Valkyrie

Chapter 17

We didn't do much talking on the way back to my trailer because I fell asleep. Not into a hard reset but a normal, exhausted sleep that I had tumbled into before we'd even left the parking lot. The interior of the SUV smelled like wolf and that meant safety to my tired mind so I'd had no trouble dozing off. A warm hand on my thigh had me jerking my head up from where it was resting against the passenger side window. I blinked a few times, forcing my eyes to focus on the side of my trailer. I'd barely gotten a catnap. My head was starting to pound.

"We're here," he said.

"Thanks," I said, stifling a yawn. "Sorry I fell asleep."

"It's okay," he said with a crooked grin and a hint of dimple. My belly fluttered, of course. Even though I was bone tired, he still had that effect on me. "You needed it."

We got out, Trey behind me as we climbed the steps and went inside. I tossed my utterly ruined jacket to the dinette with a disgusted sneer before I collapsed on the couch. My bones felt heavy and my back still hurt where I'd been shot.

"I don't need you to protect me, Han."

Jesus. We were really going to do this now. I let my head fall to the back of the couch and closed my eyes. I heard Trey move to the dinette and sit, the bench letting out a squeak or protest under his weight.

"I can't help it, Doc."

"Well, figure it out because I don't need it." He stood, boots clunking on the floor as he paced. Gods save me from the pride of the fucking Alpha wolf.

"Your wounded pride isn't my problem."

"That has nothing to do with it. You were part of a pack. You know what an enforcer does, right?"

"Of course. What does that have to do with anything right now?" His steps stilled, his Alpha energy snapping. I lifted my head up and opened my eyes. Trey was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at me, silver eyes dark and narrowed, jaw clenched, hands fisted at his sides. I let out a tired sounding snort. "If you're going to tell me that you were an enforcer, please don't get mad when I laugh."

"Why would that be so hard for you to believe?" His deep voice was quiet. Something in the back of my mind screamed out a warning as the hair on my arms stood up. I sat up straight and focused on him.

"You're a healer. You make people better, put them back together. The total opposite of what an enforcer does." They're the packs police. They keep the laws and dole out punishment when needed and sometimes that punishment means physical pain and even death. What I used to do had more in common with a pack enforcer than Trey did.

"I wasn't just an enforcer, Hannah. I'm a Blade."

I stared at him and blinked a few times. His words took a few moments to sink in. A Blade. Holy shit. A Blade is like an uber werewolf. A berserker. They are killing machines. Cold. Calculating. Powerful. Deadly. Extremely hard to stop and even harder to kill. Right on the edge of control, more animal than man most times. They're the ones that get sent to do the dirty work that no one else will do, even the most hardened enforcers. My uncle Seb is a Blade and he is honestly one of the very few people that I am genuinely afraid of. If Trey was telling the truth and he really was a Blade, he was very good at hiding it. But, so was my uncle Seb. The quiet, gentle, soft-spoken man never gave any hint that he could and would tear someone apart with his bare hands if necessary.

The spot where Trey had bitten me suddenly flared to life, stinging and tingling as if it were fresh. I sucked in a breath and rubbed my shoulder, wincing at the burning pain. I must have been more tired than I realized because like his words, the fact that the bite was now hurting again and shouldn't have been took a few moments to register on my brain. When it did finally register and my brain figured out what that meant, I surged up off the couch and into Trey's face, sending him back a step as indignant rage rose up and every bit of fatigue and caution I'd been feeling rushed out of me as I glared up at him, standing on my toes so I could put my face closer to his.