Page 9 of Under Crimson Blades
“Good to know.” Sighing, Riaz eyed the wound on Remmus’ shoulder. “That doesn’t look so hot.”
When he shrugged away the concern, stabbing pain undermined his flippant attitude, and the healer who came to greet them noticed. The red-haired woman quickly set about ushering them into the examination room and cleaning his shoulder wound. It was simply another scar to add to his collection.
“Wouldn’t be much of a mission without some danger to spice things up.”
“Yeah, we’re in the presence of a daredevil.” The werewolf alpha shook his head to hide his blooming smile. “Sadie, what can you do for him?”
“Because of how the bullet grazed you,” the healer said, “I can’t extract any of the silver without doing extra damage.”
“I’m good, doc. I’m sure it’ll heal just fine.”
Chapter Three
Ava was seething.
How dare he? That Raeth had body-checked her, forcing her to the ground before landing on top of her. He’d pinned her below that—admittedly delicious—male body and then had the audacity to not even respond when she began to choke the life out of him. Her growl echoed off the walls of her quarters.
She renewed her concentration on the task at hand: delicately frosting the cupcake in front of her. Squinting, Ava squeezed the frosting bag in a perfect outward spiral, creating the perfect center of a rose. After piping triangular spring green leaves on each, she felt the angst begin to fall away.
Twenty-three more cupcake roses and she reached the calm she sought.
And then she devoured two cupcakes in one sitting.
Ava had taken up baking far before there’d been cupcakes or frosting or perfect leaf-shaped cream cheese mints. Decorating her creations had evolved into a hobby—and she liked to think that everyone in the den appreciated her efforts.
When she placed the remaining twenty-two cupcakes down on a table in the great hall, all hell broke loose. Her packmates, wolf form and human both, leapt into the melee to nab one. Shoved away from her creations by the ensuing quarrel, she chuckled as Riaz and Cortana joined her.
“Gluttons, the whole lot of them.”
Riaz elbowed her gamely, the move as loving as it was familiar. “You started it.”
“Needed to do something to work off my stress.”
Though Remmus wasn’t with the alpha pair, she didn’t take it to mean that he had left the premises. Aidan had assured her that the Raeth was essential to their HVAC recoding process, and that meant he’d have to stay close in the interim. Since he’d had to audacity to be injured, they hadn’t been able to speak about their next mission. At some point, she’d have to track him down.
When a scuffle broke out between two younger wolves, Riaz strode away from them, leaving Cortana and Ava staring after the dominance battle that was quickly turning bloody. The alpha wouldn’t intervene, but he would ensure neither party lost their life if it escalated too quickly.
“Ava, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”
She glanced at her alpha. “Since when do you need to ask?”
“Since the question is difficult,” Cortana admitted. “Will you tell me why you hate them?”
“Raeths?”
The vampire nodded.
After her behavior today, she owed her alpha an explanation. They had known each other for months, but every time Ava tried to work up the courage to tell the vampire, she second guessed herself. Now was as good a time as any.
Gesturing toward a nearby picnic table, Ava prepared herself to reveal the story that would undoubtedly change how Cortana viewed her. The other woman remained silent as she fought for the right words, and finally let them spill in a hush of tense breath.
“When I was a child, maybe seven or eight, I nearly drowned,” Ava began. “I slipped on rocks while I was gathering berries for my mother and ended up in the river during spring melt. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t swim my way out or pull myself up on shore.
“Every second felt like years, and I knew I was dying. As I began to lose consciousness, I felt myself being lifted and dragged out of the water. Someone had locked an arm around my waist and was pulling me out. I can remember the grit of the shore on my hands and my face as I collapsed there, thinking the only thing that mattered was air.”
Cortana chuckled, the sound almost sad. “Understandable.”
“When I finally managed to catch my breath, I looked over and saw a boy beside me, a couple years older than I was. Platinum blonde, refined features that—at the time—I thought meant he was of good breeding. Unlike my tattered hand-me-downs, he wore clothing of quality.”