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Bryn still wasn’t awake.
Over twenty-four hours had passed since the beating, and she still lay unconscious in her bed. Ali didn’t want to leave her side, but couldn’t bear to look at her. Bruises and cuts littered her entire body. Even though she was breathing, Ali couldn’t help but feel like she was looking at a dead girl.
Her hands were shaking as she shoved Bryn’s clothes into a duffel bag, leaving her one clean set for when she woke up. And she would wake up. If she didn’t, Callum was a dead man.
Bryn’s room was nearly empty now. Ali hadn’t slept at all, instead packing in a frenzy. She didn’t care what she had to do, she was getting Bryn out of here.
She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice the two sets of footsteps in the house until she heard her name. She looked up to see Casey standing in the doorway. And behind him was Callum.
“What is he doing here?” she snapped.
“He’s the alpha,” Casey said. “And Bryn’s guardian.”
Ali scoffed, rolling her eyes as she continued shoving Bryn’s things into the bag. She refused to look at Callum as he entered the room and Casey made himself scarce, knowing better than to stick around. She’d barely said a word to him since that day, and he had been wisely staying out of her way.
“How is she?” Callum asked as he approached Bryn’s bedside.
“Go to hell,” Ali snapped. She turned around just in time to see Callum reaching out toward Bryn.
“Don’t touch her!”
To her amazement, Callum froze. For a second, Ali saw something in his eyes that might have been guilt. Callum’s hand drifted back to his side, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Bryn. Ali ground her teeth furiously. She didn’t even want him looking at her.
“I knew she’d make it through,” he said. “You have to believe that.”
“She hasn’t made it through yet,” Ali said. “And it doesn’t matter what you think you know. You act like she’s your daughter, but you had her beaten into a coma.”
She dropped the bag she’d been holding on the bed next to Bryn.
“We’re leaving,” she said coldly. “As soon as Bryn wakes up. Don’t you dare try to stop us, because I’m not asking for your permission.”
Her words were met with a long silence. Ali knew she was courting danger by talking to Callum like this, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t backing down this time. Bryn could have died. And even if Callum was her guardian on paper, Ali was the one who’d raised her. Who was responsible for keeping her safe, since clearly no one else was going to.
But when Callum spoke, all he had to say was, “Does Casey know?”
“He’s probably figured it out by now,” Ali said.
“You have my permission to take her,” Callum said, as if Ali had asked for it or cared what he had to say about it. “It’s what needs to happen next.”
Something about those words unsettled her. But she wasn’t exactly in the mood to keep talking to Callum right now. She doubted he would give her a straight answer, anyway.
“You’ve seen she’s alive,” she said. “Now go.”
She could feel Callum bristling. Even before, when she butted heads with him, she’d never been so overtly disrespectful of his authority as the alpha of the Pack. But right now, she didn’t care. Right now, he was nothing but the person who’d hurt her daughter.
“One day, she’ll understand,” he said.
Ali ground her teeth again, refusing to dignify that with a response. Callum looked down at Bryn one last time – for hopefully what would be the last time he ever did so – before he crossed to the door and left.
Ali reached down and grasped Bryn’s hand in hers, watching her eyes for any sign that they were about to open.
“I’m getting you out of here,” she said, gently squeezing her daughter’s fingers. “I promise.”