So, they hunted him down. Sure, he was a powerful bear, but there were too many of them. And they had weapons and guns and nets. They set a trap for him. He had been desperate and hungry at the time, and he fell right into it. Cornered and fearing for his life, he had no choice. The only way to escape was to unleash his beast.
But his bear was still thirsting for blood, and so he took down several of them and killed two innocent farmers in the process.
Shock and guilt had made him shift back into his human form. They overpowered him. Imprisoned him. And not wanting to hurt any more innocent people, he didn’t even put up a struggle as they hauled him off. Didn’t fight them as they tortured him and left him half starved.
It was only by a stroke of luck that a passing truck with some British servicemen got lost and stumbled upon him, sitting in a cage in the middle of the village square. They contacted the embassy and the army, and that’s how Damon had found him and brought him here.
He swallowed hard, as if he could consume the memories along with it and forget about them. Yes, he’d come so far. Made the changes. Got over the anxiety. Controlled his bear and bloodlust. Why couldn’t that be enough for her? Why did she need to know?
She can’t know.
She would forever see him as a murderer. Someone who shed innocent blood.
Unclenching his jaw, he spun around and entered the cabin. Dutchy was kneeling on the floor, mopping up the spilled coffee with a rag. She froze, then lifted her head. “I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice.
“No.” He was at her side in two steps, and he gently lifted her to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was the one acting like an asshole. Forgive me?” Please. Please say yes.
“O-of course.” But when he leaned down to kiss her, she put a hand up. “Just … I know you’ve been working on yourself, these past months. It must have been tough. I can see that now. But I still need to understand. Promise me you’ll talk to me about it?”
He said he would do anything to keep her. And so, he lied. “I promise.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.”
A knife-like pain twisted in his gut at her sincerity. “Why don’t you sit down and eat?” He grabbed the rag from her hand. “I’ll take care of this, okay?”
“All right.”
When he finished putting away the broken cup and the dirty rag, he sat back down.
“How long can we stay up here?” she asked, taking a bite of toast.
“As long as we want.”
“No, seriously.” She patted a hand over his. “Surely you have to work at some point. And I—oh no!” Worry marred her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Aunt Angela. We just left without telling her or anyone where we were going. She must be worried. I should call her.” She tried to get up, but he stopped her by placing a hand on her arm. “John—”
“Don’t worry,” he assured her, then pulled her to his lap. “I’m sure she can guess by now where you are. Besides, there’s no phone reception up here. I can radio down to Damon and ask him to call her, if you want.”
“I … maybe.” She looked so cute chewing at her lip, he had to kiss her. “But John, don’t you have to work? Is that why Milos was here?”
“Kinda. I’m taking some time off now,” he assured her. “I’m not going AWOL or anything. Damon said I can take as much time as I need. But … I’m not keeping you locked up here with me. Not when you have your life and your friends back in town. We can go back now if you want.”
She glanced around. “Being trapped up here with a sexy man with nothing but a bed? Doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me.” Her hips shifted, and her core rubbed against him, making him groan. “But … you’re right, I do need to go back down at some point, and you’re much better now, right? You don’t have to stay up here all the time. So … how about another day? Let’s spend the day here and then we can go back to town tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” He nuzzled at her throat, then stood up without letting go. “Now that we’re done with breakfast, how about some dessert?”