believe.”
We walked through the sagebrush and oak trees in silence. I still didn’t know why he was helping me. After spending years in therapists’ offices, I was well aware of my yearning to belong and feel connected with people. At the same time, it felt like a weakness. I needed to protect myself. No one else would.
I couldn’t take the quiet any longer. “Thank you for leaving me my clothes and helping me find my way back.”
“No problem.”
I could feel him looking at me, but I resisted the urge to turn and face him. His eyes were too intense, his body too perfect, and I wasn’t sure I was strong enough at the moment to push away my only potential friend.
“Let’s grab some food and see if we can figure out who sent those goons after you.”
I kicked at the dirt to avoid his gaze. “I’ll figure it out. I’ve got a month now before the next new moon. At least I understand why they’re following me now. I can take it from here.”
“You think they’re after you because you’re a shifter?” He frowned. “What kind of tests did they run? Did they see you shift?”
“No, but I had a CAT scan.” His expression morphed from disbelief to concern. “The doctors told me they found a mutation in one of the lobes of my brain that could be a sign of schizophrenia. They tried to put me on a psychiatric hold whether I wanted it or not. I told them to take a flying leap and escaped before I got tossed in a rubber room.”
“Damn.” He shook his head. “That’s why no one in the Pack goes to a hospital. We can’t risk becoming their guinea pigs.”
“It gets creepier. I took a peek at my chart.” Goose bumps rose on my arms. “At the bottom under all the medical jargon, it recommended I be transferred to someplace called Nero.” I met his eyes. “It was signed by a doctor I’d never met.”
Adam took my hand, and in spite of the goose bumps, his touch sent a jolt of awareness through my body. “A hospital isn’t going to send armed mercenaries to chase you from Los Angeles into another state. You’re not a criminal.”
“Maybe not Bellevue, but what about the place where they planned on transferring me? I’ve never even heard of Nero.”
The leader’s lion tattoo popped into my head, but I kept the information to myself. Adam had been good to me so far, but I wasn’t ready to trust him with that info yet. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the gunman’s tattoo matched the emblem on the sweatshirt I had been wrapped in when my parents abandoned me in Texas.
I shook my head. “It sounds paranoid when I say it out loud, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen those guys following me before.”
“Why not hide out here for a while then?”
“And wait for your Pack to hunt me down instead?” I raised a brow. “It’s better for everyone if I go. The sooner the better.”
A muscle in his cheek jumped. “At least let me buy you breakfast and drive you back to your car.”
I laced my fingers together, struggling for an objection. “I still don’t understand why you care.” I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Last night you were on a mission to kill me.”
“To take out a murdering jaguar assassin. I quickly realized that’s not who you are.”
“Maybe not, but it still doesn’t explain why you’re helping me. Your ‘enemy.’”
He pulled his hair back from his forehead, his biceps straining the sleeves of t-shirt. “Is it so wrong that I was raised not to leave a woman stranded and hungry?”
“No.” I broke eye contact, staring at the dirt. Maybe he was just being polite. What did I know about how his family had raised him. I’d never had one. Instead, I’d spent my life trying to appear like everyone else, hiding who I really was, afraid someone might discover the truth that no one wanted me. “But I think I have every right to question your intentions after you told me you were hunting me last night.”
“Fine.” Adam huffed out a breath. “My intention is to feed you and maybe get to know you better.”
Part of me ached to cave in and spend more time with him. I wanted to know him better too. I wanted to believe he thought I was worth spending time with. But self-preservation kicked in. What if he got to know me and realized I wasn’t worth the trouble?
“I think it’s better if I just go back to my car and get out of town.”
“All right then.” He clenched his jaw and started walking again. I did my best to keep up, but his legs were longer. He never looked to see if I was behind him.
When we got back to a paved street, he led me to an old, blue Jeep. It was actually in amazing shape for an older model. The chrome wheels sparkled in the morning sun, and the royal blue paint was buffed and shined like new. He offered me a hand to get in, and I climbed up into the passenger side without a word.
Adam walked around the front. I tried to keep from staring at his torso, but it was difficult. He was wearing a white T-shirt, washed a few too many times. It hugged his chest like a second skin. The Jeep didn’t have a top or doors, nothing to slow him from climbing in the driver’s side beside me. He never took his eyes off of me, and the intensity in his stare stole my breath away.
“Lana…” His voice was low. The growl was back, but it wasn’t menacing now. It was hungry. And my body responded, hot and edgy. “I know this doesn’t make sense to you, but I think I can help. I want to help you.”
He was so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. His scent surrounded me, clean and masculine, and my pulse jumped. “Nothing about any of this makes sense.”
“Look, I don’t know all the answers either, but I can at least show you a few perks of being a shifter.” The corner of his mouth crept up into a crooked smile that made my heart clench in my chest.
“That’s tempting.”
“What if I throw in a bag of donuts, too?”
Unexpected laughter bubbled out of me. “How can I resist?” I sobered, clearing my throat and struggling to regain rational thought. “But you’ve got to take me back to my car afterward, okay? I need to get moving.”
“Deal.” Adam grinned and rocked back into his seat, turning the key in the ignition. The V-8 roared to life. He revved the engine a couple of times while he gripped the knob on the gearshift. His chiseled forearm muscles contracted, and I forced myself to look away when everything inside of me was attracted to him.
The wind whipped my shoulder-length hair into a wild frenzy, and an unexpected smile curved my lips. I threw my head back and put my arms out, embracing the feeling of pure freedom that the crisp morning wind offered. Adam glanced over at me with a grin that gave me chills. His eyes were green, but right now they almost glowed, and where my skin was fair, his was tanned enough that his eyes and his teeth looked even brighter, dangerous.
Closing my eyes, I welcomed the warm gusts of wind that tugged at my shirt and tangled my hair around my face. The sun felt like a cozy blanket, and I wanted to snuggle in it forever.
My eyes popped open when Adam turned off the engine.
“I get tired after I change too.” He pulled the key out of the ignition.
“Sorry about that. I was enjoying the ride.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re the first woman to ever take a ride in Chaney and enjoy it.”
“Cheney?” I laughed and tried not to think about all the other women who sat in this seat before me. “You named your Jeep after Dick Cheney?”
“No.” Adam grimaced. “Chaney, as in Lon Chaney.”
“The Wolf Man?”
He nodded with a grin. “That’s the one.”
“Let me get this straight. You wear a silver bullet around your neck, your ring tone is
“No one believes in werewolves, and I’ve never had a problem with what I am. In fact, I’m proud of what I can do.” He got out of the driver’s seat and ran his hand along the curve of the steering wheel. “As long as we only exist in fiction, why live in fear, right?”
