Page 83 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
I ran my hands over my torso, wincing as I pressed against my left side. “Possibly a slightly fractured rib?”
Maxwell pointed toward my shoulder. “What happened there? Did you getbitten?!What the fuck happened, Rory?”
I touched the wound gingerly, the puncture marks where Callum’s teeth had sunk in. The bleeding had stopped, but it was still raw and angry. If I’d stayed shifted longer, it would have closed it better.
“As soon as I shifted, Callum found me. Alone. I wasn’t in the right meeting spot. So nobody else was around.”
“And he just full-on attacked you? Jesus Christ!”
“Well. Sort of. Yes, he attacked me.” I swallowed, looking away. “ThoughtechnicallyI jumped on him first. But he provoked me. Verbally!” Another burst of rage at Callum’s words about Maxwell flooded through me.
Maxwell sighed deeply, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling beams, pressing both hands either side of his glasses.
Can we go back to the part where you were stroking behind my ears?
I pushed myself up to sitting, clutching the blanket around my waist, ignoring the protests from my battered body. My suitcase was still at the bottom of the stairs.My clothes! My phone!They were still by the tree. I opened my mouth to tell Maxwell we needed to go get them immediately, before wisely snapping it shut. If anyone caught the scent of my stuff, hopefully Felix’s security system would keep them out of my messages and emails.
I had bigger concerns, because Maxwell paced the small cottage living room like a caged animal, his footsteps heavy on the wooden floorboards. With each turn, his scowl deepened, and I could practically hear his teeth grinding.
“This is exactly what I was worried about,” he muttered, more to himself than to me. “I knew something like this would happen.”
I struggled to my feet, wobbling slightly as my head spun. The blanket slipped, and I grabbed it quickly, securing it around my waist. My shoulder throbbed with each heartbeat, but I’d had worse. Much worse.
“Have you seen Freddy since you came home?”
He gave me a death stare. “Seriously?”
“Yes, Maxwell, seriously. It’s all fine now. Calm down.”
He stopped dead in his tracks. The sudden stillness was more unnerving than the pacing had been. When he turned to face me, his eyes were dangerously calm, like the surface of water just before it freezes.
“Calm down?” His voice was quiet, controlled. Terrifying. “You’re actually telling me to calm down rightnow?”
Cold dread shot through me and I wished more than anything that I could turn back into my wolf. The human part of me knew I’d stepped into dangerous territory. I’d seen Maxwell’s explosive anger on a few occasions when I’d pushed him too far. But this was something else.
“Umm… you know what? I take it back. Don’t calm down. Keep um… keep uncalming.”
Maxwell’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Don’t you dare make jokes right now.”
I tried to shift my weight, wincing as pain shot through my ribs. “Look, it’s not as bad as—”
“As what?” Maxwell cut me off, his voice rising. “As bad as abandoning your partner in the middle of hostile territory? As bad as running off with the people we’re actively investigating? As bad as getting yourself torn apart by another wolf?”
“I didn’t completely abandon you,” I protested. “I texted!”
“Oh, brilliant. Youtexted.” Maxwell’s laugh was hollow, bitter. “A dead battery and ‘going for a run, laters’ is your idea of proper communication? While I’m left trudging through pitch-black countryside where I could’ve been attacked at any moment?”
Fuck.That was true. And I hadn’t even considered it. Guilt flooded through me, and I clutched the blanket tighter around my waist. “Maxwell… I’m so sorry. I didn’t think of that. The cottage isn’t that far from—”
“I don’t actually care about that!” Maxwell slammed his hand against the wall, making me jump. “I promised your brother I’d keep you safe. I made apromise, Rory.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I snapped, my own anger flaring. “I’m not some helpless moron who needs constant supervision. I can protect myself.”
“Really? Because evidence suggests otherwise.” He gestured wildly at my wounded shoulder.
I straightened despite the pain, pride stinging worse than my injuries. “I was trying to further our investigation! You saw what they were liketoday—closed ranks, suspicious. You couldn’t read their minds, and they’re so guarded, they’re hardly going to let the slightest thing slip, are they? I need to earn their trust!”
“By getting yourself killed?”
