to ask anyway. “Harley didn’t make it?”
“No. We all chose cowboy-style names when we reinvented ourselves. When we got here, the wolf kind of adopted the group from afar. Seemed like maybe Harley was still looking out for us.”
She perked up. “What was your given name?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I was called Kevin Track, but he died years ago. I don’t even know that guy anymore.”
She nodded. He did seem much more of a Trent. “Okay.”
Trent sighed. “Even so, reinventing ourselves has been difficult. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
All of the different passports ran through her mind. “How many languages do you speak?”
“Dozens. We were from all different countries, and we taught each other during the darkest times. It was a way to survive and keep our minds busy. Only two of us in the club are actually from this country.” He shook his head. “It’s not up to me to tell you who. Their secrets are their own.”
Fascinating. Today, they all sounded like they came from Wyoming. She remembered his accent. “You were from the South?”
“Kentucky. Born and raised. But this is my family. I want to make them yours, too.” He moved toward her then, dropping to his knees in front of her. “I know it’s not normal, and I know it probably seems frightening. But we’ll protect you until the end of days, and we’ll love you. I’ll love you as mine. They’ll love you as family. But once you’re in, Hallie, you’re in. Take your time and think about it, because this is your one chance to leave. I’ll let you.” He placed his hands so gently on her knees. “It’ll rip out my guts, but I’ll let you go if that’s what you want. This once.”
She’d known he was a good man, even though there were so many mysteries surrounding him. Now she understood some of him, and she wanted more time to know all of him. He was hers. When she spoke, it was from the heart. “I choose you, Trent. I don’t understand your world, but I want you. Need you.” It felt good to finally go with her heart and not her fears. Tied to a chair in a scary cabin, she’d realized what she wanted for her future. Who she wanted in her future. “I love you. No matter what.”
He sucked in air. When his hand cupped her face, it trembled. “Make sure you’re certain, baby.”
She leaned into his touch. “I’m sure. And stop calling me baby.”
He grinned, leaning in to kiss her. “I’ll call you anything you want.”
The kiss flowed through her, promising everything. “I guess baby is okay.” Then he kissed her again, and she forgot all about nicknames.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A month later
“Would you relax?” Austin once again tried to tug Trent’s tie back into place. “We have the whole town here, and we need to look like normal people. So freaking relax before I have to knock you out, and don’t think I won’t do it. You’d only be out long enough to compose yourself.”
Zeke looked up from the chair near Trent’s fireplace, his feet on the coffee table. “I think the groom is supposed to be terrified or nervous. That is normal.”
Austin gave him a look. “How do you know how a groom is supposed to feel? You can’t even keep a girlfriend around.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Zeke said, apparently forgetting that Austin had taught them all how to kill more efficiently with bare hands. “Maybe I just haven’t found the right woman.” His gaze caught on somebody outside near the quickly built gazebo, and his boots hit the floor.
Trent looked outside to see the pretty veterinarian winding her way through the crowd. “Why don’t you just ask her out?”
Zeke flashed him a grin. “I’m not the ask-them-out type. Zachary is. I like them to show up at the club, take off their clothes, and say thank you afterward.”
Trent snorted. “You can be such a jerk.”
“Sometimes they say that, too,” Zeke admitted. “Even so, there’s something about a woman with shadows in her eyes that calls to me. That woman calls to me, although she has way too much attitude.”
Ford loped into the room and eyed the sunny day outside. “I don’t understand why we have to wear suits, too. Trent is the one getting married.” He lapsed into a combination of languages that included one he’d invented just for them.
“It’s a summer wedding,” Austin snapped. “It said in that bride magazine that everyone wears suits.”
Trent