The Vow (Black Arrowhead #1) - Dannika Dark Page 0,68

Shifters. Family was everything.

Most of all, he wondered if her doubts meant that she wanted to get serious. It was all so sudden—too sudden.

“Shhh.” Lakota began to hum an ancient lullaby. He thought he felt a tear roll down his chest, but he never saw it. He didn’t like that other men had thrown her away. It had somehow jaded her and made her less receptive to the idea of soul mates. And that mattered to him—she deserved nothing less.

For a time, he played with the soft locks of her hair, noticing the dark roots beneath. Melody had always respected their traditions and honored them. She was devoted to her family, had a courageous wolf, and possessed a giving nature. Beneath the mismatched clothes, pale skin, and colorful hair was a woman with roots that threaded deep into his soul. He wasn’t sure what would grow from it, but he felt the change just as surely as he felt the beating of her heart.

Once Melody was finally asleep, he sat up and watched her. She was breathtakingly beautiful and reminded him of a nymph or a fairy. Melody had always been assertive and strong, but she also possessed a purity and a femininity that captivated him. Her big green eyes would sparkle whenever she looked up at him, and he loved the way her mind worked. Lakota admired her soft curves, the shape of her breasts, and how her freckles captured the story of a little girl who’d spent her summers chasing butterflies in open fields.

As he reached down for a blanket, he noticed scars on her foot. He blinked at them for a moment before remembering the wolf attack during the Shifter war long ago. Strangely, in all the years since, he’d never noticed them when she ran around barefoot. Looking at them, he remembered her unbending loyalty to protecting her pack, the way he’d practically had to rope her to his horse to keep her from going back to fight alongside them. Those were the marks of a true warrior.

Lakota placed a kiss along the scars and covered her with the blanket. He fluffed a pillow and put it behind her head. She was a heavy sleeper, and as her eyelids fluttered, he wondered what she was dreaming.

After setting a glass of water on the bedside table, he collected the bowls and plates from the rug and placed them inside the basket. The leftover bread and beef jerky would be a sufficient breakfast, so he wrapped them tightly in a napkin and left them on the table on the opposite side of the room.

He cracked open a window to let in a cool breeze. Not wanting to lose the heat from the fire, Lakota poked the log until the embers glowed and a small flame reignited. It was tempting to return to the bed and fall asleep next to her, then possibly wake up to make love again, but another instinct was taking hold—one he could neither control nor contain.

Lakota shifted and settled down beside the bed to guard her. The instinct to guard this female was stronger than anything he’d ever known, and the compulsion for his wolf to hunt for her was growing. Not enough to leave her alone, but it made him wonder what it meant. That was a gesture shared only between life mates.

He put the thought of hunting rabbits out of his mind and gazed upon the fire. Maybe it wasn’t wise to get so attached to a free spirit. Fated lovers didn’t always have a happy ending.

When something brushed against his back, he swung his head around. Melody’s arm was hanging over the side of the bed, her fingers lost in his silver fur. Lakota growled approvingly, the thrumming sound vibrating against her hand. He licked her fingers to let her know he was there and that she could sleep soundly while under his watch. It felt right and familiar. As he began to slip away, his wolf stood up and leapt onto the bed to curl up beside her.

Lakota wasn’t sure what the fates had in store for them, but he knew one thing—his wolf was willing to die for Melody.

Chapter 14

“I’m coming!” I slipped into my nightshirt and ran my fingers through my tousled hair.

The sharp knocks sounded again, and I squinted when the cabin door opened and sunlight slapped me in the face.

Tak leaned against the doorjamb, the sun shining on the tattooed side of his face. “Have you