Redemption by Cara Carnes Read Free Book Online Page B

was doing?
    He wasn’t a white dragon with excellent bedside manners, or a beta wolf capable of channeling his inner whatever. He didn’t know the slightest thing about making Mira feel secure.
    “Doc’s going to come around soon, take a look at your injuries. You should get cleaned up some. There are some fresh clothes here for you.” He motioned toward the untouched pile of stuff.
    Silence engulfed the room.
    “I can call Peyton to help, if you want.”
    “No.”
    The shrieked response made him wince. “I know y’all didn’t get off on the right foot, but she means well.”
    “She threatened to hang me by my toes and skin me in the square.”
    “She’s overly dramatic. I’ll handle her.”
    “I remember her wanting you to handle her,” she whispered.
    Adrik’s jaw twitched. “There was never anything there.”
    “She doesn’t seem to think so.”
    “I’ll handle her.” Adrik kicked off his boots and settled on the bed. “We’ve got ourselves a standoff here, Mira. I need to get you cleaned up or there’ll be a very irritated white dragon dragging you in there. I can’t handle the idea of anyone scaring you right now. There’s a lot of shit unsettled between you and me, but I swear no harm will come to you. Work with me here. Okay?”
    She shifted and groaned as she stood on weak legs. Fuck. She resembled a scrawny weeble-wobble doll. She stumbled toward the bathroom. The urge to pick her up and haul her in there pressed him hard, but he remained still, observant—prepared catch her if she tumbled.
    He admired her steel will almost more than he hated it. Curiosity curbed his frustration.
    “We see a lot of volunteers from facilities come through Redemption. I can’t recall seeing anyone in your condition.”
    “I suspect you see very few of the Impures. You’re the Alpha, too busy to deal with injured humans.”
    “You’d be surprised.” He stood when she leaned against the bathroom door’s frame. “Are all the people at the facility in your condition?”
    If so, they’d need a lot more warriors than they’d planned, which meant a serious delay. They’d have to either wait for another pack to provide support, or for Daryn’s den to return.
    “No. Maybe.” She continued forward. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I was secluded from the others, something about anomalous genetics. I suspected it was because, unlike the others, I wasn’t a volunteer, and I was associated with The Alliance.”
    “They questioned you about them?”
    “Yeah. And Paraspecies.”
    He’d suspected as much. Apparently so did The Alliance since there was a price on her head. Two years was a hell of a long time to withstand torture. The best warrior would crack under those circumstances.
    The frail female staring into his shower as though it were a torture chamber was no warrior. He made his way to the bathroom, then leaned against the door frame. Even though she deserved privacy, she wasn’t strong enough to be left alone. One hard tumble and she’d break something, probably the leg she already favored.
    She turned and hesitantly met his gaze. “I can’t do any of this without you, Adrik. Please help me.”
    He closed the distance, not caring whether she pleaded for now or for the mission she’d begged them to undertake. Nothing mattered beyond tending the female reaching out to him for strength. He inhaled, longing to immerse himself within the sweet ambrosia of vanilla he’d etched into his brain as being all Mira.
    Now the stench of suffering clung on her like a second skin. He gently picked her up and set her inside the stall. There’d be hell to pay with Giles later, but Adrik didn’t give a shit. Mira was getting a hot shower.
    He and his warriors never used hot water, opting to keep what energy stores they had allotted to Medical and other essential functions. Tonight all he gave a damn about was getting her clean, making sure she was safe. Water splattered to a dull pelting of icy shards when he