Page 48 of The Weakest Wolf

Someone stabs me in my right side. Three hard punches that bring tears to my eyes. Only no one is stabbing me. Rationally, I know that. It just feels that way.

When I can breathe through the pain, I lower the glass without taking a sip. I’ll happily live with a dry mouth if it means I get to avoid pain like that again.

“Do you ever stop pretending?” Galen growls.

“What am I pretending to do?” I ask his ear. One look in my eyes and he’d know just how much agony I’m in.

“You’re hurting.”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” he says as he gets to his feet. “You are.”

Panic makes me forget the stabbing pain when he moves from his chair to the edge of the bed.

I prepare to shove him off if he even thinks about poking my ribs to prove a point.

But he doesn’t go anywhere near them. He picks up the glass and raises it to my lips.

My eyes narrow in suspicion. “What are you doing?”

“Holding a glass of water for a woman too stubborn to admit her broken ribs hurt. Open.”

I want to argue. His glare warns me I might not like what happens if I do, so I part my lips and gulp the water down. In seconds, the glass is empty.

“Thanks.”

“Aren’t you going to ask what this glass of water costs?” he asks, that sexy half-smile making a reappearance.

Shit.

“But you said—"

He returns the glass to the tray which he moves to the bedside table. At no point does he take his eyes from mine. “I said,” he murmurs, “that I wanted nothing in return for thesoup.”

Careless, Sierra.

“If you think—”

In the hallway, a door creaks open. We both turn to the bedroom door, but it’s Galen who speaks. “Stay here. I’ll deal with this.”

I don’t say a word as he gets to his feet and makes his way to the door.

If he wants to deal with Bowen, that’s fine by me. If he wants to rip his head off while he’s at it, even better.

Just as long as it doesn’t mean I have to give up Eden.

The moment he disappears through the door, I pull the sheet off and grit my teeth as I shimmy to the edge of the bed.

His order demanding to know what the fuck Bowen wants makes me pause.

Another pack run seems to be the long and short of it.

Fucking prick.

I push myself to my feet, trying, and mostly failing, to ignore my screaming ribs.

I have to get out of here. It’s not safe in my cabin, and it’s not safe in Galen’s bedroom either. It’s a different kind of danger, but that doesn’t mean it can’t destroy me.

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