The wrongness of the situation hits hard and for half a second, I feel sorry for myself.
“You mean what happened to you?” Holly jumps beside me, the mattress bouncing before absorbing her weight.
She grabs another pillow, soft and pink and shaped like a rose, and crosses her legs.
“Why won’t you talk about it, Mandi? Is it too soon? Are you still trying to process what happened?”
She’s vibrating, barely managing her impatience at hearing about Grayson.
“It’s everything. It’s the way we treat those bitten wolves even after they nearly destroyed us.” I scowl at her. “And you need to stop sticking your nose into everything. You’re too curious. It’s going to get you hurt or worse.”
“Well, someone has to ask the questions, don’t they? It might as well be me.” Her gaze lands on my bandage. “You need to change that.”
“I kept it dry in the shower at least. Wrapped a bag around it and everything.” I hadn’t wanted to look.
“Here, let me.”
I clutch my arm to my chest. “No, definitely not.”
Grayson did such a good job with the bandage I don’t want to risk Holly’s shoddy replacement. Or mine.
Holly is the kind of suspicious who will see monsters where there are none. Once she gets a look at the wound, she’ll put everything together. And with me and Grayson separated?—
I need a better imagination to come up with a backstory for them to sink their teeth into.
Rather than argue, she lunges over the pillow, grabbing my arm and pulling. She might be fast but I’m stronger.
“Stop it,” I grind through my teeth.
She’s panting, tugging, using her wolf to get her way. “Why don’t you want me to see? Is this about him? Oh my gosh, did he treat your wounds? Was he your knight in shining armor?”
The mention of Grayson ashimthrows me off my stride. I drop over the side of the bed, landing hard on my back, and Holly is over me in an instant.
“It is, isn’t it?” She chuckles, her honey-blond ponytail swinging with the movement. “The pack is trying to keep you separated, you know. I heard Dad talking about it last night. They think he’s the reason you took off in the first place.”
Correct.
“They’re not sure if he’s the reason you got caught by vamps or not.”
Incorrect.
I tug my wrist out of her grip but she latches on again, her nails pushing against my skin. “Like I said, you’re a sneak.”
“Dad says he’s inferior because he’s bitten and you’re not. And just so you know, I’m not an idiot.”
Holly gets her way, as she always does, using her claws to cut through the bandage without marking my skin. The gauze drops and the crescent bite marks are right there, between the two of us.
Her eyes narrow with surprise and I manage to push her off me. Scrambling to my feet, I twist away from her.
“Was it him?” she breathes.
“It was the vampires. They had me for days. You know how they are,” I hedge. “They want to hurt you in any way they can.”
“Actually, I don’t. Why haven’t you healed by now?”
The space between us is wider than it’s ever been, and marked by something more permanent than physical distance.
I haven’t healed because I’m probably cursed in a way I haven’t been before. I can’t tell her.