me into the mattress. “Just relax, your body has been through a lot.”

“All thanks to that Suzy girl. I was eating at Rosey’s, and she came up to apologize for the way she treated Millie and me the day before. Said I got a free meal.” I groaned as I remembered I had ended up in the alley with a stomachache and couldn’t remember much else. “She did something to me.”

“You mentioned she told you where Millie and I were. Do you remember anything more about your conversation with her?”

“She put something in my drink at Rosey’s. Mentioned you were going to propose.”

“Propose?” Jacob said. “Millie doesn’t even know I’m her fated mate, much less is she ready for a marriage proposal.”

I shook my head. Why did I think I could trust Suzy?

Jacob slammed his fist into his leg. “Suzy has caused nothing but trouble for years.” He looked back at me and must have seen how startled I was. “Sorry. Everything is okay. Miti said she flushed whatever Suzy gave you from your system. Do you still feel unhinged?”

I wiggled my fingers and toes. “No, I actually feel myself again.” A big grin split across my face.

Jacob sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. I’ll go tell Miti her cure has worked.”

Before Jacob could leave, I grabbed his sleeve. “What happened? Why am I here?”

“It wasn’t pretty. I don’t think I should?—”

“Tell me, Jacob!”

He sighed. “You attacked me at the ice rink. Millie was there.”

It was like Jacob had poured freezing cold water through my veins. That couldn’t possibly be what happened. I would never attack Jacob in public, even if we were battling for our mate. “What happened to Millie? You told me you wanted me to back off, but I also remember calling Millie this morning. We had a deep conversation about our future.” Jacob was silent, mulling over what I’d told him, and in the silence, I felt a dark thought settle inside me. “If Millie was with you but she answered my call, do you think she’s playing both of us?”I asked my brother quietly.

I could see Jacob working through what I had said and added, “We should pay Millie a visit.” I tried to sit up again.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Miti said, suddenly coming into the room with a big bottle of liquid. “Drink this so you can go back to sleep. Your body needs a lot more rest.”

“Miti, I’m fine!” I said, but seeing the look on her face and knowing it was useless, I obediently chugged the whole bottle down. “I need to go see—” Next thing I knew, everything went black. The last thought I had was, Curse you, Miti!

Lira

“Wake up sleepyhead,” I heard Millie say next to me in bed.

“Good morning to you too,” I said, giving her a shove. “Why are you waking me up so early?”

“It’s already noon. I’m going to go make lunch.”

I put a hand on her arm. “You going to tell me what happened last night first?”

Millie froze in the act of standing up. “No, I’m not sure where to even start.”

I gave a slight groan and opened my mouth to argue, but she cut me off, telling me that she wasn’t ready to say anything.

I immediately backed off. “No, it’s okay. You don’t need to tell me yet, but I do want to know. It’s just . . .” I rubbed my hands across my face. “It’s Bruno. He called me yesterday, and we had a really good conversation. But he hasn’t answered any of my calls since.”

There was a beat of silence, then Millie said, “Jill and Becca are on their way. They’ll be here in an hour.”

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