have anything to do with you and your fangs and your claws—like Marissa.”
She didn’t realize that she was poking him in the chest with her finger again until he caught her hand in his to make her stop. She pulled away from him angrily.
“But this time, instead of waiting for the woman to bail on you, you decide to bail first. I bet you thought it’d be less painful for you that way, huh? Well, it’s not going to happen, Declan. I’m not going to let you walk out on us because you’re worried I can’t handle your inner bear.”
Declan arched a brow. “Are you honestly going to stand there and tell me that you weren’t freaked out when you saw me? That you weren’t absolutely horrified?”
She closed her eyes and counted again. She wanted to scream. He could be so dense! When she got to ten, she opened her eyes and leveled her gaze at him.
“Was I freaked out when I saw you? Hell, yes. Was I horrified? Definitely. But was it because I was scared of you? No.” She took his hands in both of hers. “I was scared because I’d left you in that shelter the night before to save your life. And there you were, practically hand-delivering yourself to the very people I was trying to protect you from, the ones who wanted to capture you and experiment on you. What you saw on my face was pure and total fear. I was terrified they’d grab you and torture you like they’d done to Ivy. Marcus practically admitted to me that was what he planned to do if he ever got his hands on you.”
Declan’s hands tightened around hers. “I thought that was why you left me alone in the shelter—to lure the hybrids away.”
Tears welled in her eyes. This time she didn’t blink them back. “I would rather have died than let them get their hands on you.”
He reached up and caught the tear rolling down her cheek with his thumb, tenderly brushing it away. “When I woke up and realized you were gone, I…I sort of went nuts. I was so scared when I couldn’t find your trail. That’s when I finally completely shifted.”
She stepped closer and rested her palm on the part of his pecs she’d poked earlier. “I’m sorry I frightened you like that. But I’d do it again if that’s what it took to keep you safe.”
He cupped her cheek. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep you safe, too.”
“Including leaving the DCO because you thought it was best for me?” she asked.
He nodded. “I couldn’t understand why someone like you would want to stay with someone like me. Not after seeing me like that.”
She took his big hands in hers again, holding on to them tightly. “Someone like me would want to stay with someone like you because I love you. You were willing to pull down all the walls you’d built around yourself and be the shifter you were always meant to be to save me. That’s the kind of someone you are to me, and it’s all that matters. I love you. Is that so hard to believe?”
He lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. When he raised his head again, there were tears in his eyes. “Yes, it is hard to believe. But I’m glad. Because I love you, too.”
Then his mouth closed over hers and he was kissing her so hard she could barely breathe. But she didn’t complain. She kissed him back just as fiercely. She’d missed him.
“So, we’re good, right?” she asked when he lifted his head. “You’re not going to quit the DCO?”
He grinned. “No, I’m not going to quit.”
“Good.”
She snuggled against him, but he caught her chin and tipped her head back. “Now I have a question for you.”
“What?”
“You and Derek?”
The question had come from so far out in left field that it took her a moment to get her thoughts together. Then she realized she better not hesitate too long because if she didn’t know better, she’d swear Declan looked jealous. Which was cute but also possibly dangerous. She’d just pulled their relationship back from the brink, she didn’t want it going south again because Declan thought she had a thing for another guy.
“Derek and I met when he and the rest of Landon’s old Special Forces team went to Washington to help rescue Ivy. Like I said, we danced a few times at Ivy and