I woke up in a room lined with beds, white curtains hanging between them. The moment I tried to sit up, a nurse rushed over and gently but firmly pushed me back down.
“Easy,” she said. “You took one hell of a beating.”
My face felt tight and swollen, like it did not quite belong to me. Every breath sent a sharp ache through my ribs, and my wrist throbbed dully where it lay splinted at my side.
“You’ve got five broken ribs and a broken wrist,” she continued. “You need to take it easy.”
“What the hell happened?” I asked, my voice rough.
“You were at training,” she said. “That’s all I know. Hand-to-hand combat, according to what they told me.”
And then it all came flooding back.
Austin.
I remembered his fists. His strength. The way I had been completely overpowered by an Alpha. One ni
