Marked (Primal Obsessions #2) - Cara Wylde Page 0,11

my eyes.

“What’s wrong with you, anyway?” Colt asked as he crouched down before her. She tried to crawl away from him, but the space was small and crowded with old furniture, and she soon found herself trapped between Colt and the couch. He reached out to touch her face. “Look at me. Who did this to you?”

“N-no one…”

Her voice sounded weak and terrified. I took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to figure out what we were supposed to do now. It had been Colt’s idea to bring her with us, so she could breastfeed Milo, and I’d agreed at the time. For two reasons: one, I too believed that Milo needed her to nurse him now that his mother was gone, and two, I wasn’t going to let Brooks do something he would later regret. He was temperamental and even violent sometimes, but not to that extent. If he’d killed the human female, his guilty conscience would’ve given him nightmares for months, if not years. And now more than ever, Milo needed a father who was sane and in one piece. Mentally and physically.

So, here we were. Colt and I needed to figure this one out. At least we had this old cabin, and we knew no one from the trailer park ever came here. First things first: we needed to make sure she couldn’t get away, because no, we weren’t going to guard her twenty-four seven.

“Colt,” I snapped my fingers to get his attention. “Go find some wood planks, nails, a hammer. We have to board this place up.”

“Why me?” he whined. He turned and grinned at the female. I could tell he was fascinated with her, which when it came to Colt, was usually bad news. Yep, the guy was a sex addict. And just like me and Brooks, he’d never had a human bitch before. “I’m busy, can’t you see?”

“No, you’re not.” I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, man. We need to do this pronto, and then help Brooks.”

He sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”

“Get dressed. And find me some clothes, too.”

He went to rummage through an old wardrobe and pulled out two pairs of battered jeans and two flannel shirts. Only Brooks could dress like such a cliché. He found two pairs of old boots, too, and in seconds, we were both dressed and looking fairly decent. Finally, Colt left, and I was alone with the female. She looked at me with wide, sapphire-blue eyes. She hugged her knees to her breasts, pulling the blanket tightly around her. I crossed my arms over my bulky chest and looked down at her. She was tall for her species, with long legs and nice curves. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her hair was long, black, and shiny. Too bad she was covered in bruises, scratches, and bloody gashes. I could tell she’d washed herself recently, but that hadn’t done much for her wounds.

“Who are you?” I asked.

My voice startled her. She licked her lips before answering in a trembling voice. “My name is Rosalie. Rosalie Olsen. I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to…”

“What?”

She shook her head. “You must think that I stole the child…”

“Isn’t that exactly what you did?” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep my calm. I raised my voice. Bear shifters were short-tempered. “You rammed into Krista’s car, killed her, and stole her cub! Do you deny it?”

“I did no such thing… It was an accident. And I swear to you, I didn’t hit her. She hit me! I might’ve been going a bit too fast, but… but… I didn’t hit her.”

“Right.” I huffed. “Get off the floor. Sit like a normal person.”

She hesitated at first, but then she probably sensed that I was getting angrier by the second, so she complied. Hugging the blanket around her body, she pulled herself onto the couch. She flinched when I sat right next to her. I moved closer, and she pulled away. I growled at her, and she got the message and stood still as I leaned in and sniffed her. She smelled amazing. No thanks to the cheap shampoo and soap at the motel, though. My shifter nose could catch deep, subtle scents that revealed to me what kind of person she was and what life she’d lived before that terrible accident had changed her fate and ours forever. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and tried to build a picture of her.

“What are you