Free Lovers' Tussle by India-Jean Louwe Page B

had orchestrated. This shame was hers to bear. And she would stop at nothing in undoing it.
    Even as they had battled she had been consumed with the need to stop them. Matthew had interceded at the very instant she had decided to rush forward. There was no telling what exactly his intention had been. All she knew was that he wanted her, wanted the status she offered, and he was greedy enough to play dirty. The imbecile who had made the mistake of laying his hand on her was still moaning and writhing like a baby. He deserved his fate, if not more. Aiden had been merciful, a gentleman. Had it been Roth, she was sure Matthew would have taken his last, chilled breath tonight. Here again she was to blame. She never should have made her plans known to the pack, and she certainly should have been more astute about being followed.
    She sighed softly as she slumped and rubbed the side of her face lovingly along the thick mane of fur. His muscles were relaxed and tender beneath her touch. Each gentle touch, each swipe of her red-stained tongue, she had poured all her regret, her hope, her love into it. He had to survive. She could not live without him.
    Finally, the dim light of false dawn threatened to break. She inspected her handiwork in the light of this new day. His luxuriant coat was still horribly stained, lightened to a soft pinkish gray by her constant laving. His heartbeat was faint, and he remained motionless. But the bleeding had ceased. Each breach in his precious body had been mended. And he was alive. The battle was no longer in her hands. “Fight, Roth. You are a warrior, so fight your way back to me.”
    She remained by his side even as two members of her pack arrived at her silent call. They glared at her, allowing their disgust at her cowardice to be fully displayed, but did her bidding nevertheless. She would face the wrath of her father later. Now she would have to turn Roth’s care over to his brother. That was the face deserving of Roth’s first glimpse. She said a silent prayer as she helped load his still body into the open cart her pack members had arrived with, praying that just this once God would answer the pleas of a damned soul. Please wake up, Roth. Your brother needs you. I need you.

Chapter 5:
    The Union
     
    Slumped over in the chair and smelling like something had crawled into his shirt and died, Aiden struggled to keep his eyes open. Realizing that the time span between each self-inflicted, forceful shake had vastly diminished, been overtaken by the time he spent unintentionally dozing, he finally pushed up from the chair. Sitting was getting him nothing but a quick invitation through the yawning doors to the land of dreams. He ran his hand over his fatigued face and blew out a breath of exasperation. The action did nothing to console him. Three days’ worth of hair scraped against his palms, and the odor from beneath his unwashed armpits was overpowering.
    He turned his attention back to his still patient on the bed. Nestled against plain-white sheet and pillow casing, Roth’s healthy coat should have been a striking contradiction to the background. But he was still much too pale. It had been three long, exhausting days since his arrival, yet nothing had changed.
    When Tienna had turned up on his doorstep just past daybreak, leading two antagonistic men who carried a precious burden, he had been plunged into another dark, scorching hell. He had not only killed his brother, but he had left his body lying in an open field for the feeding of buzzards. The sins of a single night had added up at such an alarming rate, everything else in his life seemed like he’d been as innocent as a green-eared virgin. He had taken his brother’s still wolf form into his arms with a broken utterance of gratitude. But then Tienna had said something that had lit the dank corners of his personal hell into a bright, warm paradise. Roth was alive.
    The first question that had popped into his mind after a heartfelt