Page 29

I grunt. Because what words are there for what happened in that OR? I snapped. Plain and simple. Stood over an open patient and growled at my tech like something feral and told my team that no one was allowed to touch her. And then I finished the surgery. Best repair I've ever done, if I'm being honest, which I am.

We stay quiet for a while longer. Then Saanvi smooths her scrubs and moves toward the door. "Let me know if you want me to go with you," she says. "When you're ready to see Marin."

"I'm fine."

"I know you are."

She's almost through the door.

"Saanvi."

She stops. Turns back.

"Thanks," I say. "For everything."

She looks at me for a moment. Then she nods once and she's gone.

I turn back to Camelia. Her monitors beep. I stay where I am.

The door opens and every muscle in my body coils before I can stop it. Then I see it's Finn and something in me releases. He steps in quietly, the way he does everything. His dark hair is more disheveled than usual, dress shirt splayed open at the top, like he’s been tugging on it.

He opens his mouth, closes it, looks at the bed. Then he goes completely still. "Cammie." It comes out like something pulled from him against his will. Barely a whisper.

I'm on my feet. "You know her." It isn't a question.

Finn doesn't answer right away. He swallows, looks from her to me, then back to her lying there against the white of the hospital pillow. Something moves across his face that I can’t name. "She's so still," he says.

The anger comes up fast and hot. "You've known our omega and you never—"

The door opens again. Leith’s big body fills the frame. He's slightly out of breath. "Sorry, I was down the street when I saw your message." He stops when his eyes come to rest on the small omega in the hospital bed. He crosses the room slowly, like a man walking toward something he doesn't trust is real, and stops at the foot of her bed. The expression on his face is one I have never seen on Leith Cole in all the years I've known him.

"How could you hide her from us?" My voice comes out low but controlled. Barely. "Both of you. How?"

Leith puts his arm around Finn's shoulders, a wall going up, and I watch something flicker in his brown eyes.

Finn pushes his arm away gently. Steps to the side of her bed. He picks up her hand and presses his lips to her palm. He’s careful with her. Reverent, even. "We didn't know," he says quietly. "I wanted to introduce her to the pack, but—"

"But I told him no," Leith says flatly. "Piers wants a scent match. She's not that. Not to us."

The anger rolls back slightly, like a tide finding its limit.

"So you can't smell—" I start.

Finn shakes his head. Leith too.

"I can," I say. The words are quiet. "Even through the neutralizers. I nearly went feral while she was still open on my table.”

"But you didn't," Finn says. He's looking at me now. There’s something in his expression that might be gratitude, or relief, or both. “She’s here with us. You obviously got control and saved her.”

I swallow. “Yeah,” I say.

Leith turns from the bed. His eyes find mine. "What happened to her?"

I drag a hand through my hair. "She was hit by a car. That's all I know. Police were here earlier, but I didn't speak to them. Saanvi said they want to talk to Cammie when she's awake." I pause. "Whatever happened, she came in alone. No emergency contacts. No one looking for her."

The growl that comes out of Leith is low and vicious. Finn goes the color of the hospital walls.

I look between them. "How do you know her?"