Page 5 of Forced Mate Bride
He snarled, glancing between the woods and Nikki. He wanted nothing more than to tear Lucas to ribbons for what he had done to Nikki, but she was injured, and he couldn’t tell how severely.
Lucas or Nikki. There was no real contest.
Despite his rage urging him to go after Lucas to teach him a lesson, he turned away from the woods and charged back toward Nikki. She was trembling, and he could smell fear mixing with her normal scent. Fresh rage surged through him. Not right now, but soon, Lucas would pay for terrifying her.
Nikki flinched back from him, and it was only then that he realized he was still a hulking wolf. He shifted back to human and approached her slowly, the way he might a wounded animal. Tears streaked through the dirt on her face, but she didn’t recoil when he came to stand next to her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, sitting on his haunches.
“I’m fine,” she choked out. But she was lying. He didn’t have to be a genius to see that.
“It’s all right,” he said. “I’m here to help.”
Swallowing, she watched him nervously, shellshocked and shy from what had happened. He couldn’t blame her. But the look in her eyes, that haunted, almost glazed expression, sent a fresh wave of anger through him. Lucas had gotten off too easily.
He reached out and brushed his thumb gently over the gash on her head, barely touching it. She flinched.
“Sorry. How bad does that hurt?”
“Pretty bad.”
Rage rushed through him, but he tried to temper it. It wasn’t the time.
“Are there any other spots?”
She hesitated. At first, he thought it was because she was shy. It took him a moment to realize the pause came more from embarrassment or shame than anything else.
“My side,” she finally muttered, staring down at the ground.
He wanted to tell her there was nothing for her to be ashamed of, but he was too preoccupied with making sure she was okay. He took in her shirt, the jagged tears and the blood spreading across the fabric. He forced himself to bite back a snarl.
“I’m going to take a look, okay?” he muttered.
She nodded. Gently, he pulled back the shirt. She sucked in a breath, her stomach flexing.
It wasn’t as bad as it could have been; he doubted it would need stitches. But it would have been painful as hell. Lucas had done it to stop her from running.
I’m going to kill him¸Jasper thought.
It was his fault in the first place. He should have been faster. He should have gotten to her sooner. If he’d been faster, instead of busy talking with Franco about patrols, she might not be hurt at all.
He pulled off his shirt and began tearing it into strips. Silently, he began to wrap the makeshift bandages around the worst of her injuries.
“It’s not too bad,” he said. “Could be a lot worse, but it’s gonna hurt like hell.”
She let out a half-laugh. “It already does,” she said. Her hands were quivering. He doubted it was from the pain.
Without realizing what he was doing, he rested his hand on hers, stilling the tremors. “It’s all right,” he said.
“I couldn’t stop him,” she muttered. He wasn’t sure if she knew she was saying it.
“You held him off,” he told her. She blinked, her eyes meeting his. “That’s something to be proud of, too.”
She didn’t respond, but he could feel her watching him while he dressed her wounds. He didn’t glance up, too unsure of what he would do if he met her gaze at that moment. It was taking every ounce of his willpower to remain professional when he wanted nothing more than to reassure her with kisses and gentle touches. So he focused only on wrapping the scraps of his shirt around her waist to staunch the bleeding.
“Thanks. I should get home,” she muttered once he’d finished, pushing herself to her feet. She wobbled slightly, and he shot to his own feet. He took her elbow and held it gently to steady her.
“Actually, I’d like to take you back to my place so I can get a better look at your injuries,” he said.
