Page 67 of Love Bites Extra Hard

Heal.

Recover.

Come back to me.

I hadn’t even fucking told her what she was to me. Would she have made a different choice if I had? Chosen not to risk her life?

Had the choice been hers at all?

Had Stella been so obsessed with taking the fucker down that she asked Avery to risk everything?

I didn’t know.

I couldn’t find out.

Not yet.

Every ounce of energy I had was focused on her.

My mate.

My world.

“I don’t smell any fresh blood,” someone in the room whispered, and I snarled at them.

I wasn’t sure why I was snarling.

I was far more beast than man in the moment.

Everyone fell silent again.

I didn’t even know how many people were in the room. That was a risk to my female—but her wounds were a far bigger one.

“Water could help her,” Stella said, her voice quiet and wobbly. “She’s a siren. The hot springs could?—”

“No,” I nearly roared.

She wasn’t leaving the bed. She wasn’t moving away from the scales on my body, or the ones surrounding us.

I should’ve made her a blanket with them, like dragons usually did for their mates.

I should’ve told her exactly who and what she was to me.

I should’ve announced to the entire castle that she belonged to me, so no one in their right mind would help her risk herself.

I should’ve held her tighter in my bed.

I should’ve fuckingtold her.

Minutes passed. Maybe hours. Hell, maybe days.

It felt like a lifetime.

But slowly, her wounds closed and her heartbeat steadied.

“Talon?” she finally whispered, her voice raw and hoarse.

My entire body trembled. “I’m here, Ave.”

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