Think of another way? If that was the case, why wouldn’t he just say that?
“If I don’t obey,” he continued, sounding like he was under some thick dream and trying to throw it off, “then I’ll be branded a traitor. Bethany will be taken away from me if we’re lucky. If I’m not, then she’ll be killed to get at me. There is only so much the family will put up with, after all. They might have wanted her from the start, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have plenty of other children that could take whatever role they want her to fill. You’d be killed anyway. I’d be killed. Then what would happen to Bethany? Death or raised to be a weapon. If I disobey…”
Lizzie shuddered as she tried to breathe. “Then what are you waiting for?”
***
A miracle. For some way out of this. There had to be something. Some way that Lizzie didn’t have to die.
Something that he could convince her to agree to. That was going to be the hardest part of it. Well… that and providing proof to the family that she was dead. But that was something he could deal with after he figured out some plan that might be able to save her anyway.
Outside, a bird landed on the pine that stood a few meters from the cabin. Another bird landed next to it. Was it the first bird’s offspring? It's mate? Philip never thought that he’d find a mate. He never really wanted one, either. It was just someone else to be worried about. Someone else who would be in danger. Someone else to let down, disappoint.
“Philip.”
Lizzie’s voice was so choked with sobs that it was amazing that she could speak but speak she did. God, she was stubborn. It was so infuriating and yet, that was one of the things he liked best about her. That she was so damn stubborn and refused to take any flack. No doubt, it was one of the reasons why she was so successful with her business ventures, too.
Was she going to be able to see her agency take off? Establish itself in the way she wanted? Or were these frantic ideas rushing through his head, each one worse than the previous, going to be enough? He wanted to suggest to her that she run. Disappear and go somewhere far, far outside the family’s reach. But if he did that… he would have to ask her to take Bethany with her. And even if he had decided that he was going to give her up, it was just too painful to say right now.
“Bethany is better off without you.”
Could she read his thoughts?
“It doesn’t matter what you do today. It doesn’t matter what happens to me.” Lizzie’s voice grew stronger. “You’re no good for her. As much as you love her and want a better life for her… you can’t give that to her. Sooner or later, you’re going to give her to the family, for fear of them hurting her if you don’t, or you’re going to get her killed.”
Acid burned in his stomach. Every word she said was true, and he didn’t want it to be. For nearly six years he had sheltered his little girl. He had protected her, comforted her, taught her about the world. He had lied to her, killed for her, sold his soul over and over again for fear of losing her. He wanted what was best for Bethany. And he knew exactly what that was.
A bitter, angry laugh bubbled up his throat. How stupid was he, for hanging onto a dream for so long? How selfish was he, to bind Bethany to himself for so long? He was afraid of dying, yes, but he was far more afraid of going on with his life without her. How could he face the demons of his past without seeing her bright smile or having her there to remind him why he did what he did?
A sob brought him back to the present. Lizzie’s hands were clutched over her knees as she stared at him. Her tears were still thick, and her cheeks flushed with anger. She glowered at him with such ferocity that he nearly drew back from her.
“What is so fucking funny?” she demanded. “Do you find murder so amusing?”
That, more than anything, snapped the laughter right out of him. His voice died. He wanted to reach out to Lizzie, to pull her into his arms, like he had held her the previous night. To take her into the lake and hold her warmth close while the cold air and water brought them closer together. He wanted to assure her that he would protect her as he had before. He wanted to kiss her and tell her that he was never going to hurt her.
And yet… wasn’t the fact that he hadn’t told her any of his plans proof that there was some small part of him that was still considering it.
His wolf snarled and slammed against his chest, as though it wanted to rip out his throat now.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and he was sorry. “I wasn’t laughing because…”
He trailed off. She stared at him.
Clearing his throat, he nodded. “Okay. Is there any way that I can convince you to play dead?”
