Page 95 of Savage Games

I continue examining her hand, stroking my thumb gently over her wrist."Does it hurt?"I run my lips over it again, remembering how a mate's saliva can speed up healing.

"Wyatt," she says, her voice caught between exasperation and tenderness."You nearly died."

I can't help the smile that spreads across my face."You were worried about me."

Nobody other than Jamie has ever been worried about me, whether because of my size or because I was rogue and unworthy of care.

"Of course, I was worried."She smacks my arm, though there's no actual force behind it."You collapsed.Again.After specifically promising me you wouldn't die."

"Technically, I didn't promise that.I said I'd be okay."

And I would have been.Once she wasn't claimed against her will by Brad, it was worth it.

"Don't you dare," she warns, jabbing a finger at my chest."Do you have any idea what that was like?To feel you through the bond, fading in and out, and I wasn't there?"

Her voice cracks on the last words, and I reach for her, pulling her closer despite the pull on my stitches."I'm sorry," I say against her hair."I'm so sorry.I'll never lie to you again."

Her breath hitches, and her hot tears drop onto my thin gown.I hold her close until the fear that still courses through her ebbs away.

"I know why you did it," she sighs, the anger draining out of her."That's what makes it so infuriating."She pulls back to cup my face in her hands."A pack is not worth the cost of you," she insists fiercely."And my wolf would never have let Brad mark me, especially knowing the real deal exists."

The intensity in her eyes steals my breath.No one has ever looked at me like that before, like I matter more than winning, more than any prize.

"I couldn't take that chance."

Naomi nods, understanding there's no way my wolf would have allowed it no matter how much faith I have in her abilities.

She moves to the small basin of water by the bed and dips a cloth before wringing it out with careful precision.With gentle hands, she brushes my hair back from my forehead, the cool cloth soothing against my fevered skin.Her fingers work methodically, cleaning away the sweat and grime from my face, her touch so tender it makes my chest ache.

"You need a haircut," she murmurs, combing her fingers through my tangled locks, working out the knots with patient care.

I lean into her touch, starved for it after years of having no one but Jamie to rely on, and all this time pretending she's not mine.The simple intimacy of being tended to, of having someone care for me without expectation, is overwhelming.

"You were already hurt from fighting those wolves," she breathes, her fingers tracing the fading bruises on my face."And then Brad… Jax told me, and I wanted to kill him, Wyatt.I still do."

"Get in line," Jax mutters from his chair, reminding us both of his presence.

Naomi shakes her head, frustration clear in the tense line of her shoulders."You can't just decide that your life is worth less than mine, or that your pain doesn't matter.That's not how this works.That's not how we work."

She's right.I know that deep down.But she's my mate.

"I will always protect you," I whisper.

"And who protects you?"she demands.

The question hits me harder than I expected.For so long, it's been just me and Jamie, and even then, I was always the protector, never the protected.The concept is foreign, almost uncomfortable.

I look from Naomi to Jax, who's watching us with an unreadable expression.Though I barely know him, he risked Blake's anger to help Maddie, and now he's helped save my life.Plus Dash and Eli, who stood with me when they had more to lose than gain… maybe I'm more surrounded by allies than I'd realized.

"I do," Naomi answers her own question, her voice softening."That's what mates do.We protect each other."Her fingers tighten on mine."If this is going to work, and I really, really want it to work, let me help you."

Her words seep into me, warming places I didn't realize were cold.Partnership.Equality.The concepts are as appealing as they are unfamiliar.

"I'm not very good at letting people help me," I admit.

Her smile is small but real."I've noticed.We'll work on it.Starting now.Because I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

Her overprotectiveness of me, the giant rogue who everyone is terrified of, is endearing, if a little absurd.

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