Page 83 of A Wolf of War
“Shh.” His hand cupped her cheek, thumb brushing softly across her skin. His expression was calm, measured, even as her own turned frantic. “Listen to me. Your health comes first. Always. Knotting you before surgery could cause complications. Infection. Bleeding. You’d be going in technically already injured, and we can’t risk that.”
She blinked at him, struggling to process, but his certainty grounded her. He was so matter-of-fact, so immovable.
“It’s one or the other, Willow,”Milo murmured, leaning his forehead against hers. “And between my knot and your life, I’ll choose your life.”
Her breath caught, tears stinging her eyes. He said it so simply, like it wasn’t a choice at all.
Willow swallowed hard, still tucked against his chest. The weight of his words sat heavy in her mind, like smooth stones she couldn’t quite stack without everything tumbling down. Her fingers toyed absently with the hem of his shirt, the question slipping from her lips before she could stop it.
“What happens if we don’t… finish it? The bond?”
Milo shifted, the low rumble in his chest brushing against her ear. For a moment, he was quiet, considering his words carefully, choosing which edges to soften and which to leave sharp.
“There are consequences,” he said finally, voice low and certain. “Without the bond, the pack will always feel unsettled. They’ll sense the gap, the unfinished connection between us. They’ll still follow me, but there’ll be hesitation in them. Doubt. There’s also the matter of their inability to find their own mates, which can be devastating for morale.”
Willow tilted her head back to search his face, herbrow furrowing. “And for me?”
His mouth quirked faintly, not unkind, but almost reverent. “Once it’s done, you’re more than just my mate. You’ll be their queen. Every wolf beneath me will feel it, and they’ll submit to you as natural as breathing. Even though you’re human, you’ll hold authority they can’t ignore. No one could challenge you. No one could touch you.”
Her breath caught. She thought of Lachlan, Titan, the others—grown men with violence in their nature—bowing their heads, not out of choice, but instinct.
“Lachlan and Titan seem so quick to listen to me already,” she said, her voice quieter this time.
Milo’s gaze softened. “That’s because they’re good men. But you haven’t met any other wolves for a reason, Willow. I can’t introduce you to my empire in full until you’ve accepted my knot.”
Willow let his words sink in, her chest tightening with every revelation. Her decision was already made—had been the moment she’d let him share her body—but that didn’t stop the flicker of annoyance sparking in her eyes. He hadn’t told her any of this before.
Of course, she would stillhave said yes. That wasn’t the point.
It was the ease with which he left things unsaid that rankled her, the way he measured out truths only when pressed. Like he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hand her the whole picture until she was too far in to turn back.
Willow shifted against him, biting back the sharpness rising in her throat. She didn’t want to pick a fight, not now. But a part of her still simmered, a low burn beneath her ribs.
She was his mate. His queen, apparently. She wasn’t some fragile piece on his chessboard to be moved and protected without explanation. If he expected her to stand beside him, then he needed to start treating her like she belonged there.
40
MILO
Milo could see it plain as day, the terror in Willow’s eyes. She was bracing for war, except this wasn’t a battlefield, it was her own body. It gutted him that he couldn’t fight this one for her, even though he’d been the one to do it to her in the first place.
He cupped her cheek with a hand that had broken bones, spilled blood, and ended lives—but now it trembled, not from violence but from love. “You’re going to be okay,” he told her, his voice low, steady, commanding in a way that left no room for doubt. “Lachlan’s got this covered. He handpicked the team, and my men will be at every door, every exit. Nothing touches you. Do you hear me? They’re going to replace your IUD too, so that’s taken care of.”
She nodded, attempting a smile, but the tears shining at the corners of her lashes betrayed her. She still couldn’t believe she’d forgotten her IUD had expired, but, with everything happening, it had just slipped her mind.
Milo swallowed hard, pulling her into his chest, burying his face in her hair. She smelled like floral soap and fear, a combination that made his chest hurt.
The clinic wasn’t some sterile public hospital where strangers could whisper and judge. Lachlan had pulled this together with his connections—a network of underground doctors who owed him favors, who worked quiet and discreet, where no questions were asked and no records could ever trace back. Milo had made use of the underground regularly since he’d been back, but never for something that mattered this much.
He tilted his head, brushing his lips over her temple. “You’re not alone in this. Not for one second. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
And he meant it. Even if it killed him to watch her go through it, he wasn’t letting go.
“Milo, we have a problem.”
The sound of Titan’s voice cut through the air like a blade, sharp enough to turn both Milo and Willow’s heads at once. The kid stood in the doorway, shoulders tight, eyes wide in a way Milo didn’t like.
Milo rose from where he’d been holding Willow, his body already shifting into that familiar battle-readiness. He didn’t need to ask what kind of problem. The tension in Titan’s stance told him enough. This wasn’t small.
