Page 31 of His Claim
“A very mild sedative. Just enough to calm your system. We’ll run blood panels and monitor your vitals.”
“No,” Varek snapped instantly, stepping closer. His shadow cut across me, his hand closing over my shoulder. “Nothing in her veins unless I know exactly what it is.”
The tech’s hands shook slightly, but she didn’t pull back. “Commander, if we don’t stabilize her?—”
“She’s stable.” His silver eyes blazed. “And she stays that way.”
I looked up at him, his body coiled and furious, every line of him ready to kill.
“I’ll do it,” I said quietly, surprising myself. “It’s fine. Just… stay close.”
His gaze snapped to mine. I nodded once, trying to pour every ounce of determination I had left into my eyes.
Don’t fight this for me. Not this time.
He let out a ragged breath and edged back half a step, still close enough that his heat bled into me.
The needle pricked, cool liquid sliding into my vein. My stomach flipped, but I forced myself not to flinch.
Monitors beeped as wires were clipped to my skin. My heart rate spiked, then leveled, then spiked again when the mark at my shoulder throbbed under the tech’s touch.
“Interesting,” she murmured, scribbling a note on her chart. “Bond resonance is… unusually high.”
Varek growled again.
I clenched my fingers tighter around the armrests. I was terrified. I didn’t let it show outwardly, but the monitor betrayed the truth, displaying my skyrocketing pulse for all to see. I lifted my chin and fixed my eyes on Varek, who stood like a sentinel in front of me, daring anyone to come too close.
The machines kept beeping, steady as my own heartbeat, though I swore every sound echoed too loudly in the sterile room. The med techs whispered to each other, marking charts with neat, clinical strokes. Some were putting my blood samples onto microscope slides and into a number of smaller vials for testing. It was all so normal for them.
But nothing about this was normal.
Colonel Maelor stood like a pillar in the corner, arms crossed, his expression carved from stone. Ten soldiers lined the walls, every one tense, rifles lowered but ready. They weren’t looking at me; they were watching Varek.
He hadn’t moved from my side. His hand stayed heavy on my shoulder, claws just barely pricking through his fingertips, hiseyes molten silver and hot enough to burn holes through the soldiers.
Finally, Maelor spoke, his voice was calm and precise, but every word cut like a blade.
“She stays here.”
The air changed. Varek’s growl rolled through the room, furious and lethal, making the monitors stutter.
“No,” he said. “She leaves with me.”
The soldiers shifted, tightening their formation. Boots scraped against tile. The med tech holding my chart went still as a statue.
“She needs observation,” Maelor replied evenly. “We’ve had two attacks in as many days. Both human girls. Both feral. Both able to take down more of us singlehandedly than a gang of human men should be able to.” His gaze flicked to me, then back to Varek. “She stays.”
“She’s not yours,” Varek snarled, stepping forward. “She’s mine.”
The wolves along the wall stiffened, and low growls filled the room as their fingers twitched toward triggers. My stomach twisted, bile rising hot. They were going to fight again. I could see it building, could tell it was inevitable, in the flex of Varek’s jaw, in the way Maelor didn’t blink.
If he fought them, he was going to die.
“Varek,” I whispered, my hand catching his wrist. His heat seared against my palm, but I held on. “Please. Don’t.”
He glanced down at me, eyes still glowing at the edges.
“They’ll kill you,” I said softly, my throat tight. “There are too many. Please. Don’t do this. Not for me.”
