Page 18 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

His eyes close, and he releases a sigh. After a long minute, he grips my hand and turns it to kiss the center of my palm. “I’m going to have to move you, baby.”

I know.

He opens his eyes, and they’re filled with pain. “It’s going to hurt.”

I know that too.

“But we can’t stay here. We’re too far from the pack, and more of those wolves could come back any minute.”

I want to tell him it’s okay, that I understand. But more than that, I want to tell him to leave me—because if they come back, this time they might kill him. I can’t let that happen.

So I lower my hand to his chest and push.

For several seconds, he stares down at me, his eyes stark with disbelief. “You want me toleaveyou?”

I push again.

His face hardens into fierce determination. “Pup, if you think—”

A branch snaps a few feet away, and I jerk my head toward the sound. Pain erupts from the back of my head, a deep, throbbing ache that travels outward until no part of me doesn’t hurt. I moan in agony.

When Shay’s hands grip the side of my face, I can’t understand why I didn’t see him move until I realize my eyes are closed.

“Don’t move, pup. It’s okay, everything will be…”

As if we’re in a tunnel that’s broken apart between us, his voice drifts further and further away from me until I can’t hear him anymore. Suddenly, I’m alone in the dark tunnel that stretches out forever.

“Shay!” I scream.

My voice echoes around me. On and on and—

6

My nose twitches.

The rich scent of roasting meat surrounds me. I shouldn’t be hungry after all the food Ana prepared for us, yet my stomach grumbles, telling me I am.

My eyelids flutter open, and I don’t know if what I’m seeing is a dream or if it’s real. In the courtyard, my bedroom was a large terracotta and green room filled with all the comforts anyone would ever need.

Every morning I’d wake to the scent of fresh flowers and plants which fill every corner of my room. Or Ana will be at my window, pushing the curtains open to let the morning sun into the room.

I’d thought that we were back there, but as I take in the small, rustic cabin lit by candles, and the musty-smelling furs covering my naked body, wherever we are, is not the heart of the pack.

“This is a cabin the pack can use if they want to be away from the others.”

Shay’s voice draws my gaze to the source of the heat.

Crouched in front of an open fire, with a small black pot hanging over the burning wood, a smile curves his lips. “I’m guessing you’re ready to eat?”

A blush burns across my cheeks, because I hadn’t thought my stomach had been that loud, but it must have been.

I’ve barely moved to sit up before Shay is suddenly there, his hands halting me, and a frown creasing his brow. “Careful. Let me.”

He slips his arm around my back and uses the other to steady me as he eases me into a seated position with my back resting against a wooden bed frame. His eyes never leave my face as if he wants to make sure that nothing he does causes me any pain.

But, other than a faint dull ache at the back of my head that quickly fades, the agony that flooded my body from when I fell out of the tree is gone. Hopefully forever.

“How do you feel?” he asks.

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