soul. The sight of your smile tames the wolf inside of me, and touching your skin…” He glanced at our joined hands. “Touching your skin makes the broken parts of me whole.”
My throat tightened as I gently pulled my hand free of his. I wanted to bring back the angry wolf. I was comfortable with his snide remarks and verbal jabs. His honesty and kindness left me defenseless.
Sebastian had wooed me with poetry and false promises, I reminded myself. “Pretty words are what got me into this mess.”
He leaned back against the booth on his side of the table. “You think I’m just spouting off words to impress you?”
“How could you feel any of those things for a woman who nearly killed you?”
“Believe me, if I could turn off these feelings I would. In a heartbeat.” His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. “You have got to be the most impossible woman I’ve ever met.”
And we were right back into my comfort zone.
But for some reason it didn’t make me feel any better.
We ate our steaks in silence. I kept my attention on the meat and did my best not to sneak glances at him while I tried to convince myself that it was better this way. Once we got the werewolf who was tracking me, I’d find out if he’d told Severino about Nadya and plan accordingly. She wouldn’t be a fan of taking on a new identity, but there might not be another way around it. If my tracker told Nero about my sister, I’d have to hide her. Permanently.
Then I’d be back on my own searching for dirt on Nero to free myself.
I didn’t have room in my life for a “partner,” let alone a wolf.
He picked up the bill and we headed out to his car. We didn’t hold hands this time. He didn’t even try. It shouldn’t have bothered me.
As I followed him to the car I caught my stalker’s scent. I had my Glock drawn and ready just as quickly as the wolf crouched down between the cars. He was on the move before I could stop him.
I took cover behind a pickup truck and scanned the parking garage for movement.
“Is that another wolf I smell?” The tracker had a Texan accent, but that fact wouldn’t help me find him. “Bad kitty.”
I spun around, trying to locate the source of the voice. The sound echoed off the cement walls in every direction.
“You want me asshole?” My finger caressed the trigger. “What are you waiting for?”
“Whatcha doin’ with some other wolf, pussycat? Tryin’ to make me jealous?”
“Why don’t you be a man and show yourself?” My senses were on high alert as I tried to bait the bastard into the open.
“You brought your little gun.” He made a slow
His voice wavered like he was on the move. With my back pressed against the side of the pickup, I made my way around to the front of the truck and squatted to check the view.
“I
“Oh, I want to test all sorts of things.” His voice was thick with perverted innuendo.
I smirked and jogged down the center of the row of cars, my pistol at the ready and my animal eyesight working overtime to locate the bastard. “Come on out, and we’ll see who passes.”
When I swung to the right the wolf yelled, “Sasha, get down!”
I dropped to the ground and glass rained over my head as the silent bullet exploded the car’s headlight. I heard a struggle, blows, curses, and finally the sound of a gun hitting the concrete. Knowing the perp was momentarily unarmed, I ran toward the noise. I would’ve been faster if I hadn’t been wearing heels for the trip to the mall.
They were sexy to look at, idiotic to chase stalkers in.
He ran for the exit. I took my stance, aiming my shot, but he was out of my Glock’s range. I wanted to shoot at the bastard anyway, but I didn’t have a silencer and nothing would get me arrested faster than firing a gun at a shopping mall. I stashed my gun back into the shoulder holster when I suddenly remembered I had a partner.
I ran down the aisles until I found the wolf in a heap. “Oh, Jesus.”
Racing to his side, I sent up a silent prayer he wasn’t shot. I knelt beside him and carefully rolled him over. He had some blood on his lower lip and a painful-looking bump on his forehead, but I couldn’t find any bullet holes.
Thank God. I rested his head on my lap and tapped his cheek to wake him.
He didn’t move. I leaned down to listen for any sign of breathing and closed my eyes in relief when I felt air brush over my skin. His chest rose and fell while I stroked his hair back from his forehead.
“Aren?” I waited and held my breath, but still no movement. “Come on, Aren. Wake up.”
His eyelids fluttered and finally opened, followed by a crooked smile that melted my heart before I could get a grip on myself.
“You’re all right,” he whispered, reaching up to cup my cheek.
I nodded, fighting the urge to nuzzle into his touch. “Only because you warned me to duck.”
“I knocked his gun free and got a good punch in before he swept my ankle. I hit the ground, and everything went black.”
I glanced down at his swollen ankle—his one weak spot. I had done that to him. My stomach clenched. “By the time I saw him, he was out of range for me to get a shot off. He got away.”
“Not that it helps much,” he said, “but I saw his sad excuse for a face before he took me out. I’ll recognize him if I see him again.”
“That’s something.” I lowered his hand and helped him up to a sitting position. “You saved my life tonight.”
He shot me a playful smile in spite of his swelling lower lip. “And you said my name.”
My jaw dropped slightly. “You heard that?”
“’Course I did.” He raised a brow. “I liked it so much I waited for you to say it again.”
I nudged him and shook my head. “You’re lucky I don’t just leave you here.”
“I’m safe.” He patted his pants pocket. “I have the car keys.”
I got up and offered him a hand. He winced, losing all traces of his playful smile.
“Fucking ankle,” he growled. “Dammit.” He steadied himself against the car bumper and grimaced.
“I could bring the car over.”
He shot me a glare in return. “I’ll make it. Just give me a second.”
“Can I at least offer you a shoulder to lean on?”
He grudgingly draped his arm over my shoulder and together we hobbled back to his car, stopping only once so I could grab the stalker’s gun and silencer. I tucked it into the waistband of my slacks, and we continued our slow journey back to the Lotus.
Chapter Eleven
I couldn’t even drive my own fucking car back to the hotel. The next time I saw the bastard tracking Sasha, I was going to kill him. And I wouldn’t need a goddamn gun to do it.
When we got back to the room, the pain in my ankle had downgraded from sharp and stabbing to throbbing and aching. Sasha helped me to the chair at the desk and then disappeared with the ice bucket. She came back with a plastic bag of ice and propped my leg up on the other chair.
“Keep it elevated and iced.” She managed to make it sound like an order.
I glanced up at her. “I’m a werewolf. We heal pretty quickly.”
