Page 19 of The Broken Wolf's Redemption

Most people came in shades of gray. They weren’t two dimensional. They were complex and ever changing. Seren? She was one dimensional in that way that she was all good. Pure.

She turned around when she reached the door and stared down at the car. He looked up at her and their gazes clashed. It seemed like she was searching him, staring a hole straight through him, trying to see through clothing, bones, skin, muscle, to the heart beneath.

What made it so black? What made you so damaged? Why do you want me if you swore you’d never have another mate. Why do you want to own me? Why do you want to make me yours?

He broke first, tearing his eyes back to the phone. He’d left it so long in silence that the answering machine disconnected the call.

She couldn’t have possibly been asking him any of that. Those were only his own questions bouncing around inside a skull addled by nasty painkillers.

Through the pain, which was coming on strong now, and through the nausea and the haze and the weird stiffness in his fingers, through the black at the edges of his vision, he dialed the shop’s number again, and this time left what he hoped was a coherent message.

He might be an impenetrable force, the villain in everyone’s story, the bastard that just kept going and going, forging on and surviving, but he was tired. He was messed up. He just needed to close his eyes. Just for a minute. Thinking about being so near to his family and his pack lands, so near to the place Lila’s body had been found, it was exhausting.

When he closed his eyes, he focused on the pain, and since the drugs were wearing off, there was more than enough of it to keep him company until the blackness took over. He’d had no intention of letting it win, but Seren knew the way.

He was either delusional or it was still the drugs, but he found that he trusted her with Waverly.

He trusted her with his life.

Chapter 7

Seren

Rome’s family didn’t look the least bit like him. With the exception of Brooke’s daughter, Zora, who had married into the family, they all had the same striking white-blonde hair. Although, Rome’s mother’s could have been a different color at one time. Now it was silvery white with age. Rome’s younger brother, Kieran, alpha of the Nightfall Pack, and his two sisters, Briar May and Prairie Rose, looked so similar they might have been triplets.

About half an hour after they’d arrived, likely because Brooke had called them, Rome’s family spilled through the cabin door. After introducing themselves to her and Waverly, Kieran explained that there were a lot of them, brothers and sisters and pack mates, but they didn’t want to overwhelm the small cottage, so they’d come in shifts.

It had taken them just over four hours to get from Rome’s condo to Brooke Wind’s doorstep. By then, the night had been reduced to pitch. At the sweep of her headlights, a tiny woman who might be ancient or might be not so ancient, it was nearly impossible to tell, had thrown open her door. She didn’t seem surprised to see them, and when she noticed the extent of Rome’s injuries, all she’d done was click her tongue.

She was probably a witch.

It was a rude thing to ask someone pointblank, so Seren hadn’t.

She’d thought that one day, having Rome on his knees, at her advantage, would be the sweetest payback. She hadn’t liked playing hardball at the hospital, pretending to be mean when inside she was screaming and crying and just wanted to hug him because didn’t hugs fix things and make people feel better?

It turned out that being the able bodied one in control sucked, but it was better after she didn’t have to worry about finding the way and getting hopelessly lost, Rome and Waverly both depending on her in their own ways. It was better with Rome’s brother and sisters, his sister-in-law, and his parents there to tell her and Waverly repeatedly, in different ways, that everything would be okay.

While Brooke worked on Rome in the back room, Seren had sat with Waverly. It was way past her bedtime, and she was overtired, so there was no chance of her sleeping. Seren didn’t even suggest it. Not when she was worried about her papa. She’d need to see him resting peacefully when it was all over before she slept. Where, Seren wasn’t sure. The cottage was so small it appeared it only had a living room, kitchen, and a back room. Brooke’s bedroom was likely somewhere, but that seemed to be it from what she’d seen earlier.

Outside, there was a small shed. The yard itself appeared vast, with many different carefully tended gardens, surrounded by woods.

Zora was at home in the cottage, and she’d made them all cups of tea and mugs of coffee. Now, they were crowded into the small room. She was squashed on the couch beside Rome’s two sisters, Waverly on her lap, while Kieran paced the room and Rome’s parents sat in the upholstered vintage armchairs.

The whole thing felt very much like a Victorian era parlor meeting.

In a very tiny parlor out in the middle of nowhere with night sounds creaking and groaning and hooting all around them.

Waverly kept fidgeting, which ground her bones into Seren’s legs.

She very much wished Zora would come back. She’d gone in to help her mom since she’d been well trained. The rest of them waited in agonizing silence. She got that no one knew what to say. Their anxiety over their son and brother was palpable. They had no idea who she was. Had they even met Waverly before? By the way the little girl clung to her, she wasn’t sure they had.

No one scowled at her for being an outsider. They didn’t make her afraid or unwelcome. They were all just in their own headspace at the moment, and she could respect that, no matter how it made her chest feel like it was caving in.

It was a tremendous relief when Zora swept back into the room fifteen minutes later, a weary smile on her face.

“The leg is set, and the shoulder has been put back into place. Mom checked him over for any other wounds, but it’s mostly road rash. The hospital did give him morphine, at least as best as she can figure, but it’s mostly worn off now. He’s in a lot of pain, but we’re going to make him some herbs that will help him sleep through the night. We don’t do casting since shifters heal so fast, but he needs to stay very still for the next few days. Not something he’ll like to do.” She walked over and knelt down in front of Waverly. “It’s a very good thing that you’re here to keep Ro—your dad entertained. He’ll know you’re safe since you’re with us here, so he won’t worry.”

“We all know that Rome will be up and trying to fight the minute his eyes pop open.” Brooke stopped in the hall on her way to make up the potion.

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