Jax glanced back at us and saw me looking at the carnage. “Sloane’s people fought back,” he said grimly. “They shot down one of the choppers, too. It was just blind luck that it wasn’t one of the ones we were on.”
I couldn’t afford to think about that too closely—not if I wanted to keep my composure. “You made it, though,” I said. “We all made it.”
As the orderlies helped Jax to an empty cot, I scanned the room, aware that Jax and Kam were doing the same. My gaze caught on a large, dark-skinned man lying unmoving on a bed in the corner, and my breath hitched.
“It’s Flynn,” Kam said. “I don’t see Alex.”
Jax grabbed one of the orderlies by the forearm. “The female alpha with the broken fingers. Where is she?” His tone said they’d better have a goddamned good answer.
“Being prepped for surgery,” the man said matter-of-factly. “Her hand is badly injured. It’ll need rods and pins.”
My gut churned. I tried to tell myself she’d broken it punching some asshole in the jaw... and didn’t believe it for a minute.
“Can we see the other alpha who came in?” I pointed at Flynn, who was currently untended.
The orderly’s gaze flicked up, following my gesture. “Yeah, go ahead. If he wakes up, call someone over and then try to see how aware he is. There’s a possibility of concussion.”
“His skull is the hardest part of his body,” Jax muttered. “Go on, you two. Go sit with him. I’ll be right here for a bit, I’m guessing.”
“We’ll watch over him,” Kam promised.
I wanted to dart forward and kiss Jax first, bless his giant, uncomplicated heart—but I was cognizant of the orderlies’ warning not to get in their way while they were working. They were already leaning over him, efficiently removing the makeshift bandage around his leg.
There were no handy chairs nearby, so actuallysittingwith Flynn wasn’t really an option. My heart ached as I stood over him, taking in the black and blue of his bruised and swollen face... the small burn marks littering his bare chest. I knelt on the floor and rested an elbow on the edge of the thin mattress, while Kam perched on the edge of the cot on Flynn’s other side.
Needing to touch, I reached out and trailed gentle fingers over Flynn’s collarbone. “Hey,” I whispered.
For a long moment, there was no response... but then Flynn’s chest rose and fell on a deep breath.
“Honey and orchard blossoms,” he rasped. His right eye blinked open—the left was swollen shut. He gazed blearily between us, and a slow smile tugged at the corners of his split lips. “Now there’s a nice way to wake up.”
TWENTY-TWO
Leo
“FLYNN,” I SAID in relief. My hands hovered, unsure where to land. “I don’t know where it’s safe to touch you.”