Lizzie’s brow furrowed. The tears still came, but when she wiped them away with her still-sodden sleeves, less came to take their place than there had been before. She sucked in a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. She didn’t say anything, though, and Philip leaned forward, his gaze fixed on some point behind her. He didn’t want to look at her, not now. If he couldn’t figure this out, then…
“You’re rich. You can afford to hire protection.”
“I can,” Lizzie said, starting to sound hopeful. “I can contact Dane Hemmerick—”
“Dane?” Philip shook his head. “He’s the best there is, but he gets bored. Besides, he’s got that thing with the vampire going on. It’d be too easy to distract him… No. No, the family would just wait. It might be years, but they’d strike after you let your guard down. You’ll never be safe as long as they know you’re alive. No. You’ll have to cut all contact with everyone you know. Disappear completely. Go set up a new life in Madagascar, where they won’t be able to touch you. Where you’re too far away for them to bother.”
Now he did meet her gaze. Hope was written all over her face. She was holding her breath, and even her tears seemed to be waiting for him to continue before they decided to continue to fall.
“And you’ll take Bethany with you,” he whispered. “You’ll take her, and she’ll be safe. They won’t be able to touch her, either.”
Lizzie swallowed hard. “And you?”
He shrugged, seeing in her eyes that she already knew.
“Is this true?” her voice wavered. “Are you really suggesting this, or is it just another lie?”
“It’s true. If you act fast, they won’t be able to catch you. But you’ll have to cut all ties. You’ll have to give up your business, your family, everything. Pull as much money as you can from your account, and then don’t touch it again. If you have any contact with this life, they can find you.”
He stood, decided. Now he just had to get her back to the city and get Bethany to her, so they could take off just like that. There were dragon shifters he knew they could hire to get them out of the city before the family figured it out. From there, Lizzie was smart enough to find her own way to Madagascar—or wherever she decided to go.
“And what about you?” Lizzie insisted, standing as well.
Philip tore his gaze from his distant plans to stare at her. “What about me? You said yourself, Bethany would be better off without me.”
“Not like that!” Lizzie’s cheeks went red and she stepped forward. Her hands reached out, grasping his wrists. “If we’re going to disappear to Madagascar, why can’t you go with us? It’s not like you have a tracker in you, is it?”
Philip didn’t know how to respond to that. She was offering to bring him along? Even after the lies he had told, even after he had seriously considered killing her? Or—even if he hadn’t been able to go through with it—she thought he was going to kill her. How could she ignore all that and offer to take him to safety as well?
The sound of an engine pulling up outside made them both turn. Philip cursed as he strode to the window; it was Kavan’s blue car, and he stepped out of it. With another, harder curse, Philip leapt across the room. He seized Lizzie around the waist and all but carried her into one of the bedrooms. She let out a shriek, pulling away instinctively.
; “Stay in here,” Philip hissed at her. “Be very, very quiet.”
“But—”
“Please, Lizzie. Kavan was sent to make sure that you died. He’s not going to be as eager as I am to find an alternative.”
Her face paled to a marble white. She opened her mouth, but he didn’t let her speak. He shut the door quickly and moved for the front door. It opened before he got there and Kavan rushed in. Philip didn’t bother trying to decipher the confused emotions on the other man’s face as he looked around the room wildly.
“You can’t kill her,” Kavan blurted.
Philip had been mentally preparing himself for the possibility that he might have to kill Kavan. His wolf still bristled, ready to pounce if he needed to. But his words brought Philip up short. So, he knew, too? He was going to turn against the family, too?
“Bethany told me that she wishes that Lizzie was her mother,” Kavan continued, looking around. “So, I knew… you can’t kill her. Where is she?”
Philip could almost have laughed. He was so weak with relief that he sank to the hard couch. He gestured toward the bedroom door. As he opened his mouth to ask Kavan if he’d be willing to help them escape, though, Kavan let out a soft curse. His expression hardened and he shook his head.
“What are you thinking?”
