“Give it time, Eva. Come on. Let’s get you up on your feet.”
Carefully, John hooked his arms under hers, making sure she was okay with the contact before helping her up.
“My father wants to sell our house. It’s the last link I have to my mom. All my memories are there, and without it, they’ll fade,” she said sadly.
He tipped her chin up and made her meet his eyes. “She’ll live on in you always. I bet you look like her.”
Nodding, she answered, “I have her hair and eyes. Zac got her strength. I wish I’d have been given a bit of that too.”
“I think you need to look harder. When I look, I see nothing but strength.”
For one perfect minute, the pull John felt toward her was reflected in Eva’s eyes. He could see the possibilities; all they’d be together. His heart picked up speed, his body growing hot as desire stirred from deep within. Licking her lips, her concentration fell to his lips, and John wanted nothing more than to claim her mouth and give in to the primal urges inside of him.
“Your eyes have gone wolf,” she whispered, meeting them.
“Have they?” he replied roughly, the wolf in his tone.
“Do all shifters have completely different colored eyes?” Reaching up, she touched his face and tipped his head as if to get a better look.
Biting back a groan, John tried to remember what she’d asked while resisting the need to drag her against him. “No. Some are just slightly different tones or a mixture of both. It’s rare to have eyes like mine.” His eyes were a reflection of his nature and the dominance his wolf had over the man. While he’d grown used to the tug and pull of his wolf with age, the startling difference in his eye color, from human gray-blue to yellow-gold, made blending into the human world difficult at times.
She smiled, and it did stupid things to his brain. So much so, he was sure he misheard her next words.
“I like the idea of you being rare.” Eva blinked a few times as if waking from a trance, and a frown appeared between her brow. “Why do I tell you these things?” she whispered, almost to herself.
Because you are mine. His wolf growled from within.
He shrugged, acting nonchalantly as his mind raced. “Because I’m a good listener.”
She laughed. “You are, but you also don’t talk much either.”
“I can talk more if you want.”
Fingers brushing his hand, Eva smile slowly. “It doesn’t matter what I want. Just be you, John.”
If he was being himself, he’d be giving in and kissing her. Consequences be damned.
“Is that my sweater?” she asked, twisting slightly to get a better look at the piece of clothing he’d tucked into the back pocket of his jeans.
Pulling it free, John handed it over. “Oh, yes. Zac gave it to me when he said you were missing.”
Hand flying to her mouth, tears filled her large hazel eyes. “I said some awful things to my dad. I was just so… surprised. It’s stupid, really. I’ve felt them moving on. I guess I knew it was coming, yet it still shocked me to hear the words come from his mouth.”
“It’s natural for him to want to be near Zackary though,” John explained.
Pulling on her sweater, Eva studied the forest, her mind on things John wished to learn. “I know. I just never really thought of Zac staying here permanently. Besides, there’s moving nearby, and then there’s joining a pack of wolves.”
“What did you think would happen?” he asked.
She looked guilty at him before turning away and walking a few steps. “I thought you’d fix him, and we’d go home, back to the life we left.” She shook her head, running a hand through the end of her ponytail. “Zac isn’t broken though. In fact, he’s the happiest he’s been since Mom passed.” She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing as if warding off the cold.
“Let’s get you back before you catch a cold, and your family begins to really worry.”
“Which way? After a while, this place all looks the same, and the terrain is not made for my human feet.”
He indicated with a nod and began to walk. “I can show you a track that’s smoother for running if you’d like? When you’re fully healed, of course.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled.
They spent the next ten minutes in silence, John biting his tongue every time she limped or nearly tripped on a rut or unseen dip. The light was fading fast, and soon, they’d be in complete darkness and tackling the freezing cold—not that it would bother his shifter body, but Eva wasn’t quite as robust.
“Can I please carry you?” John asked when he could no longer stand watching her. “You’re clearly in pain, and it’s going to be dark soon.”
She narrowed her gaze. “I suppose, since you actually asked this time.”
John suppressed his smile as he celebrated the small victory and picked his future mate off the ground and into his arms. She wrapped an arm over his shoulder, her scent filling his lungs and driving him crazy.
“What am I going to say to my father, John?” she asked quietly once they’d begun walking again.
Looking down at her with—head against on his shoulder, gaze far away—John contemplated how best to answer her question. Sometimes it was hard for him to deal with very human emotions when he tended to run with the black and white views of his wolf. There were times when people hadn’t appreciated his direct, no-holds-barred approach to talking, but after several seconds of thought, all John could think up with was
