Page 82 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

“No,” he says. “I’m healed up all right. It’s just messy to look at, I’m sure.”

He’s got that right. His skin is stitched back together—his scar looks weeks old instead of like something that just happened today. But his back is still covered with dried blood. There’s some fur, too, that must have pulled out when he shifted thanks to being stuck in the blood.

“Tell me if I’m hurting you,” I say.

He nods.

I scrub his back as gently as I can with river water. He doesn’t flinch at all, but I’m afraid to be rough with him now. Seeing him bleeding like that was terrifying.

At last, the skin of his back is clean. The blood has washed away down the river, and the water is clear around us.

I rest my chin on his shoulder and he presses his cheek to mine.

“Do you promise you’re not hurt at all?” he murmurs. “I know you didn’t want to worry us before.”

“I’m not hurt,” I say. “Victor wanted to kill me, but he couldn't because he was too weak.”

“You killed him, though.”

“I had to,” I say. “He was going to kill Nate. I would have done the same thing if it had been any of you.”

Milo nods slowly. “That’s what made the difference for you?”

“I think so,” I tell him. “I want to say that I would have killed him before that if I’d had the chance. But, honestly, I don’t think I would have. I would have found it just as difficult to kill him as he obviously found it to kill me. I don’t think I could have done it.”

“Howdidyou do it?” he asks. “I don’t mean killing him. I mean…with the lightning. The storm. All of that.”

I feel the smile fade from my face.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I didn’tmeanto do that.”

“You didn’t do it on purpose?”

“I didn’t think about it,” I say. “I was just going to fight him. As a wolf. I didn’t think I had enough strength left, magically, to fight him like that.”

Milo nods. “I saw what you did with that log. You really fucked them up.”

“So did you, with the rocks.”

“That was just what Wilder taught us to do in our combat lessons. You were doing things we never learned. I don’t understand how.”

“Neither do I,” I admit. “I kind of wish I did. It was a little scary. It felt like…I don’t know. Like I couldn’t quite contain the power I was using.”

Milo breathes out slowly.

“You should be careful,” he says.

I expected someone to say something like that. Still, hearing it now, I can’t help feeling a little defensive. Is he really going to criticize me?

“I won the fight,” I point out. “If I hadn’t done what I did, we’d probably still be there. We might have lost. Nate could have been killed. Weallcould have been killed.”

“I know that,” Milo says quickly. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have done it.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m just saying…be careful,” he says. “Just that. Big magic like that…it’s what gets Moon Casters into trouble. It’s what’s damaged the moon in the past.”

I can hardly believe I’m hearing this. “You’re not comparing me to Moon Drinkers, are you?” I demand. “I wasn’t making a bid for power, Milo. I was trying to save our lives. Ididsave our lives.”

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