Page 71 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

“What?!”

“Yeah. As soon as I’m better, we need to find out what it is and who is selling it. I thought you were dead for a second when all I got back was…silence. I felt empty. It was not a pleasant feeling, and I didn’t like it at all.”

“Agreed.”

The car goes silent again, and I watch the buildings pass by as we continue driving. My eyes become heavy as the full effects of being tortured for several days and losing so much blood hits me now that the adrenaline is not spurring me on. As my eyes close, the memory of me stabbing Zander and the knowledge that he will no longer be able to make my life a living hell fills me with joy and bleeds over into my dreams.

Chapter 29

Talia

The first thing I notice when I start to wake up is I’m in a very comfortable, soft, and plushy bed. It feels like heaven. When I start to move a little though, aches and pains assault my body. Memories of the past…however many hours or days flood me, pulling me from the contented bliss I was feeling laying in this bed a moment ago. I remember though that I got away from Zander’s coven and open my eyes fully. The site of my room at the coven house greets me. Not the greatest or most comforting sight, but I’m grateful to not see the dank and cold stone walls of the cell Zander had held me in instead. The burning in my throat is the next thing I notice. I need to feed and look towards the small fridge I have in the corner that holds bags of blood. The distance from the bed to the fridge is only a few steps, but right now, it looks daunting with the pain I’m becoming more and more aware of.

“Let me get it for you,” Danny’s voice comes from the corner where a large chair sits by the window. Danny moves to the fridge and grabs a blood bag that he then opens and hands to me.

The cold blood is not very pleasant, but I don’t care as much as I usually would due to the extreme hunger that hits me at the smell of the blood once Danny opens the bag for me. I suck the blood down quickly, and Danny hands over a second withoutme having to ask for it. After a third, I relax further into the bed and slowly feel myself healing. It will likely take a few more bags and maybe a day or two before I’m fully healed, but it’s a start.

“Is everything resolved?” I whisper to Danny. I don’t want to be too loud for anyone to overhear us since I don’t know who is lurking around.

The guys took care of everything without a hitch,Danny speaks down the bond.

I jerk in surprise. The bond is back. Relief floods me and a tiny part of me wants to cry with the overwhelming feeling of joy from the reestablished connection. I hold back the tears, but Danny can see on my face what it means to have the bond restored. It’s like a missing limb returned.Good, I say back to him down the bond. Even I can hear the wobble in my tone as I speak to him this way.

Danny moves to the opposite side of the bed and gently lays down beside me.It’s okay now, Talia. Everything is okay.

I close my eyes in exhaustion at his words. Zander has been a thorn in my side for so long and the fact that I no longer have to marry him because he’s dead lifts a weight off my shoulders and chest that I didn’t know was there since it’s been so long that I have been dealing with it that it became normal for me. At the thought of the arrangement, my father comes to mind.

Is father aware Zander is dead yet?

He learned of it this morning from patrols in the city. It’s been two days since we took care of it and brought you home.

How pissed is he?

Not as pissed as I thought he would be honestly. He has been so dead set on you marrying that bastard that I thought he would have had a conniption at his plans being thwarted.

Zander mentioned having my father by the balls as if he was holding something over my father to blackmail my father into allowing him to marry me off to him. Maybe that’s why?

What the hell could he have on your father that would be so bad that he would marry his only child and heir off to the likes of Zander?

That’s the big question, isn’t it?

He’s still a little pissed, though. And has already asked it to be looked into as to who killed him and his entire coven along with burning the coven house down to the ground. The others, though, have already started spreading broad rumors around to make sure fingers are pointed at another coven.

Which coven?

None specifically, but we wanted to make sure the werewolves were not blamed, especially with how much Zander and his coven were terrorizing them lately. Jordan was especially concerned about that detail of our plan.

I turn my head towards Danny in a rush at the mention of Jordan and ignore the pain that it causes.Jordan?

He looks at me.He overheard us at Depraved arguing with someone I was trying to get information out of in our search for you once you hadn’t been seen in a few days compounded with the fact that I couldn’t reach you through the bond. I thought he was being nosey, but he seemed concerned since you’ve helped him in the past and have shown a pension for defending werewolves when it’s the right thing to do despite the repercussions you may face. He was present when Zander called to say he had you too and asked to help rescue you. Although you didn’t need rescuing when we got there.

No, but it helped to speed the escape along.

He chuckles.I had to convince him it wasn’t a good idea to help since it would likely paint a target on his back and other werewolves in this city. It wouldn’t help with not having fingerspointed at them if he did. It wasn’t until I assured him that the blame wouldn’t be directed towards them since we had already planned to go after Zander and kill him with the idea of making sure vampires were blamed, especially after the reaction to the announcement of your engagement to Zander, that he was convinced to stand back and let us handle it. He seemed a little hesitant to let us handle it, but he did.

That’s good.

Speaking of Jordan, he’s likely going a little crazy not knowing if I’m okay if he’s aware Zander had kidnapped me. I need to talk to him, but I have no idea where my phone is currently. Likely confiscated by Zander and destroyed in the fire at his coven house. Great.

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