“You’ll regret this.” She points at us as she backs toward the front door. “I promise you that.” She turns the knob, the door opening behind her. She steps over the threshold, her body silhouetted by the light. “Especially you bitch. Better watch your back.” The door slams closed on her last words as Kellen draws me close.
“You okay? Did she hurt you anywhere?” He fingers the scratch marks on my face.
“No, I’m fine. She just scared me.” I lean into him, absorbing his strength. “I still need to go to the bathroom.” I murmur, and he chuckles.
“Come on, I’ll stand guard.” He leads me to a small half bath that’s clean and doesn’t have that men's room funk. My legs threaten to give way as I sit on the toilet. I take care of business and stand in front of the sink to wash my hands. Touching the still vivid bruising on the side of my face, I wonder what the hell Kellen sees in me. Was she right? Does he hate humans? Is that why he walked out of the bedroom this morning after I asked about his brother? Slumping against the counter, despair flows through me. Maybe Cherry’s right and I need to walk away.
Knocking softly on the door, Kellen calls out, “Babe you okay in there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just washing my hands.” I turn on the faucet, drowning out anything else he says.
Opening the door, he’s standing in the door frame, arms bracketing each side. His gray shirt pulled taut across his biceps and chest. His black vest gaping open.
“Why don’t I believe you?” He asks looking down at me.
“I am, but would it be okay if we go home? I’m exhausted.” His brows furrow.
“Sure,” he drops an arm around my shoulders, and we head for the door. “Wraith, man we’re out.”
“Gotcha brother. Be careful. Watch your back.”
We climb into Kellen’s truck; the engine rumbling to life. “How come we didn’t take your bike?”
“I wanted you to be comfortable. I know you’re still sore and didn’t want to make it worse.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Believe me, babe, I can't wait to get you on the back of my bike. You ever ridden before?”
“No.”
“I’m sure you’ll love it. I need to get you a helmet too.”
“Do you wear one?”
“Nah, I’ve got a hard head.”
The drive back to his house is quiet except for the country song on the radio station. His house is so far off the beaten path that if you didn’t know it was there, you’d never find it. Turning down his gravel driveway, the lake is easily visible behind the house.
“This place is beautiful.”
“Glad you like it. It took me a while to find it. I grew up near a national forest. My parents run a wildlife preserve. We needed a lot of land to take care of the animals. When I came here for college, I fell in love with it.”
“You went to college here?”
“Stephen F. Austin.”
“That explains the shirt. What did you study?”
“Business management.”
“Really?”
“Crazy, huh? My plans were to go back and help my parents and eventually manage the preserve. The guy my parents had will retire in a few years. My parents like the animals, not the business side of things.”
“What made you stay here?”
“I met Kid and Wraith at a bar one night. Some guys were drunk and picking on a girl who was working there. She was human, but they were wolf shifters. I stepped in when they started taking things too far. Kid and Wraith were right behind me. After we took out the trash and made sure she was okay, they invited me to have a beer with them and we’ve been friends ever since.”
He opens his door and walks around the truck to mine. He lifts me out of the truck, and my feet touch the soft grass. He leads me around to the back of the house towards the deck. We sit on the porch swings and listen to the water lapping at the shore.
“How did you end up in a motorcycle club?” I lean my head on his shoulder.
“Wraith and Kid were already members. They encouraged me to prospect. I’d been lost ever since they killed Kevin. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and we are close, but I never had that connection with someone else. There aren’t a lot of cat shifters where I’m from. After a couple of weeks hanging around with the guys, I felt like I had found what I was missing.”
“I’m glad you found them then.”
“Me too. Speaking of family, do you want to call yours? They’re probably missing you by now.”
“Maybe. I’m not super close with them. Dad is always busy at the dock. Mom always has something going on with her students. I think I was a mistake for them. They didn’t have time to devote to a kid.”
“That’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to make up for their lack of attention.”
“Kellen, is what she said true? That you hate humans?” He tenses under me at the question.
“Before you I would have said yes. When those two men killed my brother for his pelt, it killed something inside of me.”
“Then why do you want me for a mate?”
“I don’t have a choice.” Now it's my turn to stiffen as I pull away from him.
“Fuck. I didn’t mean it like that.” He runs his hand over his face.
“No, it’s okay, I understand,” my voice quivers and my eyes sting with tears.
“No, Molly, you don’t.” He puts a
