MATED TO SERIES COLLECTION

43. VALERIA: LIES WITHHOLD

David's eyes widened when we entered the room. He pushed the doctor away and was on his feet the next instant. Of course, the moment he stepped forward his less gave way beneath his weight. Devon rushed past me to help the doctor get David back onto the bed. He didn't look away from me. The fear I saw in his eyes was disturbing. I moved closer to the bed and stopped next to Devon.

"She's not injured," he told David. "Our little mate took out a shifted rogue and one who tried to carry her off."

"You killed them?" David asked.

His eyes trailed over me from head to toe. I was curious to see what he saw. On our way here a lot of pack members had stopped to stare. I was covered in blood, I knew that. But weren't they used to seeing others covered in blood since they usually fight? I told David what I told Alark and Devon as the doctor continued to patch him up. When I was done the room fell silent. The men had warned me not to mention the fact that I could grow claws and fangs.

They wanted to figure out what caused it first before we allowed anybody to know. What happened was a mystery—a mystery we all wanted to solve.

The doctor called Devon aside when he was done. I stared at them as they walked towards the door until they disappeared. My eyes snapped over to David when he reached out to grip my hand. He stared down at it for a few seconds before glancing up at me again but then his eyes dropped to where he stared at the blood-soaked shirt for a full minute before catching my eyes with his again.

"He tried to grab you?" I nodded. "And you killed him?"

"Yeah."

"And the shifted rogue?"

"He was going to kill Devon."

David gave my hand a sharp tug. I stepped forward until my hips hit the bed. To my surprise, he cupped my cheek and smashed his lips down on top of mine. The kiss didn't last long. He pulled away again. My eyes widened when I saw the glister of tears in his eyes. David was about to cry. I reached up to cup his cheek.

"Don't cry," I whispered. "We're okay."

He leaned into my touch and squeezed his eyes closed. "Yeah, but I could've lost both of you. I wasn't there to protect you. I—"

"You were there. I need to tell you something."

The door opened and Devon entered. His eyes darted between us before settling on David. The relief I saw in his grey eyes made me smile. I couldn't wait to experiment, but for that to happen, David had to heal first. My eyes dropped to his arm in the sling. Alark had filled us in on our way here. He had instructed the doctor to start David on the healing drug immediately.

With the doctor gone and the door firmly closed, Devon explained in detail how exactly I had killed the shifted man. David was surprised but it only lasted about ten seconds before he smiled and praised me. He had pulled me closer to him to inspect the tip of my fingers and my teeth.

They both had a few theories as to why it suddenly happened. I added a few of my own which caused the men to laugh at me. In the end, we decided it was because of all their blood they had fed me and my desperation.

It was either fight or get killed. I chose to fight. Devon wanted to speak to the elders. He wanted to tell the whole pack, but I was very reluctant.

Maybe knowing that I had some Lycan abilities would help them accept me as their Alpha Female, but I wasn't ready to be questioned and experimented on. David had pointed that out. Thankfully he was on my side.

In the end, I talked Devon into keeping my little secret between the three of us. Alark had stopped by shortly after our discussion ended. Devon asked him to keep quiet about it to which he agreed. He said that he also talked to his men who had seen me. They swore to keep silent.