Chapter 44

Lila’s POV

“Let’s get you fed,” Rowan declared in that gentle growl of his, hefting me back into the passenger seat like I weighed nothing more than a pillow.

I shot him a side-eye as I cinched my seatbelt. “You’ve got to be hungry too,” I pointed out, eyebrows raised. I was dizzy with hunger, borderline hangry—it was kind of impressive I hadn’t gnawed off my own finger yet.

He shrugged, brushing a stray lock of hair behind his ear. “I can wait. New werewolf bodies are busy building muscle and storing energy for the Next Big Shift. You need it more than I do.”

I studied him. Tall, relaxed, ridiculously good-looking. I should’ve been worried about him starving, but instead I was mostly happy he wasn’t lecturing me on wolf biology. “Still—food for you, too, right?”

His lips tilted upward in a lazy smile. “Already handled.”

Relief washed over me. I yanked the brown paper bag toward me and extracted the first greasy, delicious bacon cheeseburge