Page 89 of Their Rejected Queen

Godric narrows his eyes. “What did she do?” His voice is a low demand.

“She tried to kill me,” I tell him honestly.

Godric’s jaw flexes, and he immediately tries to stand.

I place a hand on his chest. I’m not strong enough to keep him from getting up, but only the lightest brush of my fingers is enough to pin him in place. “That’s why Ze’ev found me. He took care of it. Two shifters were with her, and he killed them.”

Godric takes in the information, then gives me a slow nod. “A fate I would likely have echoed. But Bianca lives?”

I shrug. “She probably has a nice scar on what’s left of her nose.”

Now he smirks. “You’re learning well if you’re starting to bite.” Then he turns serious. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. It won’t happen again.”

Ignoring his promise that I doubt he can keep as pack master, I tug at his shirt. “Take this off. You’re still bleeding.”

He considers me for a moment, then he does as I ordered.

I find that I quite like it when Godric does what I tell him to.

“You’re the one who should be resting,” I say as I wince. The side of his body doesn’t just have punctures; it has deep gashes.

He might not have shifted, but I suspect his opponent did.

He growls as I begin cleaning up the blood. “It’ll heal,” he insists again.

“Are you sure about that?” I ask as I press the wound together. It doesn’t appear to be behaving like the scratch on his lip. That healed the moment I’d wiped away the blood. This wound, however, seems to be irritated and inflamed. “Do wolves have toxins, by chance?”

He scowls. “Yes, some wolves have toxins. It’s nothing I can’t handle, though.”

As I pinch the wound again to test how swollen it is, he snarls.

“Don’t get all huffy with me,” I tell him as I retrieve the healing tonic.

I don’t care if shifters have advanced healing abilities. A toxin is a toxin.

“Take at least one drop,” I order him as I shove the vial in his face.

There’s still half the vial left. I can spare one drop, and it should be enough to help Godric’s shifter healing take root.

I don’t feel like I can be properly mad at him when he’s vulnerable like this. It’s not a state I’m used to seeing Godric in.

“One drop,” I insist again, and finally he takes the vial from me.

He uncorks it, then gently tilts it so that only a single drop comes out. It instantly melts on his tongue.

As I watch him, he surprises me by leaning in and grazing his tongue over mine. He kisses me more gently than he ever has before.

I taste the remnant of the healing tonic on him. Maybe he knows I’m still hurting. My entire body is sore from being slammed under the hot spring, given that the bit of tonic I’d digested before focused on my jaw. And there’s a pain that has settled deep inside my stomach like a short dagger that I can’t release.

That familiar heat blossoms low in my core as Godric runs his tongue across my lower lip.

These men are going to be the death of me.

“When Arwan arrives tomorrow, we’ll meet in secret to plan your escape off this isle.”

I blink at him, then lean back. “What?”

He strokes his thumb over my cheek. His smile has a sadness to it that I don’t understand. “If you can get off the isle, your heat should subside.”