Page 66 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

“I can handle—”

“Twenty of them. Those were just the ones that I could see, but I know there must have been more. I had a choice,” I plead, willing him to understand that I didn’t do what I promised not to.

He stops trying to interrupt me, and behind us, Ewan leaves, closing the door firmly behind him.

“I could watch it happen, or I could do something to stop it.”

His hands flex. “And what did you do?”

“I chose to save you.”

When he doesn’t respond, I swing away. “Fine. Be angry, then. It doesn’t—”

He grabs me, crushes me against him, and slams his mouth against mine.

The shock of his kiss stuns me for a second. But only for a second.

In the next, I’m kissing him back just as eagerly.

I feel like I’ve barely started when Shay pulls away, breaking the kiss. His hand curves around my nape and he stares deep into my eyes.

“Ewan?” he calls out.

Ewan pushes the door open, letting a gust of cold air in. “Shay?”

He doesn’t take his eyes off me. “I won’t be needing you now. Find another cabin nearby with the rest of the men.”

“When should we come back?” Ewan asks.

Shay’s eyes search mine. “Don’t.”

My heart skips. “Shay?”

“My mate and I need time together. A lot of it.”

“Of course,” Ewan breathes.

When the door snicks shut, I know we’re alone again. “Shay? What about the pack?”

He sits me down again on my wooden chair and turns away. As I watch, he heads for the fireplace. After grabbing a cloth, he takes the large black pot which hangs over the fire and tips steaming water into the large metal tub.

It looks as if he and the others planned not only how to rescue me, but what would happen after they had. Maybe someone else decided which cabin they’d bring me to, but it could only have been Shay who thought of having hot water ready for me to bathe.

“The pack is fine. When the attackers suddenly stopped attacking and melted away, Ewan knew something must have happened.”

I lift my feet to the edge of my wooden chair and wrap my arms around my legs. “Something like them coming after us?”

He darts a glance at me before heading to the kitchen sink with the empty pot. “Something like that.”

As he refills it, I rest my chin on my knees. “Are they okay? No one died?”

He sighs. “There were quite a few injuries, some near-fatal. But the pack held firm, and no one died. Ewan did a good job holding them together.”

My gaze settles on his hand. “So it was just Daniel.”

Shay recrosses to the fire with the pot. “Just Daniel.”

“And the courtyard? Did it—”

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