The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 23 - Pointing Fingers

I was surprised when Jace's face softened. I was even more surprised when he crossed the room to embrace me. We had never had so much physical contact before — not even once. The feeling of his arms around me was a strange one, and it was somewhere amidst all the squeezing that I realised — this was for show, wasn't it? We were supposed to be soulmates, and he knew he needed to have some emotional reaction to my life being in danger.

Goddess. I would have been comforted by it, too. It had been a long time since someone hugged me, and after the chaos of the last hour, I might have actually melted in his arms. By the time he let go of me, I was fuming where I stood. For a moment there, I truly had forgotten that our entire relationship was an act. I had forgotten that I couldn't even count him as a friend. And that was my fault, not his, but the anger was directed at him anyway.

"You're alright?" he asked.

I just nodded. There was a lump in my throat, and I didn't trust myself to answer audibly.

He looked me up and down carefully. Someone must have tipped him off about my shoulder already, because that was where his gaze settled. One of his hands came up to brush my arm.

"May I?"

It was barely a breath. So quiet that I doubted Bradley or Ashley would have heard it. Most mates didn't ask permission before touching each other, after all. I gave another nod — this one tiny and more reluctant.

Gently, he pulled my collar down far enough to see the injury. I heard him loose a long, slow breath. It was a moment or two before he let my collar curl upwards again.

"I'll call a doctor," he murmured. "But I think whatever we do, this is going to leave a nasty scar."

I turned to frown at Bradley with anxiety squeezing my throat. "You said it wasn't that bad."

"No, I said it wouldn't kill you," Bradley told me. "And I was right, wasn't I? You got lucky, Luna. The man who was hurt — he's a trained fighter. You saw what happened to him."

Was he trying to pick a fight with me? It sounded like it. So I met his irritation with a blank face and a calm, measured tone and hoped it was convincing. "Yes, I saw what happened to him."

"That could easily have been you."

"That thought did cross my mind, funnily enough," I said quietly. Did Jace not feel like intervening at all? Bradley had a nerve doing this right in front of him, but he seemed to be getting away with it.

He actually took a step closer to me. "You should never have gone outside. You realise that, don't you?"

Now Jace shot him a look. It said something along the lines of 'I know' 'but shut up.' When that stare came to rest on me, instead, I found myself standing up a little straighter. Here we go, I thought.

"Emma and I will talk when we get home," he said. I knew what that meant, and I felt my heart speeding up in my chest. I didn't have the energy for this tonight. What I wanted was a bed to collapse into and eight hours of peace and quiet.

"We're going now?" I asked, reaching for a sweater from the drawer of clothing.

"Soon."

Jace sounded distracted. He wasn't looking at me anymore. His eyes swept the kitchen once, and then they came to rest on his Delta again.

"Where is she?" he asked quietly.

Bradley nodded at the doorway without a second's hesitation. I saw Jace turn in that direction, pulling something shiny and metallic from a pocket, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.