by Sara Summers
“He threw a chair at me a few days ago when he lost his temper. Hit me with a frying pan last week. Punched me in the face a few days before that. Shoves me against walls almost every other day, so don’t worry, I’ve got bruises on my back too.”
Tanner covered the distance between us and carefully pressed his hand against my stomach, effectively killing my frustration.
“What are you doing?” I was cautious, but didn’t step back.
“Touching you.” His eyes met mine and I could see that he was worried.
The way his palm pressed against my skin, the way he touched me so gently, the way he worried about me… No one had worried about me in a long time. But his worry made me uncomfortable.
I stepped away from him and pushed my shirt back down.
“You should leave.”
“No.” Tanner folded his arms.
I folded mine.
“Leave.”
“No.” he repeated.
But he’d already shown me what could scare him away.
“If you stay my dad will keep attacking you and we’ll both get hurt.” I said, like it was a fact.
Reality was that I had no idea what my dad would do. Over time he’d probably forget that Tanner was even a shifter, or he’d forget that he hated shifters. There was a possibility that he’d keep going after Tanner every time he realized who and what he was, but that possibility was slim considering how exhausted it had made him the first time.
“You’re trying to use my weakness against me.” Tanner stared me down, and I could see his eyes light up with the challenge.
“Is it working?” I wasn’t going to back down.
“Maybe it would if caring about your safety was actually a weakness.” He stepped forward.
I forced myself not to step back.
Tanner looked more like a bodybuilder than any man I’d ever seen. That wasn’t saying much, since I grew up in a tiny town in Nevada and had never left the state, but still, he wasn’t small. And while I was 5’7” he still had a good four or five inches on me, so he wasn’t short either.
If he hadn’t tackled me to the ground to save my life and then felt guilty about it, I probably would’ve been scared of the guy.
“You don’t even know me.” I reminded him, my shoulders tense as he took another step forward.
“I will.” He was completely sure of that.
“Who says I’ll let you into my life?” I fired back.
He took another step forward, stopping with our chests barely a breath away from touching.
“You don’t have to. I’ll worm my way in one way or another.” He gave me a slow, sexy smile. “I’m your soulmate, and that means I’m your weakness.”
I rolled my eyes and side-stepped the mountain of a man.
“Oh please. If you were my only weakness I would be living the high life.” I left my room and headed down the stairs, and I could hear Tanner following me. “Go get your phone, Mr. Weakness. I need to make my dad lunch.” I called over my shoulder.
“Alright. Lock me out and I’ll break down the door.” His hand brushed my back as he stepped past me and headed straight to the door.
I bit back a smile and walked into the kitchen, silently glad that I’d somehow gotten paired with this wolf guy who was just as stubborn as I was.
Three
“Wow. What job do you have that pays you well enough that you can buy the newest iPhone?” I raised my eyebrows when I saw the shiny new-looking phone in what looked like the fattest, most protective case I’d ever seen.
My own phone was four or five versions behind his, and even that had a little pricier than I could really afford after my dad broke my last one.
I worked online in the evenings, teaching English to children in China from my computer early in the morning. The money from my dad’s savings and retirement fund barely gave us enough for groceries and utilities every month, so the money I made payed for everything else we needed and not much more.
“Oh, this? I didn’t buy this.” He shrugged and sat on the counter while I got out the bread, lunchmeat, and condiments to make my dad a few sandwiches. “I won a bet with my sister and this was the prize.”
“Is your sister loaded?” I checked. Who in their right mind would bet something as expensive as that phone? As cool as it was that he had both a brother and a sister, I’d just about decided she was off her rocker.
“Yep. Her soulmate is a famous actor, so their bank account was bottomless even before she got into acting too.”
“Really? Who are they?” I wondered, curious as to whether I had heard of either of them.
“Emma and Logan Lush.”
He laughed when my jaw dropped open.
“She’s your sister? She was all over the news for months. I don’t even read the news and I know about her.” I exclaimed.
“Well you’re my soulmate so technically she’s your sister too now.” Tanner grinned when my shock turned into horror.
“Soulmates are automatically married, aren’t they?” I realized.
It made me a little sick to think that I was married to the sexy stranger on my countertop. I hadn’t even planned on ever getting married.
“More than married. Our souls are two pieces of one puzzle that no one can pull apart.”
He studied me while I grimaced.
“I hardly know anything about shifters, and now I’m one of them?” the thought was a strange one. I glanced up at him and saw Tanner just staring at me again like I was all he had in his schedule today.
“Cut it out.” I complained.
“Cut what out?” he lifted an eyebrow.
