Jaime nodded, though she was very aware that it wouldn’t take much to have her wolf fighting to surface again.

“Good. Now I need to get a better look at your leg. I’ll be careful.” He cursed when he saw that there was no exit wound. “It’s already starting to heal, and if we don’t get the bullet out soon, it’ll be permanently embedded there.” Quickly Dante whipped off his T-shirt, tore off a strip, and tied it around her calf to add pressure to the wound. “Sorry, baby, but I need to move you.” As he scooped her up, Jaime gritted her teeth against the pain. She knew he was being as careful as possible as he carried her through the trees to the caves, but every single movement made her wince. She did her best to keep quiet, but she couldn’t help hissing as they ascended the stairs of the cliff face. They found a concerned Grace waiting near the door.

“I’ve prepared the examination room, and I’ve got Lydia there already waiting,” Grace told them as she walked at Dante’s side through the maze of tunnels.

Inside the examination room, he gently placed Jaime on the bed, even though what he really wanted was to hold her against him. Needing to touch her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “She’s been shot in her calf. The bullet’s still in there.”

“I’m going to need you to stand back, Dante,” said Grace.

Dante couldn’t help the growl that escaped him. No one kept him from Jaime, no one, especially while she was hurting.

Grace eyed him warily, but she remained firm. “I know you’re worried about her, but I’m going to need the space. Let’s face it, you take up a lot of it.”

“Dante, it’s okay,” said Jaime.

Her soft words smoothed over the jagged frays in his control. Grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, he grudgingly moved aside, not once releasing Jaime’s gaze. Being apart from her while she was hurting went against every instinct he had. He wanted to lie with her, feel her skin, bathe in her scent, and give her whatever comfort he could. Not that she’d accept any comfort, the stubborn woman, but he needed the contact just as much as she did. The thought of anyone even wanting to hurt her made his blood boil. His wolf was growling and pacing, anxious, enraged, and wanting vengeance.

Every time Jaime cried out in pain, he moved toward her only to receive a “stay back” look from Grace. Though she was one of the kindest souls he had ever known, Grace was also a hard-ass when she needed to be. That didn’t stop him from growling at her for keeping him apart from his female, even if it was slightly irrational, considering that she was tending to Jaime’s wound.

“Dante.”

Hearing his Alpha call him, Dante froze. The Beta in him urged him to answer the summons, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t walk away from Jaime. A part of him knew that he was overreacting by not wanting to move from her side. That same part of him acknowledged that she would heal and be absolutely fine—no other outcome was allowed. But another part of him was raging; this was Jaime, his Jaime, and she had a hole in her f**king leg. She was bleeding and in pain, and that was absolutely unacceptable.

“Dante,” Trey called again. As if he sensed Dante’s struggle, he added, “You don’t have to leave the room, just get your ass over here.”

“Go on,” Jaime told him gently. When he didn’t move, she assured him, “I’ll call you if I need you.”

Nodding, he—ignoring Grace’s sharp look—squeezed past Lydia and kissed Jaime’s hair, inhaling her scent. Very, very reluctantly, he walked to where Trey stood in the doorway with Trick and Tao. Dante stood at an angle so that he could still monitor Jaime.

Tao winced at the sight of all the blood. “I still can’t believe she was shot.” Neither could Dante. Sure, he’d known that Glory’s brothers would try something sooner or later, but he hadn’t considered that there would be guns involved. Shifters fought with tooth and claw.

Guns were considered cowardly, and not many shifters used them.

Trey folded his arms across his chest as he spoke to Trick. “When you said Glory’s brothers were crazy, I didn’t think you meant crazy enough to skulk around my territory with a rifle and then shoot one of my wolves.”

“And all because their little sister doesn’t like being denied what she wants,” growled Dante, striving to remain calm while anger bubbled through his veins.

Trey studied him closely and narrowed his eyes. “You will not head out there the second Jaime’s leg has been taken care of to go hunt those ass**les, understand?” Dante growled again, further incensed by the way that Trey had seen right through him. “They shot her, Trey. Shot her. I can’t let that slide.” His wolf was in full agreement. No one got to harm Jaime and live.

“And we won’t let that slide, I can promise you that. So there’s no need for you to turn vigilante on us. If I have to, I’ll order you not to do it, and then I’ll have the enforcers take care of this.”

“No f**king way. Jaime’s mine. Her shit is my shit, and those bastards are mine. It’s difficult enough not to go to Nick’s territory and rip out Glory’s throat—her being female doesn’t mean shit to me or my wolf right now.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” said Trey. “But you’ve got to get a hold of yourself, Dante.”

“Get a hold of myself? You’re kidding me, right?”

“Do you remember that time when I almost attacked Tao because he’d told Taryn he wanted to mate with her?”

Suddenly Tao was looking anywhere but at them.

“Do you remember what you said to me?” persisted Trey. “You said that I had to choose what was more important—kicking the living shit out of Tao, or making sure that Taryn stayed. I knew you were right when you said she’d have left if she thought she was causing fights within the pack. You told me to go to her and make sure she was okay. So I calmed my ass down and I went to her. You need to do the same now. Pick which is more important—going off on your own personal crusade, or being here for Jaime while she needs you. From what I heard, you let her down when she needed you once before. Do you really want to do that again?”

For a long moment, Dante didn’t speak. “I hate that you’re right.”

“I know. I hate it when you’re right. In the morning, we’ll discuss how we deal with this. For now, just concentrate on Jaime.”