Page 78 of Piece You Saved

“I’m okay, Saige,” I say before she can ask. “And no, this isn’t your fault.”

She peels her face from my chest to give me a long, searching look. “But you didn’t get a choice.”

“Live or die,” I say. “It sounded like there wasn’t much of one.”

“You’re not angry?”

I release a sigh. “I won’t pretend this is what I wanted, but what’s done is done. All I can do is try to make the best out of a bad situation.”

As she studies me, I can practically see the guilt filling her mind. She’s blaming herself for coming to the Cerberus. For staying. And for this.

I gently tap her nose. “Boop.”

The guilt melts away, and annoyance takes its place. “Aden…”

Looks like the doctor was right.

“This wasn’t your fault. Come here.” I thread my hand in her hair and tug her head back to my chest.

Harley was right about another thing as well. Skin-to-skin contact—having Saige in my arms—is giving me all the motivation to want to be human. I’m not sure how long it will last, or if it always will, but for now, it feels good to have her close.

“Aden?”

“Hmm?” I close my eyes as I run my hand up and down her t-shirt covered back.

“What does it feel like? I mean, having a wolf in your head?”

I consider a question I haven’t let myself think too deeply about until now. “It’s hard to explain.”

She’s silent for a beat. “Kade said you’d wake up and think you were crazy. That you wouldn’t know what was going on. I think it was like that for him.”

My eyes fly open in surprise. Kade has never spoken about who turned him or why. Just that he spent most of his life fighting and losing until he was a shifter; then suddenly, he was winning. “Did he?”

She nods.

I resume stroking her back, smiling when she breathes a soft sigh of contentment that blows warm air over my throat. “Kade doesn’t talk much about what happened to him.”

“I’m not surprised. It sounded like hell.” She pauses. “He said you were lucky to have Dariel guide you through it.”

Sounds like he had no one.

I thought I knew almost everything about Kade and Dariel. Kade has secrets he’s never shared with anyone before. So does Dariel. Yet, they’re all coming out now. No, Saige is pulling them out, forcing us to confront them. And maybe, just maybe, bringing us closer together.

I hope so.

“The doctor…” I start.

Every muscle in her back tenses. “I’m not interested in talking about the doctor, Aden,” she says.

Which means it’s something we need to talk about. Probably sooner rather than later, unless we want to end up burying another body in the backyard.

Sighing, I pull her closer, kiss her hair, and close my eyes. “Okay. How about we get some sleep?”

She nods. “Sounds good.”

I feel her smile stretch across my neck. “What’s so funny?”

“I’m just realizing how peaceful you are to be around,” she says.

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