Page 25 of Blade's Battle
“Then what were all those looks you two traded?”
“Our alpha has placed a guard on the scout. No one’s allowed in to see him.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” Rosa said as she ushered the medic out. “But it’s unusual to place a guard on an ally.”
“Do I have a guard too?”
“No. You aren’t a threat. Even though you’re human.”
Anna fell quiet again as Rosa helped her dress. The yellow blouse and tie-dye skirt weren’t exactly Anna’s style, but they wereclean. Anna stood before the mirror. To her surprise, the ensemble looked nice on her, as much as it could, given how much weight she’d lost. Her hair remained a knotted mess. Washing it hadn’t helped. Now it was a clean, knotted mess that only reminded her of her time as Drake’s prisoner. In all, she was a mere shadow of the woman she’d been before she had plummeted into an unending downward spiral.
“I’ll comb it out for you,” Rosa said, pulling a chair over for Anna to sit. “This will take some time, but we’ll get those knots out.”
Anna ran her finger along the edge of the shears by the sewing machine. She hated how long her hair had become, how Drake would wrap his hands in it and controlled her like she was a damned dog on a leash.
“Cut it off.”
“Heavens, no! These curls are fabulous, or rather I’m guessing they will be once I get the knots out. Give me a chance, okay? I’ll be gentle. Besides, men like stroking long hair. I bet when we get the tangles out and trim the damaged ends, you’ll have a glorious head of hair for that shifter of yours to play with.”
I like your hair long. The curls are cute, sexy.
A warmth spread through Anna as she recalled Blade’s voice, the feel of his hands on her, the concern in his eyes when he looked at her.
“He’s not my shifter.”
Rosa tried to hide her grin. “Even so, you’ll feel better once we comb it properly.”
Over an hour later, after some cursing, pulling, spraying a lot of detangling product, and minor cutting, Rosa set the comb down. Anna’s hair hung beautifully down her back, knot-free.
“You have beautiful curls. I can’t wait to see your hair when it dries.”
Anna ran her fingers through the mass without getting caught on a single knot. She hadn’t been able to do that for a long time. “Thank you,” she said. Rosa was right. Anna felt better, but only a little.
She missed Blade, and she was worried about him. He’d been by her side constantly for days, joking, making her smile, keeping her calm—keeping hersane.
She had promised herself no more avoiding the truth, and the truth was that she was attracted to him. Was it Blade or the safety Blade provided that appealed to her?
Rosa tapped Anna’s shoulder, getting her to look up in the mirror at the petite woman behind her. The shifter had dark hair and dark eyes, reminiscent of the wolves at Drake’s pack, but her smile was something Anna had never seen on a single shifter there.
“I still need to trim your hair to get rid of all the damaged end.” Rosa picked up the shears.
“Liam won’t hurt Blade, will he?”
“He has no reason to hurt Damien’s scout. Our packs are allies.”
The sound of the shears cutting her hair felt almost normal, like she was back home in a salon relaxing in one of those oversized chairs.
“He’s cute, your shifter.”
Oh yeah, this felt like the salon back home. Gossip. Anna smiled, but then worried Rosa would take it the wrong way.
“He’s not my shifter.” Kurt was her shifter, not Blade. Her Kurt had been her best friend and lover for a long time. This attraction to Blade was just so damn confusing.
“I trimmed the ends. Or would you like shorter? It’s rather long.”
Anna’s hair fell to the middle of her back, much longer than she liked. “Shoulder length,” she said, distracted. “Have you ever seen a shifter go feral, Rosa?”
