Page 39 of Rescuing Red

He just shook his head and ran a thumb along her cheekbone.

“I’m grateful to have you in my arms. I missed you, my little Red.”

Her eyebrows scrunched together. Even though she loved the words coming out of his mouth, she hated he was hiding something from her. Even their bond felt pinched.

“I missed you too but tell me what’s wrong.”

The alpha who’d led the group cleared his throat.

“We’re in the building over there.”

Blaide looked at where the man pointed before he nodded in response. He tried to turn Liz by her shoulders so she’d walk in front of him, but she dug in her heels.

“Blaide, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, little Red. Let’s go find your nana.”

“No you aren’t. Stop pushing me!”

He stopped moving forward and stood there, looking down at her with a tightness to his face she hadn’t seen before. The scent of his blood smacked her in the face, and she fought the worry gnawing at her stomach.

“You’re hurt, aren’t you? Show me!”

The alpha stopped a few feet in front of them, gave a conciliatory look to Blaide, then opened his mouth a few times before deciding what to say.

“She’s the reason we all got through the gate. She can handle it.”

Then he stalked toward the makeshift hospital without looking back again.

Blaide searched her features before sighing.

“It doesn’t hurt much.”

He framed her face with his massive palms, his gaze digging into hers.

“I’ve had worse. My Red, I can’t handle you falling apart right now. Are you sure you want to look?”

Imagining the worst, Liz wobbled, but she braced her feet shoulder-width apart and nodded. She needed to know how bad it was.

She gasped when he turned to reveal a piece of twisted metal protruding from his upper back. Blood soaked his shirt underneath, but it wasn’t gushing blood, so Liz sucked in a breath and pushed down her panic. There were other holes in his shirt, and his tail was a bit singed, but her gaze remained caught on the worst of the injuries.

“We’re going inside now so the doctor can look at you.”

Not waiting for his response, Liz grabbed his hand and stomped toward the building, failing to prevent the flow of tears as they fell silently down her face.

Chapter 22

Blaide

He breathed a sigh of relief as Liz turned and dragged him toward the makeshift hospital. The chunk of metal lodged in his back hurt, but he was glad she didn’t ask how it’d happened. It was his own dumb fault.

The explosion to bring down the side of the cliff had worked, but it hadn’t taken out as many troops as he’d hoped. He also hadn’t been quite far enough away, and the battery had a bit more power left than he’d expected. If he hadn’t turned when he had, the chunk would have buried itself in his chest, which would have been much worse, possibly even fatal.

Biting back a grunt as he had to duck to enter the building, Blaide met everyone’s cheers with a grin. It looked like everyone from the village had made it in one piece, and that was all that mattered.

Unfortunately, the injury had stunned him long enough for the Krantor soldiers to spot him, and it’d been harder to slow them than he’d thought. He’d doubled back, trying to evade the enemy troops behind him while keeping them chasing himinstead of moving toward the city. Luckily, their laser weapons had malfunctioned in the damp jungle just like his would have, and they’d resorted to more primitive weapons, otherwise the holes peppering his back would have been much worse.

He might not have made it back at all if the Empyre troops hadn’t arrived. Surprised they were already moving beyond the city, he’d let relief flow through him with the realization that they’d broken their normal procedures and hadn’t waited until the consequences of inactivity forced their tactics forward.

---