hands. “My gut told me I had to get back there. I walked into the lair and the first thing Annette did was attack. I was fine with that, expected it. Let her go for a few minutes and then begged leave. She wouldn’t. She went at me again, and again. I went to walk out and she called her seconds.” His hands flexed once more and a snarl rippled out of him. “Even if I wasn’t coming after you, I don’t like being a punching bag, although I take it when I need to. I heal and I can handle pain. But if I’d taken it yesterday, I wouldn’t have healed in time to get to you.”
I shuddered as I pictured that—I’d seen those kinds of beatings and felt furious as I imagined him just taking it. “And you call me a silly fool,” I muttered.
“Yeah.” A faint grin crooked his lips. “But I had reasons. Anyway…” He stared at me. “I almost didn’t make it anyway. The seconds were coming in and I told her I wasn’t doing this. She could either have her revenge on another day or she’d wished she’d let me walk.” His voice went flat, still and smooth as the surface of a mirror. “She laughed. The crazy bitch laughed. So I challenged her.”
Storms gathered in his eyes as he stared at me. “And now you don’t need to look at me and wonder if I’m one of those who stand by while somebody is tortured. It’s done, Kit.”
I felt those words in the very heart of me. I wasn’t sure if anything had ever hit me more deeply than that.
“Done.” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “The clan is a fucking mess and I have to go back by the end of the day to start cleaning out.”
He reached over and caught my wrist, stroked his thumb over it. “Everything is a mess and I’ve got a lot of unfinished business, baby girl.” Then he looked up at me through the fringe of his lashes. “But remember…this is permanent. You got me?”
I tugged on my wrist. As I expected, he didn’t let go. He came closer and I leaned in, pressing my lips to his. “Yeah. I got you.”
“Good.” He lingered there a minute and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pressing my face against his neck. “I have to go back. It’s going to be…rough for a while. You know that?”
“Didn’t you hear what I told Es? I wouldn’t know easy if it bit me on the ass.”
He laughed quietly. “You should try easier, at least.”
“Mmm. Might be nice.”
His hand smoothed over my hair and I snuggled closer. “I’m not done here yet. I’ll find the guys involved before I leave.”
“I figured you’d say that. Es is backing you up. She already agreed.”
I nodded. “Kori…” I swallowed. “Kori is dead. Somebody shot her through the heart.”
“I heard.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “The humans will be running scared now. They’re easy to track like that. It won’t take you long. Still…you better stay safe.”
“Yeah, yeah. You do the same while you’re setting up housekeeping…Alpha.” I smirked at him.
He pressed a kiss to my smiling lips and then he pulled away. The storm clouds in his eyes were heavy and dark as he stood up.
It didn’t bother me too much.
“I mean it…you stay safe,” he said quietly. “Nothing hurts you. You stay safe.”
“I will.” His words echoed inside me as I held his gaze. I still had a job here to do and the protection of the Green Road while I did it.
As he walked away, I drew my knees to my chest and rubbed my thumb over the scars he’d given me.
It was odd, I decided. I had plenty of scars. Most of them unseen, though; scars on my heart that I’d carried for half my life or longer.
But these I didn’t mind having. Not one bit.
About J.C. Daniels
J.C. Daniels exploded in being in May of 2012. She’s the pen name of author Shiloh Walker and was created basically because Shiloh writes like a hyperactive bunny and an intervention was necessary.
J.C. is the intervention.
Shiloh/J.C has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing just about every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now