by Cecilia Lane
So why was he in Bearden, chasing down the shy server at the local barbecue joint?
The drive for blood pushed his bear to the surface with a growl.
He wanted to kill the bastard.
He wanted to hold Nora close.
Fuck, he didn’t want to think about what would have happened if he’d driven away after he paid his check. But no, he’d needed one more glimpse. Had to reassure his bear that the fucker harassing her wouldn’t make another attempt in the dark parking lot.
Instead, he found Viho fucking Valdana on the hunt.
Jesse shoved himself straight with a growl and flipped open his cabinets, looking for anything he could hold under Nora’s nose to wake her.
Instinct to protect her had kicked into gear the moment she fled the attack. He’d clawed and tore through the pack, then felt far deeper wounds than they left when she fainted at the sight of him.
He’d cradled her against his chest the entire walk out of the woods, then drove like a bat out of hell straight to his den. Let the fuckers try again on his territory.
With another growl, he slapped closed an open cabinet.
A sudden intake of breath twisted him around. His bear roared to the surface, desperate to protect the sweet-smelling woman from any potential threat.
Nora bolted upright, the white of her eyes rolling with her panic. Her fingers dug into the back of the couch and she glanced wildly around the room. “Where is he? Where are we?”
“Easy,” Jesse said softly. He raised his hands and took a step closer. “You’re safe.”
“Safe?” She stumbled to her feet and backed away from him. “I don’t know where I am. How is that safe?”
She stepped back again, jerky movements that ran her into a side table. The lamp wobbled, but stayed standing. The keys he’d tossed there didn’t stand a chance and jangled to the floor.
Jesse rubbed his chest and ground his teeth against the growl rattling his bear. “Can you stop? You’re riling up my bear.”
“Not until you tell me what’s going on!” Nora glanced down at her bare feet. “And what did you do with my shoes?”
Jesse pointed next to the door. “Thought you might be more comfortable with them off. And frankly, I hoped the jostling would wake you up.”
All her outward signs of fidgety nerves stopped, but the air was still thick with her unease. She flexed her toes against the wood floor and lifted her chin primly. “That solves one mystery. Now, what about the rest?”
“You’re in my den. I brought you here after you passed out.” His jaw tightened with a renewed dose of fury. “I wasn’t about to leave you for those bastards. Do you remember what happened?”
“I was attacked. You fought them off, didn’t you?”
A sliver of panic faded with her shaky breath. Good. He’d keep asking her questions and redirecting her mind until that sour odor disappeared entirely.
He’d breathed it in enough as a child. He didn’t want to smell it coming from Nora.
Jesse dipped his chin to his chest. “I did. The fucker leading them is one of the meanest sons of bitches I’ve ever come across. Viho Valdana is a menace.”
Something flickered in her eyes and was gone again in an instant. “You know him?”
“He attacked us last year. Tried to claim our territory for his own.” He glanced at her again, jaw tight. He couldn’t let Viho claim her. Wouldn’t. Asshole would just chew her up and spit her back out. She was too good for the likes of him. “We beat him back before. We’ll gladly do it again. That entire pack will burn before they get close to you, that I promise.”
Nora twisted her fingers. Even without the sharp scent of anxiety, her raw nerves were as clear as day.
The air, too, thickened with her unease. Her pulse slammed faster and faster, the beat driving his bear from an expected level of defensive to vision-swimming-with-red fury.
Fucking Viho. Hunting women was a pastime for the bastard. She wasn’t the first in the clan to feel Viho’s breath on her neck as she ran.
His bear roared for blood. Viho’s blood. And any other motherfucker that worked alongside him. Skies above, he should have chased him into the ground a year ago and finished the job then.
Jesse paced away, putting distance between them as he tried to stamp out the fire in his middle. Not now. His fury had a time and place.
“You’re safe,” he assured her. The words came out in a rough rasp, his bear still riding him hard. He swallowed back the burr on his tongue and tried again. “Trust me.”
She smelled entirely unconvinced.
“I need to tell my alpha about what happened.” He raised his eyes to the ceiling and bit back his sigh. “You should get some sleep. Take the bed. I’ll bunk down on the couch when I come back. “
She swung her gaze to the bedroom, then hunched in on herself. “Can I have the couch?”
That little look and the accompanying stink of fright tore through him. Rationally, he knew he shouldn’t care. After the night she’d had with a handsy douche canoe and then wolves on her heels, they were expected.
Logic didn’t play a damn role in the raging bear slashing up his insides. The beast saw it as rejection. Fear of him.
“Of course,” he told her. He swept past and stripped sheets and pillows from the bed.
She was still in his home. Her scent still filled the space. He still guarded her.
It had to be enough until he earned her trust.
Jesse flicked out the sheets and tucked them into the cushions, aware of her eyes on him the entire time. When he straightened, she quickly looked away and her cheeks turned red.
“All yours. Bathroom is right through there if you need it.” He jerked his chin to one of the doors off the living room.
Nora nodded once and took a step forward. Then her toes caught in the rug under the couch, she tripped, and went down in a heap.