Philip blinked at him, startled. Then Kavan stepped toward the door, and Philip understood. He had said ‘you can’t kill her.’ You. Not we. Not that Lizzie couldn’t die. Just that Philip was unable to kill her. A rush of panic welled in him. So that was why Kavan had returned. So that he could do the job himself.
He leapt to his feet, his wolf burning just under the surface, and dove at Kavan. Kavan started to turn just as Philip rammed into him. They flew across the room, slamming hard into the wall. Philip snarled as he grabbed Kavan by the collar, pinning him down as the other man tried to buckle and fight him off. The wolf was too strong in Philip, though, his teeth starting to sharpen in his mouth, his nails turning into claws.
“You’re not going to hurt her!” he snarled.
Kavan yelped as Philip slammed him down against the floorboards. He punched Philip in the ribs, but in their position, it had little force behind it. He heard footsteps and glanced up to see the bedroom door crack open. Kavan opened his mouth, twisting his head to look at Lizzie. Even that was too much for Philip; he wasn’t going to let him look at her, hurt her, kill her.
Thought fled as he slammed Kavan into the floor again. He drew back his fist and punched hard at Kavan’s face. The other wolf was just able to wrench his head to one side; Philip’s fist impacted the wood, hard. Pain rippled up his arm, but he ignored it. Kavan let out a strangled growl. He seized Philip’s shirt at the shoulder and yanked hard. The movement dislodged Philip’s grip on Kavan’s shoulders, and Kavan was able to buckle his body, pulling a knee between them. Even though Philip bore down on him with his full weight, Kavan was able to throw him off.
Philip rolled once before he bounced back up, going for Kavan again. Kavan dodged, sliding away from the bedroom door. To Philip’s horror, though, it was still open. He grabbed the edge of the door and flung it shut; didn’t Lizzie know that a man like Kavan could easily have a gun concealed on his person? Kavan backed away from him, his hands lifted in the air.
“Philip, I—”
He didn’t care what Kavan had to say. He charged again, howling as his wolf flowed through his veins. Kavan dodged a punch and struck back. His fist hit Philip’s ribs, making him stumble. Then Kavan sidestepped him and attempted to elbow him; Philip dropped with the blow, preventing it from landing too hard, and swept Kavan’s feet out from under him.
“Listen to me, dammit,” Kavan roared.
But Philip wasn’t going to listen; he wasn’t going to risk it. With a bestial roar, he flung himself at his enemy again. He wasn’t going to let him hurt Lizzie; he’d die first; he’d kill first.
Chapter Seven
“I’m not—” Kavan ducked under a blow that came at his face.
Philip snarled, and Kavan knew that if he didn’t get the other wolf to stop for two seconds and listen, he was dead. The frenzy of a man who had heard a threat to the most important thing in the world to him lit Philip’s eyes. If the situation wasn’t so potentially deadly, Kavan would have found it funny. He dodged another blow, seeing an opening to crash his fist into Philip’s stomach but not taking it—hoping that if he didn’t fight back, Philip would notice and back off.
It didn’t work. Kavan had to jump back when Philip lunged for him. His left foot caught the couch and he went down, hitting the floor hard. He rolled out of the way as Philip came down, his elbow aimed for Kavan’s face.
Clearly, Lizzie Hendrix had a bigger effect on Philip than he wanted to admit.
Kavan growled as he got back to his feet, the couch now between the two of them. Fur covered Philip’s body, his fingernails like claws, his teeth sharp and pointed in his mouth. He hefted the couch out of his way, flinging it at Kavan, who cursed as he side-stepped it.
“I am not going to hurt her!” he shouted, grinding his feet into the floor. Enough was enough! He wasn’t going to get beat up or killed for Philip’s mistaken assumption. Philip grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the wall, making him grunt in pain, but he grabbed Philip back, holding him at arm’s length, and glared right back. “I didn’t come back to kill her, Philip. Stop for one fucking second and listen to me!”
