Page 120 of What a Wolf's Heart Decides

She stared at it, going cross-eyed as her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. “I’m alive,” she said weakly.

Sabine stumbled back. The glass in her hand glowed bright red then vanished in a puff of smoke. The witch yelped.

Haley threw out her arms, blocking Bard’s body. “Stay away from him!”

“Calm yourself, child. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for another. That’s old magic. I can’t touch him now.”

“Oh.” Haley lowered her arms. “Good.”

Sabine gave Haley an assessing look. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Whatever. Haley started to turn, then jerked back around. “What about me? Can you still kill me?”

The witch blinked, her expression slightly nonplussed. “No. I made no bargain with you.” Her gaze slid to Ben, who knelt at his mother’s side and now watched Sabine like he’d enjoy tearing her limb from limb. “Nor the Stalwart.”

“So you only have power over someone when they’ve made a bargain with you?”

Sabine looked uncomfortable, but she nodded. “More or less.”

Haley didn’t waste any time feeling relieved. She pointed at Ben, then jerked a thumb toward Sabine and said, “Don’t kill her yet. We might need her.” Then she spun and dropped to her knees beside Bard, her heart going a million miles a minute. She spoke fast, her words tripping all over each other. “Are you all right? You’ve lost so much blood. We’re taking you to the hospital. I’ll talk to that nurse. What’s her name? Anna? I’ll tell her we don’t want any tests run—”

“Haley.” Bard spoke over her, his voice gentle.

She ignored him. “We’ll put you on Ben’s snowmobile. He’s a Stalwart. He can keep you upright.”

“Haley.”

“We should take your shirt off. I want to bandage the wound.” She reached for his buttons.

“Haley!” He grabbed her hands and held them against his chest. “Stop for a second and look at me.”

She stilled, her heart racing.

He gazed up at her, his good eye full of wonder. “I’m all right. You saved me.”

“I did?”

“The wound is healing. I can feel it.”

Joy surged in her chest. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He reached up and touched her cheek. “You stepped between me and death. How did you know it would work?”

“I didn’t. But I’ve seen a lot of Disney movies.”

Humor lit his gaze. “Haley Michaels,” he murmured. “You would lead a male on a merry chase.”

She smiled. For a second they just grinned at each other, affection swirling between them. Then his smile faded.

“But it can’t be me.”

Her own smile froze. “What?”

“It can’t be me.” His hand fell away from her face. “We can’t be together.”

At first, her brain couldn’t process his words. She stared at him, wondering if she was dreaming. Or perhaps having a nightmare. Somehow, she recovered enough to say, “But you’re okay now. I saved you.”

“In more ways than you know.” He swallowed. “You broke the curse, but I’m still broken.”

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