Tom squeezed Savannah's shoulder, a little surprised himself at his reaction. At first, he'd been filled with rage over what Savannah had kept from him, but the moment she'd stepped in front of him to protect him from Lucas, everything had become clear.
He'd felt the fear rippling from Savannah, almost seeing just how scared she was of Lucas, but she'd stood there anyway. She was defending him and making her stand. Dan had told him that he didn't know what Lucas was like, and, while that was true, it wasn't hard to guess. A pack leader didn't attack their own members, even if they were leaving the pack. It just wasn't done. But then again, Lucas wasn't exactly a good example of what a pack leader should be. He'd engineered the attack on Tom and Nick, and tried to kill them when they wouldn't join his pack. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for Savannah to be a part of that pack.
Helping her into some clothes, he saw the way she winced with almost every movement. She was in pain from more than just her arm, he realized. She'd really taken a beating. He'd have to thank Dan for going to help her. A wave of nausea rushed over him as he remembered just how little he'd been able to do to help. He'd seen Lucas go for Savannah, but had been immediately attacked by the other two bears of the Northern Wind pack. It took everything he had to defend himself, but hearing Savannah's roars of pain had speared his soul. He wanted to get to her, but couldn't. Thank goodness Dan had made the choice to come back and help. Without him, Savannah could have been killed.
A shudder ran through him at the thought, as he eased the sleeve over her arm. Her face was contorted with pain as she rested her arm back down on the rolled up towel on her lap. “Sorry,” Tom murmured, buttoning up the top.
“You’re not hurting me,” Savannah replied, attempting to smile even though her face was growing paler by the minute. “Thank you for doing this.”
“This might hurt though,” Tom warned, getting up to get a bowl of warm water and a clean cloth. Sitting back down, he looked into her eyes for a moment before wiping the cloth over her arm. Her breath caught.
“You might need stitches,” Tom said, a little worried. “This gash looks bad.”
“Can you do it?” Savannah asked, her eyes finally meeting his.
He shook his head. “I’ve got some adhesive strips that might do the job, but if it doesn’t work, it’ll be a trip up to the hospital.”
Savannah grimaced. "I'd rather avoid that if I can." There wasn't ever going to be an easy explanation for her arm, as well as all the cuts and bruises she was sure she had elsewhere.
Tom carefully cleaned her arm, making her hiss with pain, before closing the gash with the adhesive strips. Wrapping it up carefully, he put all the things away and went out to wash his hands. When he returned he sat opposite her and handed her some painkillers with a glass of water. Savannah watched him in silence, knowing that, at some point soon, they were going to have to talk about what had happened.
“How does that feel?”
She gave him a brief smile after swallowing the painkillers. "Much better, thank you." If she was honest, she'd tell him that her entire arm throbbed with pain and all she could think about was getting a bath to sooth the aches and pains in her body, but instead, she just tried to smile.
He tipped up her chin with one finger. “Tell me the truth, Savannah.”
His words cut deep and she twisted her head away. “I’m sorry, Tom.”
Tom got to his feet, taking a few steps away as he ran a hand through his hair. "I know."
“I hurt you,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Tom. I should have told you the truth.”
“Yes, you should have,” he replied, heavily. Turning back, he looked at her distraught face, his heart tearing a little. She was the picture of misery, and, strangely, his heart was breaking for her. “But I understand why you didn’t,” he said, softly.
Savannah’s eyes widened, hardly able to believe what he’d said. This wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. In fact, she’d expected him to leave her in the woods, so even what he’d done for her so far was more than she knew she deserved. “Why are you being so kind to me?” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I don’t deserve this, Tom.”
He gave her a half smile, sitting back down again and reaching for her good hand. “I’m doing it because I feel you deserve another chance,” he said, simply. His smile widened as he saw the shock on her face, melting away into disbelief.
She swallowed hard, blinking tears away furiously. “But I betrayed you.”
“You were going to betray me," he corrected. "But you chose not to." He leaned forward, desperate for her to believe him. "Look, I don’t know all the details, and I’d be lying if I said I’m not hurt that you lied to me, but that doesn’t change the fact that you stood in front of me, Savannah, to protect me from Lucas. He might have killed you if Dan hadn't been there." Letting out a long breath, he gave a quick shake of his head. "I can't believe you did that for me, Savannah. That shows me just how much your loyalty has changed. After all that I’d be a fool to be blinded by anger and not at least hear your side of the story."
“At first, I believed everything Lucas said,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I believed your pack had killed Dan in cold blood. But then I met you and Nick and Jo, and things started to change.”
Tom’s eyebrows lifted. “In what way?”
Savannah looked back at him, her face open and honest in a way Tom hadn’t seen before. “I saw how you and Nick are with each other. There’s respect and friendship between you. Nick doesn’t force you to do anything. No-one tells you when to shift and when not to.”
"Lucas told you when you could shift?" Tom repeated, his eyes widening in shock. Lucas was more of a dictator than he'd realized.
Savannah nodded. “Yes, he did. We were never allowed to question him. If we did, the consequences would be severe.”
“He’d hurt you.”
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Savannah nodded. "After seeing how much of a family you guys were I realized that a pack shouldn't be run by threats and fear. I saw that there was a different way, and I fell in love with that - with you. Talking to Dan just made everything clearer."
Tom nodded slowly. He was quite surprised to discover that he wasn’t in the least bit angry, but rather full of sympathy for what she’d gone through.
"My plan was to tell Lucas that I was leaving, and then come back to tell you the truth."
Brushing away the tear from her cheek, Tom let his fingers linger on her soft skin. “But then I had to go and spoil your plan by following you into the woods,” he joked, lightening the mood.
“Yes, you did,” she replied, quickly. “But if you hadn’t, I’m not sure I would have survived.”
The gravity of what had happened hit them both full force. “The pack’s not going to leave us alone now, that’s for sure,” Tom muttered, running a hand over his brow.
“No, I don’t think they will,” Savannah replied, softly. “I’m sorry, Tom.”
“Don’t be,” he said at once. “This was always going to happen. Lucas is determined to either have us join their pack or kill us.”
“I guess so,” Savannah murmured. “Lucas isn’t the kind of guy to give up easily.”
Tom grinned at her, breaking the current of tension that filled the room. “So, do you think you’ll stay?” he asked. His eyes twinkled at her, as heat burst from her core.
Savannah gave a choked laugh. “Considering I don’t have anywhere else to go, I think I’ll have to.” Now that she’d left the Northern Wind pack, Savannah knew she’d have to get her things out of Lucas’ old place as fast as possible.
“Good,” he replied. “My bed’s big enough for two.” Leaning forward, he kissed her thoroughly, hearing her sigh of happiness. His heart felt whole, his bear happy and content as he carefully held Savannah in his arms. For the first time, there wasn’t anything between them. He knew everything about her now and, despite what had happened, he was glad it was all out. She was his mate and he wasn’t going to ever let her go.