Page 68 of Piece You Saved

My eyes clash with Saige’s blue-gray stare as she sits at the kitchen table with Harley beside her. More shadows fill her eyes now. Probably the same ones that fill mine.

She doesn’t say a word. I want to go over, make sure she isn’t sliding right back into shock, because she’s breathing harder than she should. The grip she has on the edge of the dining table isn’t even close to reassuring me all is well with her.

The howling stops, footsteps trample away from the house, and the same piercing, high-pitched alarm makes me flinch as it cuts through the silence. The motion sensor. Dariel just decided to go after Rylan through the back gate. Alone.

Fuck.

I straighten from the door, silence the alarm, and move to follow Dariel.

And grind to a stop.

I can’t leave Saige and Aden alone here, but if I don’t go after Dariel…

A chair leg scrapes along the hardwood floor. Soft footsteps move toward me, and Saige’s soft peach scent is suddenly close. I turn.

She’s standing just behind me, determination stamped across her face. She’s shaken off her shock and slid right into fury. Good fucking girl. As always, her strength makes her more beautiful. I never know what I want to do more: kiss her, haul her into my chest and not let her go, or pin her to the nearest wall and fuck her.

“Go. If this is a trap, you can’t let him go alone.”

I don’t move. “Thiscould be the trap, angel.”

Harley comes into view, though he sticks to the kitchen doorway. One look at his face and I’m already grinding my teeth. “I’ll stay with her. No one is getting to her.”

The friendly doctor’s smile is missing in action, and feral intelligence stares back at me through his blue-green eyes.

I slide my gaze to her. “He’s a shifter,” I remind her.

And we all know how you feel about those, angel.

I tasted your fear when you realized what he was at the hospital.

She offers me a faint smile. It’s meant to convince me she’s okay, but she isn’t. Not completely. “It’s okay. Dariel needs you.”

So do you.

“Kade, go. I’ll be okay. Harley is here, and Aden is upstairs. And we have the monitor.Go.”

I peer down at her determined eyes, weighing up my options. It’s not an easy decision to make, but it’s the only one I can.

As I cross the kitchen, Harley makes no comment. He just gets the fuck out of my way and stays out of it. Maybe he might survive after all.

After I’ve passed him, I head straight for the kitchen drawer beside the sink. The small black handgun—one of Aden’s—is right where I left it, in case we had any nasty surprises.

I return to Saige, who’s still waiting beside the backdoor, then check that the gun is fully loaded before I flip it, offering it to her handle side first.

Saige holds her hand out for the gun, but I slide my palm around her nape, drag her close, and kiss her hard on the lips, tasting her sweetness. “Don’t hesitate, angel. If anyone or anything comes through a door or window—”

She closes her palm around the gun and tugs. “Kill it.”

I kiss her again and take a step back. “I won’t be long.” Now, I turn to Harley and let him see what my wolf will do to him if I come back and find Saige with even a scratch on her. “Watch. Her.”

His expression doesn’t change. “Nothing will happen to her. My life on it.”

I turn away, muttering, “You doctors. Think you can save the fucking world until you can’t.”

And then I open the back door and step outside. I rip my sweatpants off as I reach for my wolf, hoping I’m not too late to stop him before he can step into the same trap Rylan set for me.

CHAPTER 19

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