HAVEN ✓

Twenty-Eight

At some point in the night, we fall asleep. When morning arrives with the sun filtering through the curtain of water, my eyes opening to a new perspective. A whole new world, even.

I look over to Luke, sleeping on his back and hair plastered to his forehead. For a brief moment, I feel like all is right in the world. We are safe. Alive. Then I see his mangled clothes and I am absolutely horrified.

The whole front of his chest is covered with blood.

Memories from last night flood my mind. The moonlight. Skinwalker. Luke pushing me behind him. Claws ripping through the air and slashing across his body in the pitch blackness.

Then, Luke risking being caught again, and me waiting for him in the exact same spot I sit in now.

I bring a trembling hand to my mouth, horrified by the fact that not only is he wounded, but it is because of me.

Guilt settles deep in my chest, wedging a sharp knife into my heart. Luke was hurt protecting me.

Luke stirs, blinking. Upon seeing my stricken face, he immediately jumps up, searching the vicinity for imposing danger.

Finding none, he turns his attention to me. "Sophie, what's wrong?"

I can't tear my eyes away from the four angry gashes in his flesh, red and oozing. He looks down and hisses, as if feeling the sting of it for the first time.

"Luke, I—I'm so sorry," I apologize, fumbling over the words. He waves me off, pulling the remains of his shirt over his head and ripping it into long strips. I watch, horrified, as he grits his teeth and wraps the strips of cloth around the cuts, grunting as he knots them.

"It's not your fault," he sighs. "It was naive of me to assume they hadn't occupied the area because of their obstructed senses. They have been widening their territory for years, so I shouldn't have been surprised."

He brushes his knuckles along my cheek and my lip quivers. I can't help but disagree with him. There is something undeniable between us, and the very nature of that attraction is dangerous. It's a feeling that compels me protect him, no matter what the cost. I can understand the impulse to put myself in danger before him, kind of like how I went after Markee.

But unlike Luke, I've been on the other end before. I've been the one left behind. Too many times, I've been the one told to run to safety while the other fought for their life. I've endured the guilt of surviving as if it were a reward for my cowardice. I never want to feel that way again.

Regardless of there being Skinwalkers in the region, there are other dangers that pose a threat, too. Wildlife. The elements. Other humans. What is to stop Luke from putting himself in peril in order to spare me? What if he gets injured again, or worse?

Just thinking about it puts a sour taste in my mouth. I would not be able to stomach it. Now he means too much to me.

So I tell him.

"You don't have to protect me," I mumble, mentally cursing my predisposition to pacifism.

His hand moves to burden my shoulder. "Don't worry, I will do anything to keep you safe." My stomach drops at his words.

I brush aside his fingers. "I don't want you to keep me safe. Not if it means you get hurt!" My voice is stronger this time. I need him to know I mean it. Rhett's hurt face flashes before me, then Miles laying on the ground, bleeding out onto the dirt. They were injured because of me. They could have died because of me. And now Luke...

Never before have I held someone in my heart like I do this man.

He blinks, his eyebrows knitting a picture of confusion. "It's just a few scratches. I'm fine, Soph," he argues. My heart lurches at the nickname, but I won't let it deter me.