CHARLES forced himself to walk. There was no hurry. Tom would have been a problem under other circumstances. But his mate was there to keep him under control. And even mad from pain and weakness, Tom wouldn’t hurt an Omega.

He was off balance: Anna’s fault. He wasn’t used to panicking, and it put him on edge.

There were very few people he’d cared for enough to panic over—and most of them were long dead and forever beyond need of his aid. His father and his brother Samuel he could usually trust to take care of themselves.

Anna left him vulnerable.

She’d said she was fine, and she meant it....