Jesse was across the room in a flash. Warmth spread over his skin the moment his palms connected with her arms. Pleasure slinked right along with the flare of heat, melting him down bit by bit.
Nora’s eyes churned with gorgeous gold before she tugged away.
“Are you hurt?” He cleared his throat as he followed her to his feet. He studied her jerky movements, but she didn’t appear to favor anything. Another inhale soothed his ragged beast for a split second before the bear started prowling all over again.
“I’m fine,” she said and fled into the bathroom.
Embarrassment scented the air around her when she emerged and stiffly walked to the couch, eyes on her steps. She pressed her lips together and flipped the blankets over her. “Jesse?” she breathed.
Knots of unease formed between his shoulders. “Yeah?”
“Can we keep the lights on?”
He closed his eyes and wished death on the monsters in the shadows. “Of course.”
“Will you stay here until I fall asleep?”
“Whatever you need.”
He sank to the floor, long legs stretched out and a shoulder pressed against the cushion. Their noses almost touched when he turned to face her.
A faraway look entered her eyes. “You must think I’m the worst shifter in all of creation. I didn’t even shift or try to fight.”
“There’s nothing wrong with how you reacted. That asshole’s a monster.” He canted his head to the side. “Would it make you feel better if I told you something I’m scared of?”
“Probably not, but now I’m interested.” She snaked a hand out from under her blankets and poked him hard in the chest. “What could scare you?”
Not being good enough for her. Losing her and following his father down the path of madness, both before they had a chance to let fate work her magic and after a lifetime together.
So he went with the most ridiculous answer he could think of. “Sticky notes that have lost their stickiness.”
She stared at him like he’d broken her brain. “Cleary,” she said in a fake accent, “this means
you have a fear of being forgotten. For why else would one write upon ze sticky note in ze first place? Ze act of losing sticky is ze loss of one’s own self.”
He snorted. “Go to sleep, Nora.”
“Nailed it.” She turned over to face the back of the couch and drew the blankets over her head. From inside the huddle, she said quietly, “Thank you, hero.”
“Anytime, damsel,” he murmured with a lopsided smile.
He waited until her breathing slowed before easing back to his feet. Cautious steps carried him backward until he reached the door, then slipped outside.
The darkness wrapped all around in eerie silence. His shoulders itched with unseen eyes. He snarled into the night, willing trouble to come for him so he could put it down.
Possessive need surged inside him. Fucking Viho wouldn’t touch his mate.
He stalked past the other huts, each one full of happy life even with all their windows dark. The glow coming from his own den should have looked cheery in comparison, but it was just another line between him and the others.
He didn’t stop until he reached the main house.
Jesse pounded on the front door over and over. Finally, a light flicked on inside. He cocked his head at the faint sound of feet padding over the wood and waited.
Ethan, hair tousled from sleep, threw open the door hard enough that it banged against the wall. Behind him, Tansey cinched a robe closed and folded her arms over her chest. Annoyance whipped off them both.
“Viho is back,” he announced before they could skin him alive.
Shock thickened in the air.
“You’re sure?” Ethan asked.
“Crystal fucking clear. It was him.” His hands tightened into fists. “I caught him chasing down one of the locals. She’s back at my den.”
Where she would stay until the end times.
“Motherfucker,” Ethan snarled. Rage twisted his face. “Where? When?”
“At Hogshead, maybe an hour ago. He and a few others with him drove her down towards the river.”
“Too bad one of his own didn’t take him out. If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Ethan swung an arm around Tansey’s shoulders and dragged her close.
He didn’t explain himself. Didn’t need to. The only reason Viho got away the first time was because he’d been preoccupied with saving the life of his mate.
This time, it was Jesse’s mate on the line. Viho was his responsibility.
“I'll take the first patrol.” His bear slashed at his middle. He hated being far from Nora. Running the territory would just increase the distance.
Better a little discomfort than letting that fucker get near his mate again.
A low growl rattled in his throat as he cast a look in the direction of his den.
Tansey eyed him sharply, then placed a hand on Ethan’s arm. “We have this shift. You make sure she’s safe for the night.”
Grateful, he nodded and backed down the porch steps and marched back to his den.
His attention zeroed in on Nora the moment he opened the door. Her sweet scent called to him, wrapped tightly around his throat and pulled him closer. She twisted in her sleep, forehead creased with whatever haunted her dreams. Viho, he guessed.
More growls rattled in him. That fucker was a nightmare in real life. He didn’t deserve to occupy her dreams, too.
Jesse padded closer. She muttered something he didn’t catch, but the fear was plain in her whimper.
Fucking asshole wolf. His bear ripped through him to find the bastard and make him suffer.
Jesse laid a gentle hand on the arm dangling off the couch. Warmth coiled inside him, winding around his spine like a snake.
And Nora settled with a sigh.
Her pulse still beat a wicked pace, but the mutterings and fear drenching her scent ceased to exist.
His bear brushed fur against his mind. Sendings flashed like lightning strikes. Nora, red cheeks and a pleased smile. That gorgeous woman with her shirt dipping to the side to show off her mate mark.
His.
His to protect. His to cherish.
He kept his hand on her arm until sleep came for him.
