Wild Heart - C.R. Jane Page 0,3

to get to me.

“Calm,” Daxon ordered, Alpha power threaded through his words as he spoke. She collapsed against him, her fight completely gone as she wept into his shirt. The blood she’d gotten on her while embracing Eve’s body stained Daxon’s white button-up. The whole scene was utterly heartbreaking.

Wilder reached an arm around my waist, and Daxon snarled. “Don’t touch her,” he seethed, his eyes flashing.

Watching his eyes…and everything else that I’d seen just now, reminded me what an idiot I’d been to ignore all the blatant signs in front of me that Wilder and Daxon, and the rest of this town, were so much more than human. It was amazing what the mind could do when it wanted to protect itself.

Daxon looked torn between wanting to rip Wilder’s hand off of me and continue to comfort his pack member, who was still sobbing in his arms. The woman in question lifted her head from Daxon’s shirt and shot me a furious glare filled with so much hate that I could practically taste it.

“I’m getting her away from this mess. You need to handle the situation,” Wilder growled out, and I sighed in frustration that even in the midst of this crisis, they were still doing their alpha a-hole competitive thing.

“I have the inn’s catering van,” I murmured softly, my gaze dancing to various members of Daxon’s pack that all looked like they were seconds away from going against their alpha and trying to kill me. If they thought about it, the idea that I was capable of killing Eve was ludicrous. She’d had the ability to harness her wolf powers. I was as weak as a lamb. Certainly not a threat to anyone.

People always feared the unknown though. It was much easier to blame something on someone they could see instead of acknowledging the fact that there was a monster prowling the woods around their town.

“You’re not going anywhere alone,” Wilder snarled, plastering me to his hard body. His touch felt almost desperate…like he was afraid I was just going to disappear.

Looking at all the townspeople currently glaring my way, it seemed like it just might be a good idea to disappear.

Daxon looked torn between wanting to be with me or fight Wilder, I couldn’t be sure…and being there for his people.

“We can drive in the van,” I said firmly, a wave of exhaustion hitting me. It had been an eventful twenty-four hours, and tonight, seeing Eve like that…I wasn’t going to get over it any time soon.

Daxon pushed the crying woman into another pack member’s arms and then grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Wilder until I was flush against his body. He stroked my cheek while he stared into my eyes. “Everything’s going to be all right, baby,” he whispered, his tone and touch at odds with the intense look in his eye.

I wished I could have believed him, but I’d learned early on that nothing was ever all right in my life. Even when everything seemed to be good, there was always something waiting just around the corner to ruin everything.

I just hadn’t imagined that the thing lurking around the corner was a terrifying shadow monster.

Daxon reluctantly let me go and then started barking orders. Wilder grabbed my hand and started to pull me the opposite direction down the path. As I walked away from the group, I saw that they were gathering Eve’s body and heading in the direction of where the party had been taking place. A few of the women were leading Eve’s mother’s trembling body behind the somber procession.

A sob tore at my throat, and I hurried away from the sight. Wilder took the keys from me when we reached the van. The back doors of it were still open from where I’d left them, thinking I’d be right back to grab more food. I tiredly watched as Wilder slammed them closed and then walked me to the passenger side of the van. I felt like a zombie, like I was just a stranger in someone else’s body that was just going through the movements. I got into the seat, and Wilder buckled my seatbelt before shutting the door and going around to the driver’s side. He got in and started the van and then wordlessly drove us back to the inn.

We pulled up to the back of the inn, Wilder obviously being familiar with how the catering worked at the place. Jim came out with a worried look on