his brothers, and it was written on their faces, the same thing he was sure was on his own. The same thing etched into Grace’s fine features. This female was not their enemy, what she did, had nothing to do with them. She’d been a broken little girl, torn from her brother after seeing a monster murder her mother. And his female was still broken. She’d survived the only way she knew how.
“I’ve got you, love,” he said as he strode from the room, holding her closer than he should but unable to stop. “No one’s going to hurt you ever again,” he said against her soft, silky black hair. “I promise you that.”
Chapter 10
Gunner looked down at the female in his arms. He wanted to take all the hurt, all the fear from her, but he didn’t fucking know how.
She looked up at him and winced before she shoved at Gunner’s shoulder. “Let me down.”
“It’s okay, Luna, I’ve got you.”
She struggled harder. “Let me the hell down,” she screamed.
Gunner quickly lowered her to the floor, hands raised, and backed up. “Whatever you’re thinking right now, you are wrong.”
“I did what I had to, and I’d do it again. What do you think about that? I’d do it all again if I thought it would keep Ronan alive. I’d do worse. So you might as well throw me out now. Do it. I don’t need your goddamn pity or your protection. I’ve survived this long on my own and I’ll keep on surviving without anyone else.”
Gunner shook his head, vibrating with fear that she might actually walk out and he wouldn’t be able to stop her.
Christ, the way she was desperately trying to push him away, to protect herself from more pain, sliced him right down the middle. “No one’s judging you, Luna. I promise you that. And no one wants you to leave.”
Her eyes were wide and filled with fear, with anger, with so many things. They darted around, landing everywhere but on him. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, then gasped. “My head’s spinning. I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t know how to be…when I’m not with him.”
The horror in her voice was unmistakable.
“Luna…”
“I have this feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach. I fucking hate it, Gunner. It makes me want to run, to keep on running,” she said. “I don’t know what it is…but I don’t want it. I don’t want it.”
“I’ll help you. We’ll get through this…”
Her face crumpled, and she crossed her arms and strode away from him, cutting him off and heading down the hall. Gunner trailed after her, unable to do anything else. She was all over the place. The things she said, the way she described how she was feeling, something more was going on with her.
He followed her through the stairwell door and back down the two flights of stairs, then out onto the third-floor hall.
She glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t need to follow me. I won’t leave, okay?” She stopped outside her new room and studied him from under thick, black lashes.
“I’m not following you because I think you’ll leave.” Not entirely. “I care about you. I want to help you. Whatever you need to make this easier, just ask me. You’re not alone, Luna.”
Her gaze moved over his face, and color darkened her cheeks before her lips parted and she drew in a sharp breath. His own gaze was instantly drawn to those parted lips. She didn’t need to breathe from what he’d seen, and that involuntary physical response spoke volumes.
She felt something. For him. He was sure of it. Even if she didn’t understand it.
He almost dropped to his damned knees from the relief.
Luna licked her lips, her gaze locking on his, and it was a punch to the sternum.
“Luna…”
She spun away, shoved open her door, and rushed inside.
He followed, unable to stop himself. “We should talk about this.”
“I want to be alone.”
“It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
Her hands lifted, gripping her head. “I need you to leave me alone.”
She was freaking out. He didn’t want to leave her, not like this. “I’ll make it okay, love.”
Her eyes widened. “It’s too much; everything inside me, it’s too much.”
He took a step toward her.
“I can’t take this anymore!” She doubled over.
Gunner rushed her—
She disappeared.
One moment she was in front of him, the next she was gone. Completely.