Shaw (Alpha Geek #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,50

cradled her in his arms and gently laid her on the back seat of the car. He could tell that her heartbeat was steadying, but he wouldn’t be easy until she shifted back into her human form so he could hold her in his arms.

The fight had gone well enough and ended in their favor. But the fact that Poppy had been hurt chafed against his soul.

He had to do better next time.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Poppy

Poppy was only vaguely aware that her body was floating. No, that wasn’t quite right. It was an odd sort of sensation. She moved her legs but realized she was still in her panther form. In the back seat of a car.

Panic set in, and she immediately took on her human form.

“It’s okay,” Shaw said from the front seat. “We’re almost back with the others. I guess going into hiding wasn’t our best plan.”

“No kidding. I had no idea they could track my phone.”

“Good thing we left everything back at the cabin, then,” he said as she wiggled herself into the front seat beside him.

Thankfully, there was a pile of clothes at her feet, and she slipped on a tee. It was way too big for her, but it sure beat giving the other cars on the highway a show.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her, glancing at her but keeping his focus on the road. He was driving way too fast.

Poppy looked over her shoulder. “Are we being followed by them? What happened?”

Shaw gave her a quick rundown of the fight and the next part of the plan. She nodded along, cracking her neck. “That fucker hurt me. I can’t even believe I’m related to those assholes.”

“Would you hate me terribly if I also said that I’m surprised by that fact?”

“Not even a little bit. My father and Uncle Chuck might have been siblings, but that’s where the similarities ended. He would have never stood for the shit Chuck has pulled.”

“He was a florist with your mom, huh?”

“Yeah.” She smiled, remembering the way her parents always smelled like dewdrops and roses. “My mom was a panther, too, but she was so delicate about things. She was very tuned into nature. She could make the best arrangements, and shifters loved her work because she didn’t just make sure that the flowers matched, but she also made them smell right to sensitive shifter noses. She had a gift.”

“I’m sorry you lost her.” His words were heavy.

Poppy knew he understood loss as well as she did. She reached out and took his hand in hers. “I don’t feel so lost anymore,” she whispered, meaning it.

Shaw straightened in his seat and quickly beamed a smile toward her. “We’ll be there soon. I’m sorry to say that our day is about to get a hell of a lot worse.”

“But then it’ll be done, right? I can go back to work, and your life can return to normal.”

Shaw inhaled. “Well, about going back to normal. Do you think that we could keep seeing each other once this is all done? I mean, I know we’re mates, and I know we had a transcendent night together. But I would like to be with you, Poppy. As your mate, as your partner.”

“Let’s survive this so that we can do just that.”

Poppy knew that she still had a bit of work to do before she could flat out love Shaw. She trusted him, but not as much as before. She didn’t know if it was because of her family’s most recent attack or if it’s because she felt scared at starting something so fragile during such an intense time. But the doubt was there, like a thorn digging into the soft pad of her paw.

“Good.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

The rest of the drive was relatively quiet.

They drove in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Poppy couldn’t tell what was happening in Shaw’s head, but she knew what she was thinking about. The trouble that her family was causing weighed heavily on her. She didn’t want them to die for what they had done, so she was happy that Shaw had only tranquilized them. But she did desperately, want them to face justice for the crimes that they had committed. The fact that they were involved in drug trafficking was a surprise to her, and she was fairly certain that her uncle knew nothing about it.

That pulled at something in her brain.

Maybe if her uncle knew that his