Savage Craving - Cecilia Lane Page 0,35

along in his wake.

Seth stumbled the moment he hit the parking lot. His ears pounded with every beat of his heart. His next step felt like he trudged through mud up to his chest.

He met Lilah’s worried look. She had gorgeous eyes. Brown with flecks of green and gold. He’d never be able to look at regular blues and greys or even his own brown without thinking them flat and lacking.

He shook his head to clear the spots dancing along the edge of his vision. He couldn’t give in to any weakness. Not with enemies right behind him.

“Seth?” Lilah asked in a shaky voice.

No, not asked. Stated in panic.

He reached for her, vaguely aware of the others pushing out of the warehouse. Safe. He had to keep her safe.

Darkness rolled over him as he sank to his knees.

Chapter 13

Lilah watched the door to Seth’s room and desperately tried not to imagine the worst. All involved Seth dying in one way or another. Bleeding out, some mysterious, unknown infection flaring up and consuming him within seconds, that shifter he’d been fighting bursting through the window and finishing the job...

She wiped her hands on her thighs, then tightened them to keep from shaking. He wasn’t going to die. Hailey had assured her of that. So had the others. Still, her stomach roiled and she thought she might get sick every time she swallowed.

This was her fault. She never should have agreed to go out. She should have known nothing was ever simple or easy with shifters involved. Danger always waited around the corner. If she'd just sat in his room and waited for the morning, he wouldn't be suffering for her yet again.

She’d trusted when they explained it was like watching an MMA fight. A little rougher, perhaps, but the idea was the same. None of those expectations factored in another near-miss or seeing her brief hope of returning to a normal life ripped apart with a handful of words.

“I want two rings of patrols tonight,” Trent murmured to the others huddled around him. “Rhys, Lin, you take up the fences. Dash, you stick close to the dens with me. I won’t give those fucks an easy time if they slip past the other two.”

Sage scuffed her foot against the concrete floor and cast quick looks to Kyla and Colette. "We're staying here until Seth is back on his feet. We won't leave her alone."

No question who the ‘her’ meant.

Their plans grated on Lilah’s nerves. Not the existence, she supposed. They were smart to make them. The close proximity felt far too much like listening to her parents talk to her doctors while she sat next to them, feeling small and insignificant. She’d been a problem back then, the same as she was now.

“You don’t need to worry about all that,” Lilah said softly. She rubbed her hands on her thighs when all eyes turned to her. “I planned to leave in the morning. I don’t see why that should change now.”

Trent slid a look to the others. Unreadable expressions formed masks on all their faces. “You should talk that over with Seth,” he said finally.

She opened her mouth to… what, she didn’t know. Argue again that Seth needed a hospital? Tell them she didn’t need anyone’s, let alone some random man’s, permission to carry on about her life? Her stomach still turned and the thought of leaving him without explanation made the feeling worse. She didn’t want to abandon him, but her options were limited. Heap trouble on others, or find somewhere else to hide.

Jasper hadn’t stopped. He still wanted her dead. She didn’t want anyone else taking hurts meant for her.

The entire group fell silent with the first turn of the knob and creak of the door opening. Hailey squeezed through and shut it behind her with utmost care, then charged across the breezeway with fire in her eyes. “What is it about knowing how to stitch up small animals that makes you idiots think I’m a human doctor?” she demanded in a low voice.

Lindley spread his hands wide. “You call us animals often enough. Pardon our confusion.”

“Har har,” Hailey snarked back. Her eyes softened when they landed on Lilah. “He’s been asking for you. The only reason he stayed still long enough for me to stitch him up was agreeing to let you in as soon as we were done.”

It was all the encouragement she needed. Lilah sprang for the door like an unleashed coil, anxiety whispering in her