Tessa caught her breath, holding it as he turned to her, and... Did he recognize her? Oh gods she could only pray he did.
His mouth moved almost painfully and she ached for him-- but that that sound, his voice, calling her name, no matter how twisted it was. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. "Yes," she gasped out, daring to reach toward him. "Yes, it's me, I'm here..."
He roared and she flinched back, for a moment panicking, thinking she may have set him off again. But no, he wasn't attacking, he was--
"Tobias, no!" she shouted as he reached for the restraints, realizing what he was planning to do. "Stop, you'll hurt yourself!" But she couldn't stop him, could only whimper as flesh tore and blood spattered.
Then Striker's voice cut through the chaos of the scrambling guards and she whirled, throwing her arms out wide as she planted her relatively tiny body between her mate and the rest of the them. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!"
She looked back to Tobias, reaching for him with both hands now. Then he was shifting, changing before her eyes into the man she knew, the man she loved, her husband, her mate.
They told me you were dead...
Tears streaming freely down her face, she dropped to her knees before him and gathered him close, as gently and carefully as she could, not wanting to aggravate his wounds. I will flay them all alive.
But not now. Later. Now, she had Toby in her arms, and she wasn't going to let go. Not for anything. "I'm here," she sobbed, pressing a kiss to his brow before she turned her face into the curve of his neck and shoulder and just held him, her whole body trembling. "I'm here, Toby, I'm here. I'm so sorry, love, I'm so sorry, I should have come sooner--" She took a breath and pulled away just far enough to hold him by the shoulders and meet his gaze.
"I am never leaving you again. I won't let anyone hurt you, ever again."