The healers had finally left Xander’s room after what felt like hours. The heavy oak door clicked shut, leaving only the soft crackle of the fireplace and the steady rhythm of Xander’s breathing. Claire sat on the edge of the massive bed, refusing to move even an inch away from him. Her hands still trembled slightly from the adrenaline of the night, but she forced them steady as she reached for the fresh bandages and antiseptic on the nightstand.
Xander lay propped against a pile of pillows, his bare chest rising and falling with careful breaths. Deep gashes crisscrossed his ribs and left shoulder, already beginning to knit together thanks to his accelerated wolf healing, but they still looked raw and painful. Blood had dried in streaks across his skin, and Claire’s heart clenched every t