Philip’s nostrils flared. But there was a slight change in his eyes, the fury not quite so overwhelming. Kavan took that as an encouraging sign and eased his grip ever so slightly so that he wasn’t presenting such a large threat to Philip. He hadn’t really known what to do when he was coming out here to deliver the godfather’s message. Killing civilians, especially women, was something that absolutely sickened him. Children being hurt because of his actions was unthinkable.
When he’d been driving away, he had thought, briefly, that he could assuage his guilt because it wasn’t him who would be putting in the final blow. But with every minute that passed, that guilt only grew worse. And when Bethany kept talking about Lizzie and how much she cared… well, that was the final straw.
“Explain,” Philip snarled, not loosening his grip.
“I came back to stop you.” Kavan sucked in a deep breath. “I realized that I couldn’t let her get killed. It’s my fault that she was in this situation in the first place and I…”
Philip’s tight fists finally started to relax.
“I would have fought to keep her safe,” Kavan continued. “When she was in the bedroom… I thought…”
Philip glared at him more forcefully, then released him. He stepped back, breathing heavily. “I suppose I can’t fault you for that. But if you’re lying to me, I’ll tear your throat out. Understood?”
***
Kavan grinned at him, and Philip felt like a huge weight was lifted from his chest. “Yeah, right. As if you could.”
Philip snorted. “If this was anything to indicate—”
“Come off it, King.” Kavan rolled one of his shoulders, wincing through his smirk. “I let you get those blows in. I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed, after all.”
Philip had to let out one harsh bark of laughter at that. Maybe he had been somewhat blinded by anger, but he knew that Kavan had been on the losing end of that fight, no matter what he told himself. The bruises already raising up on his fair skin were a testament to that. Philip let out a slow breath, bringing himself down. His wolf growled, not entirely convinced that Kavan was telling the truth. Philip had known him long enough, however, to think that it was the truth after all.
How many times had they sat in silence, drinking a beer after making some small comment about the family, indicating that they were both disgusted by the violence against women that some of the members perpetrated? Hadn’t they tracked down more than one of the members of the family and taken them out after learning what they did to their wives? It wouldn’t be the fir
st time Kavan risked the wrath of the family, although it was the greatest danger he’d put himself in.
“Lizzie is going to take Bethany away,” Philip said. “I’m going to buy her time, but they’re going to get away—”
“Go with them.”
Philip stared at Kavan, uncertain how to respond to that. Lizzie had suggested that, too. But surely if he disappeared as well, it would paint an even bigger target on their backs?
Kavan stepped forward. “You know I have to deliver this message back to the Godfather, but I can buy you some time. Hell, maybe you could even rustle up the funds to buy your way from the family. At least give you enough space to disappear. I won’t ask you where you intend to go, so I can honestly say that I don’t know.”
Without thinking, Philip grasped Kavan’s forearm, holding tightly in thanks as his throat swelled. He knew the risk Kavan was taking. No matter how much they set it up, there was a good possibility that the godfather would see it as a betrayal, and then Kavan would die. There was a chance he could get out… and if Philip stayed, that chance would most likely be tied to killing him.
“I suppose the best thing to do would be beat you up a little and tie you up,” Philip said.
“I don’t know if they’ll believe that,” Kavan said with a shrug. “Probably not. But it’s worth a shot, I suppose.”
Philip sighed as he walked to the bedroom door, opening it. He expected to see Lizzie cowering in a corner, perhaps hiding behind the bed or something. Instead, he saw the window was thrown wide open and the screen torn. He stood there, blinking, for only half a second before he turned to Kavan.
“Did you happen to leave the keys in your car?” he asked calmly.
Kavan glanced over his shoulder at the empty bedroom and nodded.
Just then, the sound of an engine roaring to life came from outside. Philip grinned, and casually strode to the door. He stepped outside to see Kavan’s blue car tearing away. Good. Lizzie couldn’t have known that they were coming to an agreement. She only knew they were fighting, and so had taken steps to protect herself and Bethany. If the threat had been as bad as they feared, that was exactly what he would have wanted her to do.
The Wolf’s Surprise Babies Page 8
