Page 20 of Wolf

“No.”

“What makes you think you have any right to tell me what to do?” Igrowled.

The second the words left my mouth, my wrist was yanked downward, and a small yelp managed to escape from my mouth as I felt my body fall forward. His hands came up around my sides as he lifted me with ease until I found myself straddling his lap, my lace panties providing barely any protection from the heat of his body warming my coolcheeks.

I looked up to argue, but apparently, his point wasn’t made as his eyes locked onto mine, and suddenly, I felt as if Icouldn’tmove.

“You’re not sleeping alone tonight, Anna,” Wolf said, his brown eyes determined. “Not after what happened to you. And not after what just happened twominutesago.”

“It was just a nightmare, Wolf. I’m not five. I’ll get over it,” I grumbled, my voicesofternow.

“I don’t care.” Wolf wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, its huge size making my spine feel tiny and fragile under his grasp. I tilted my head back to meet his eyes as he lowered his. “You almost died, Anna. Somebody died in front of you. I’m not letting you face thatalone.”

The empathy his voice held drew out the vulnerability I was trying to hide. It made me feel exposed, and my heart swelled with a deep-seated, heavy feeling that kept me pinned tohislap.

I looked into his whiskey-colored eyes, remembering the times when I used to joke that Wolf’s eyes were once a clearer color that had been dyed over the years since he had started taking a bottle of whiskeytobed.

The heat of his hand against my skin felt warmer as the openness in Wolf’s gaze reminded me of the half-finished paw-mark on the back of his neck. I reached up, my hand brushing along his collarbone, following the curves and ridges of his muscles, and his shoulder as I extended back under his long hair until my small fingers brushed over where I knew the tattoo rested. Wolf’s body tensed, but it only lasted a moment before he put his defenses down and his bodyrelaxed.

I ran my fingers along the skin, the tattoo so old it had lost any of the ridges on his skin. I was so lost in the feeling of it that I didn’t notice the soft words slipping from my lips. “What do you dreamof,Wolf?”

“I don’t dream,” Wolf whispered, not surprised or hesitant to answer. “Neverdream.”

I nodded my head, somehow sated by hisanswer.

Wolf lifted his free arm, reached over to where the whiskey sat on the bedside table, and pulled it toward him. He unscrewed the lid, the cap spinning off with expert ease and enough speed to fall from his grip, dropping to the floor and rolling across the wood. I listened to it disappear to a place where we wouldn’t be able to find it. My eyes were mesmerized as he brought the bottle to his lips, his eyes on my face as he tipped it upward, a mouthful of whiskey swallowed before he pulled thebottleaway.

I watched as his tongue slowly collected the moisture left on his lips before it disappeared back inside hismouth.

Without a word, he tilted the bottletowardme.

My hand reached out, my fingers brushing Wolf’s as I brought the bottle to my face. The sharp smell of the whiskey made my heart race as I pressed it to my lips, the glass still warm from Wolf’s touch. He wordlessly watched as I tilted my head back and let the warm liquid rush down my throat, the burn hitting the bottom of my stomach before pooling and spreading across the rest of my body. I didn’t put the bottle down until I needed to surface to breathe, the alcohol hitting mysenseshard.

Wolf took the bottle from my hands and set it back on the bedsidetable.

My face felt warm and my body limp as I let it lean forward, my head fitting in the gap where Wolf’s neck met his shoulder. I sat there for a long time, matching my breathing to his own, feeling the warm alcohol slowly take its desired effect as my drowsiness begantogrow.

At some point, Wolf rolled us both back onto our side, tucking me into the warmth of his chest, his chin resting on the top ofmyhead.

“Wolf?” Iwhispered.

“Yeah?” he grumbled, his own tiredness clear in hisvoice.

“How do youdoit?”

Wolf was quiet for a moment, and had I not been on the verge of falling asleep, I might have thought my question was too vague for someone to understand. But somehow, Wolf knew exactly what I meant, and with a worn, tired voice, he said to me, “You pick your battles. Fight what you can today, and what you can’t, know that you can fight it tomorrow or the next day. Don’t be impatient. Every fight can be won. And you will win one day. Make sure when your time comes, you die a champion. Make sure you never let itbreakyou.”

Every word was so perfectly repeated that I knew they were ones that had been told to him a long time before. And now it was his turn to tell themtome.

I pressed my face deeper into his neck, and in the night, my voice was soft and quiet when I whispered, “Thankyou.”

Then I fell into a peaceful sleep and didn’t stir again untilmorning.

Chapter Seven

Wolf

Rustling wokeme from my sleep as I tightened my arms around the empty space in front of me. I groaned, realizing my grip must have slipped when I finally fell asleep lastnight.

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