Chapter 445

[ 999 words ]

Nolan’s POV

I left the hospital before I said something I’d regret.

I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving. I slipped out the side door, past the gardens, and

as soon as I was clear of the buildings, I started running.

‘She lied to us,’ my wolf snarled. ‘For two weeks, she looked right at us every morning and lied.’

‘I know,’ I said. I thought about how many times she looked conflicted in the past two weeks. I knew something was wrong, but I never questioned it. She played me like a fool.

‘We slept next to her every night for two weeks, thinking Leslie could save her because she let us believe it.’

‘Yeah. I know. You don’t have to keep telling me. I was right there with you.’

At the edge of the trees, I shifted and let my wolf take control. I couldn’t handle being human another minute. Being human meant thinking, and thinking meant remembering that hospital room.

He ran full speed, not caring about branches scratching us or the thick brush in our path. Even the stream’s steep bank didn’t slow him down. He just kept running until my chest burned, my legs trembled, and finally, when we were both spent, he stopped.

I shifted back to myself, kneeling by the water, breathing hard. Then all my thoughts rushed back, and I groaned in frustration.

‘You can’t have me in control forever. You will have to face this,’ my wolf said, and I ignored him.

Blood was running down my right arm. There was a long scratch from my elbow to my wrist, and a few smaller ones above it. I didn’t even remember when it happened.

I rinsed my arm in the freezing stream. The shock of the cold distracted me for about a minute.

I sat on the bank, arm dripping, waiting to calm down. But I didn’t.

‘You’re allowed to be mad,’ my wolf said, quieter now. ‘I’m angry too. She should’ve told us the first night!’

‘Then stop what you’re doing,’ I muttered.

‘What am I doing?’

‘You’re going to start pushing me to go back,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to. Not yet.’

‘I haven’t pushed you anywhere yet,’ my wolf said. Then he paused. ‘But think about this: if it were the other way around. If they told you you’d die, but the pups would live, what would you have done?’

I didn’t answer.

‘You’d have kept it from her as long as you could, and you’d lie to yourself that it was to protect her.’

‘That’s different,’ I shot back.

‘It’s not different at all,’ He sighed. ‘She’s their mother, Nolan. You’re asking her to give up her pups so she can live without them.”

‘She won’t live with them either.’

‘She knows the costs, and she knew you’d take away her choice once you found out,’ my wolf explained. She’d already made up her mind. She couldn’t stand fighting with you about it every day for three months. That’s not how she wanted her last moments with us.’

I sat there a long time and just watched the water flow by. I felt numb and exhausted. I never thought about how this was affecting Talia. All I could think about was how I wanted to save her. I was being selfish and giving her too much pressure. ‘You’re quiet,’ my wolf said after a while.

‘I’m thinking about how she looked when she woke up,’ I answered. ‘She couldn’t even lift her arms after the effects of one night. What am I supposed to do? Just sit with her for three more months and watch her get worse?’

‘I don’t know,’ my wolf said softly.

‘That’s not an answer,’ I muttered.

‘It’s the only one I’ve got. But you’re not going to figure it out sitting in a stream, bleeding all over yourself.’

I pulled my shirt back over my bloody arm and started heading back the way I came.

Talia was sitting up when I walked in. Seeing her made something ache in my chest. She looked better than she had that morning.

Talia held her arms out, and I went to her. She grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go as we hugged.

“You were gone,” she mumbled into my shoulder. “Way too long. I almost thought you’d gone back to Bloodmoon without me.”

“I’d never do that,” I said softly.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I’m sorry too,” I said. “I couldn’t hold it together here. I left before I said something I couldn’t take back.”

“Don’t apologize for that.” She pulled back and looked at me. “I should’ve told you the truth. You had every right to be angry.”

“Let’s just leave it at that for now,” I said. “Can we really?” she asked.

“For now,”

bet

“I’m still angry. I probably will be for I

14 still said, taking her hand.

But I’d rather be angry with

than alone in the wood sŵnovels

“That’s fair. I’ll do everything I can to regain your trust, Nolan. I promise.”

She held my hand for another moment. Then her eyes dropped to my arm and her whole expression changed.

“Nolan, your arm,” she said, alarmed.

Blood had soaked through my sleeve.

“It’s nothing. Just some branches,” I said.

“Take the shirt off,” she insisted.

“It’s fine,” I protested, but she wasn’t having it.

“Take it off and sit down,” she ordered. She was already calling for a first aid kit. Talia began to fuss over my arm.

“My wolf will heal this by tonight,” I told her. “It’ll be gone by morning. You know

that.”

“I know exactly what your wolf can do,” Talia said as she cleaned the scratch. But it heat slower if you’re bouncing around in a car all day.” Long trips slow everything down.”

“Says who?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Every healer I’ve ever met says so. One of them’s even married to my brother She turned my wrist over carefully. “So we’re cleaning it now and wrapping it up right. Then you wolf can do his thing.”

“Wait. Long trip?” I asked, suddenly wary.

“We’re going to the witches’ coven,” Talia answered. “As soon as we’re ready.”

I just stared at her, stunned.

“Do they have a way to help you?” I asked, hope flickering in my chest.

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