Page 94 of Piece You Saved

No. He won’t hurt her. I refuse to believe it.

Does he even realize he keeps regaining control of his wolf sooner than he ever has before to save her?

Dariel swings around, and crosses over to the dead wolf, whose blood is spreading over our hardwood entryway floor.

“Close the door,” he says quietly.

“With the doctor on the other side of it.” Kade’s grin returns. “Why didn’t you say so? You heard the man. Time to get the fuck out, doctor.”

Dariel stops and angles his head toward Kade.

Kade returns Dariel’s stare, his lips curling up in annoyance before he slams the door shut with about twice as much force as is necessary. Significantly, with Harley still on the inside.

Dariel resumes his journey across the entryway to the dead wolf. His dead mate.

I can’t imagine he loved her after what she did to him. Whatever he felt for this woman—Claudine—I have no idea. I wonder if even he knows. It hurt him, but he’s not reacting in nearly the same way as he did when Leandro died. Why is that?

Kade stops trying to herd Harley outside and edges closer to Dariel.

For one long moment, we do nothing but watch Dariel stare down at the body of his mate.

“Kade?” Dariel says flatly, his head still lowered.

Saige jumps at the suddenness of his order.

I take her hand. She gives me a faint smile.

“Take her outside and bury her.” Dariel crouches down in front of Claudine, unfurls one large fist, and stretches his hand toward her. His fingers hover over rich, brown fur, but they don’t touch.

Saige’s breathing has changed. She draws in a long breath, holds it, and releases it too late to be natural. I glance over at her. She’s staring at Dariel. I squeeze her hand, trying to reassure her. She squeezes back.

Dariel pulls his fingers back without touching Claudine and rises smoothly from his crouch. A phone rings somewhere upstairs, and Dariel pads upstairs without another word, presumably to answer it.

I turn to Kade, who stares back at me.

“That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting,” I say.

“You and me both,” Kade admits, scrubbing his hand over his shaved head. “I thought he would kill me.”

I raise my brow. “Yet you still did it?”

He glares at me, his gray eyes spitting with rage. “She fucked his brother and his dad. The bitch got what was coming to her.”

“She did what?” Harley asks.

Kade swings to face him, glowering. “First you insert yourself into our home, and now our conversation. What’ll it be next?”

Saige’s hand spasms in mine.

She’s staring at the wolf on the floor. I get the impression it’s less about looking at the wolf and more about not looking elsewhere. Or at anyone else.

“I actually had a purpose in stopping by,” Harley says, drawing my eye.

“Just one?” Kade’s voice is dry. “Or do all surgeons make house calls to their patients?”

Harley’s tone is cheerful when he says, “Funnily enough, I was on my way home this morning when a wolf decided to pay me a visit in the hospital parking lot.”

Upstairs, the phone stops ringing. Dariel must have answered it.

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