The Vow (Black Arrowhead #1) - Dannika Dark Page 0,66
to thank for that.”
I shifted to look up at him. “You are not your father’s son.”
Lakota closed his eyes. “I know that now.”
“What’s upsetting you?”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I finally understand how vulnerable a woman is—how much trust she gives to a man. I wish he were alive so I could kill him myself. A second-in-command, violating the trust of a girl who looked up to him. It fucking burns me to know he did that. I hope his dark spirit is pressed to the ashes of the underworld.”
A chill ran through me, and he held me tighter.
“Do you miss your family up north?”
“Sometimes. But I can see or talk to them anytime on the computer or the phone.”
I drew an invisible heart on his chest. “Do you think someday you’ll return to live closer to them?”
Lakota wouldn’t be a bounty hunter forever. Would he want to join a pack? Did he consider Austin or Cognito his home? Where would he go?
“My home will be where my heart is, and that depends on who I give it to.”
“Do you see yourself in a pack or doing something else? Do you dream about the city or country life? I feel like I don’t know that much about you. We never had deep conversations before.”
He rubbed the corner of his mouth. “I don’t know. I would rather be in a pack, but I’d have to trust the Packmaster enough to give him my loyalty. I’ll probably have to get mated.”
I snorted. “Why?”
His fingertips circled around my back. “I think seeing so many happy couples around me would make it hard to do my job as second-in-command. I would want a mate to talk to late at night about the things I couldn’t tell the pack.”
“Maybe you just need a best friend.”
“Isn’t that what a mate is supposed to be?”
I brushed my finger around the fine hairs on his chest. “How did someone like you become such a romantic?”
A moment skipped by before he answered. “Maybe I was just born to love since I wasn’t conceived in it.”
“You’ve done great things. You just don’t realize it.”
“It’s my job. I help people. That’s what I do.”
But I wasn’t talking about his job. Lakota had been the force that brought two families together. His very existence had healed his mother’s pain—that much, I was certain of. He could have rejected her for giving him up, but as far back as I could remember, Lakota had always treated her like a second mom. He’d been Hope’s protective big brother, and I couldn’t imagine her having gone through life without his counsel. He was as kind as he was strong, and if he didn’t think that was great, then he was blind.
He tucked one of my tresses behind my ear. “Can I ask you something?”
“I’m an open book. Except for chapter twelve.”
Lakota held the pensive look on his face. “Has any man ever hurt you?”
I furrowed my brow. “I don’t do relationships, remember? No broken hearts, just a bunch of yelling.”
He tilted my chin up. “That’s not what I meant. Has a man ever… you know, hurt you? Is that the real reason why you don’t get serious?”
I lowered my gaze to his lips. “My pack did a good job looking out for me, and I guess I was lucky with the men I dated. My relationship status has nothing to do with an abusive past. Your first assumptions back at the motel are correct. I don’t get serious because I’ve got too much on my plate. I guess that makes me selfish.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I don’t think you’re selfish at all.”
We fell into silence again, and my heart clenched at the idea that he cared enough to ask.
“Does it ever get lonely on the road?”
“Sometimes.” After a thoughtful pause, his voice was rougher yet firm. “If you ever need me for anything, I’ll come. If you’re ever in trouble, if you ever need my help, I’ll come for you. Do you understand what I’m saying? You’re not just a friend of the family to me. Not anymore.”
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep. Things change. People change.”
“I don’t care if you’re mated with children. None of that matters. My loyalty is a lifetime offer. On my word, I’ll come for you.”
Wolves by nature are loyal to the ones they love—to those they consider family. I’d known wolves who’d forged bonds, but their human sides didn’t get along at all.