Page 44 of Piece You Saved

I shrug. “Nothing. I’m—”

“She has a bruise the size of Texas,” Kade cuts in.

Dariel snaps his emerald eyes toward me, and a frown creases his brow. “What? Where?”

Why does he sound like he cares?

I sigh. “It’s not a—”

Kade squeezes my arm, drawing my gaze away from Dariel.

“You want me to show them, angel?” he asks, eyebrow raised. “Or are you going to tell them?”

Sighing, I turn back to Aden. “It will heal.”

Aden’s brow furrows in concern. “And you’re sure that—”

His face…twists. There’s no other way to explain it. A fine tremor shakes his body, and a ripple of light brown hair—no, fur—sweeps over his chest a half second before a snarl erupts from between his clenched teeth.

I stare in horror.

Dariel tightens his grip on Aden’s arm as he snaps a cold, “Control it, Aden.”

If I hadn’t seen the naked despair on Dariel’s face in the attic as the paramedics fought to restart Aden’s heart, I would believe that he didn’t care.

This is a mask.

It’s a good one, but I know it’s just a mask.

The muscles in Aden’s arms tense and release, then tense and release again.

Is he fighting not to shift, or is he fighting not to attack?

Aden snaps his eyes shut, throws his head back, and grits his teeth as his chest heaves with effort. A fine sheen of sweat coats his chest as he fights a battle with the wolf inside him.

A long, pained moan slips from between his lips as another flash of light-brown fur is there one moment and gone the next.

Tears prickle the backs of my eyes as I choke down the need to cry. I want to help, but I have no idea how. If I could take the wolf from him and stick him inside me, I would do it in a heartbeat.

It feels like his suffering goes on forever.

“Aden, do you remember that day at the range when you threatened to shoot me if I ever stole your sandwich again?” Kade says, squeezing my arm.

I glance over at him, surprised at the smile playing on his lips. “Aden wouldn’t do that.”

“It was a good sandwich.” Dariel takes over the story, the faintest trace of amusement in his voice. “I stole the first one.”

“You… rat…bastard,” Aden grunts out, still sounding pained. “You made me think it was Kade.”

A smile curls Dariel’s lips, the first one I’ve seen. It changes his face into something new. Something unfamiliar. And warm. I’m suddenly reminded of when I tripped down the stairs and he caught me and looked at me as if he never intended to let me go.

“Since you were already predisposed to blaming Kade, I let you carry on blaming him,” Dariel says.

Aden’s bark of laughter is still a little pained, but it’s a more human sound than the wolf snarls from before. “You bastard.”

“You and me both,” Kade growls as he glares at Dariel.

“What was so special about this sandwich?” I ask, loosening the tight grip I have around my knees.

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