Chapter 8
Nora woke to an unfamiliar ceiling overhead. For a brief moment, she thought her wolf had broken her into someone else’s home before relinquishing control back to her human half.
Then the previous night immediately rushed back in with undeniable force. Not a bad dream, as she’d hoped. Just an awful, terrible, no good reality.
Viho had found her. He wanted her still. There was no stopping him.
Unbidden, her hand rose to press against the scars on her shoulder and side. The brush of her fingers sent her wolf snarling.
Her brief interlude of freedom crashed into fiery ruin when he stepped out of the shadows and laid out his villainous monologue. Those words, like all the rest he’d spewed her way, were branded on her soul. They marked her as his unwilling mate.
Which was why she needed to get the hell out of Dodge. He’d found her hiding spot. Her life in Bearden was blown. She needed to run before he tried to grab her again.
Nora sat up, intending to write Jesse a thank-you note before easing out the door. Instead, she slapped her hands over her mouth to cover her startled squeak.
Jesse stretched out next to the couch with an arm tucked under his head.
Nora took a giant step over the man. Her other foot followed. Then she stumbled against the coffee table and cursed the jolt of pain in her knee. She yanked her leg back, throwing herself off balance in the opposite direction, and landed right where she started after tripping over Jesse.
The man himself jerked awake and swung his head around looking for whatever dared threaten him in his sleep.
“Sorry,” Nora hissed. “So sorry.”
She scrambled back to her feet and made a dash for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
She stared at her reflection. Red cheeks, bright eyes. At least they were her normal brown and not the gold of her wolf.
Score for a quick getaway.
Nora rolled her eyes. Her reflection didn’t quite kill her smile.
Okay. Time to take stock. She’d been found by Viho, did absolutely nothing to save herself, and slept on the couch of the strange man who’d rescued her more than once the night before.
Because life wasn’t complicated enough, that rescue mission put her right in the middle of Viho’s mortal enemies.
Talk about out of the fire and into the frying pan.
Her wolf howled and sank to her belly, but there was nothing fearful about the action. Sendings flashed through her head, almost too fast for her to pick out. The moon, high in the sky. A deep cave. Lots of trees and peaceful quiet.
Jesse was shelter.
Except he didn’t know who she really was. And the way he talked about burning the Vagabonds to the ground last night stilled her tongue. What would he do if he knew he had Viho’s mate in his home?
No matter how much her wolf drooled over the man, she didn’t know if she could trust him. He knew Viho. He’d fought against him. Right or wrong, that war turned the Vagabonds inside out until they finally cracked.
She didn’t want to deal with Viho again. She also didn’t want to be guilty by association.
No, best to keep her connection to the monster to just the basics. He’d hunted her and she’d been rescued by a kind soul. No abduction, no chains, no breaking of the Vagabonds. And especially no mate mark.
Not until she knew she could trust Jesse.
And maybe not even then. Her deepest secret and deepest shame could stay buried forever.
Jesse’s voice followed two soft raps on the door. “You okay in there?”
“Fine!”
What the heck was she doing? Trust didn’t factor into the equation. She needed to leave.
Nora splashed cold water on her face. A deep inhale and a slow exhale later, she flung the door open, bounced off Jesse’s chest, and stumb
led into the door frame.
Strong hands landed on her arms and steadied her. The touch flared warmth in her middle, obliterating all the nervous energy that coursed through her.
“Easy,” Jesse murmured in his deliciously deep voice.
A shiver worked down her spine. “Sorry for tripping over you.” Nora chewed on her lower lip. “Why were you down there?”
“You were muttering in your sleep when I came back.” He rubbed his chest, right over his heart. The eyes he turned on her simmered with his tiny smile. “You stopped when I got near. A stiff back was worth you getting a night of good sleep.”
Her heart kicked up a notch and butterflies took flight in her stomach. Nora’s wolf howled and jumped in her head. She doubted the little beast had ever been so happy.
She didn’t blame her animal. Those words described an entirely selfless act. He’d sacrificed for her comfort when he didn’t even know her.
And when she kept secrets from him.
And oh goodness, the silence had gone on for too long.
“I should get going,” she blurted.
Jesse frowned. “Nonsense. That fucker is still out there. I wouldn’t feel right turning you loose when he could be waiting to snatch you up. You can stay here. Are you hungry? There should be something ready soon at the main house.”
What was one little breakfast before vanishing?
Her wolf growled at the idea of parting from the man.
And that was how, instead of slipping out of Bearden, she found herself stepping off Jesse’s porch with his hand resting against her lower back.
“We usually eat breakfast together. Tansey and Joss run a bed-and-breakfast out of the main house, so they’re up before the guests when we have them. We’re a cattle ranch first, and Ethan doles out the day’s orders while we eat.”
“That’s really sweet.”
Jesse snorted. “Save your praise until after you meet them.”
Still, fondness and affection coated his words and eased some of her troubled spirit as she trailed after him.
She’d missed the drive in the night before on account of being passed out due to extreme fright at the hands of devilish wolves. She was glad her first sight of the ranch wasn’t tainted by sheer panic. High anxiety, sure, but at least she could appreciate the details.