“You’re staring at me, I don’t like it.”
Tanner grinned unashamedly.
“Like I said, you’re gorgeous. I can’t help it.”
He said it like it was obvious, but I shook my head.
“I haven’t done my hair in months, don’t have any makeup that isn’t crusty and dried up, and I’ve been wearing the same pair of pajamas for three days straight.” I gestured to the worn-out orange polka-dot pajama tank top and pants that I honestly hadn’t even taken off in at least 72 hours. “I’d hardly call that gorgeous. You only think that because I’m your weakness or whatever.”
I struggled to open the bread bag to get out a few slices to make my dad’s sandwich, but managed. When I grabbed the jar of mayonnaise, the real challenge began.
“You’re not my weakness.” He disagreed quickly, sliding off the counter and taking the jar of mayo. He untwisted the lid quickly and took the butter knife that I was reaching for.
“Really? Because I’m pretty sure you put yourself between me and a gun about an hour ago.” I tried to grab the butter knife, but he lifted it out of my reach.
“You’re injured, quit it.” He swatted my hand away. “And like I said, protecting you is a strength, not a weakness.”
“Whatever you say.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Mr. Weakness.”
“Hey, you should be thanking me. Not only did I possibly save your life but I’ve been waiting for you for so long that I’d think you were gorgeous even if you had six-day-old underwear on your head.” He opened his arms.
“I’m sure you would.” I took the opportunity and snagged the mayonnaise-knife from his outstretched arms, stepping in front of him to finish spreading mayonnaise on the two pieces of bread he hadn’t gotten to yet.
I noticed immediately as I started putting the mayo on that I’d stepped right between Tanner and the counter, my back pressing to his front, and he hadn’t budged even half an inch.
He swallowed behind me, and it was loud enough that I heard.
Biting my lip, I slowly closed my eyes just to enjoy the feel of his body against mine for a few seconds. It had been years since I’d gotten so much as a hug or a pat on a shoulder from another human being, and I was desperate to connect with someone.
I opened my eyes when his arms wrapped around my middle, holding me tightly but still gently
. He hadn’t forgotten about the bruises, I guess.
Though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I stepped away from him and handed him back the knife.
“My arm is pretty sore. I need to sit down for a few minutes.” I lied through my teeth.
Why did I lie? I guess because I was terrified of what it would mean for me and my life. Tanner had a job, I assumed, and I knew he had a family. That day he was there with me, in my house, with my dad, but I had no idea what he would want for tomorrow.
So I figured that if I kept some distance between us he would have no sway over me when he asked me to put my dad in a care facility and go back to job and family with him.
“Sure.” Tanner nodded and took the knife, getting back to the sandwiches for me. “Do you want me to tell you about being a shifter?” he asked. I sat down at the kitchen table and bit back a grimace.
Did I want him to tell me about being a shifter?
Not at the moment.
At that moment all I wanted was for him to yank my body against his and kiss me until we couldn’t breathe. I wanted him to lift me in the air so I was straddling him, I wanted him to push me up against the wall and make me forget my own name.
I couldn’t have cared less about what it was like to be a shifter right then.
Besides, the fact that he was my soulmate and we were supposed to be together sounded great in theory, but like I said, I wasn’t willing or ready to abandon my dad for the possibility of love.
“Sure.” I lied again.
I was pretty sure he saw through my lie, but knew he probably figured I just wasn’t ready to kiss him yet, or that I was worried about being a shifter.
Neither of them were true but I decided just to go with that.
“What do you want to know?” he checked.
He stumped me with that one.
I bit the inside of my cheek and scrambled for an answer.
“I’m not sure.”
Tanner smiled and I felt a little relieved.
“Well what do you know about us?” he asked, not seeming bothered at all that I was ‘clueless’.
Honestly, I didn’t know much about shifters.
“You turn into animals.” I shrugged. “And there’s the magic tattoos,” I reached up to the side of my neck, a little weirded out by that, “and you have soulmates.”
Tanner grinned.
“That about covers all the big stuff.” He said, piling lunch meat and cheese on the sandwich. “The markings are called coties,” he said it like co-T-A, “they kind of connect us to the animals in us. Soulmates have matching coties, male shifters can find their females anywhere on the planet… That’s everything I can think of.”
So shifters weren’t all that complicated, I figured.
“How did you know my name when I answered the door? Is that part of the woman-finding brain thing?” I checked.
“Nope. Wolves hear a little better than humans, so I heard your dad yell your name.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “So what’s the soulmate thing all about? I get that it’s like fate matched us together or something, but what do shifters say about it?”
“We say that when you find your soulmate you find the other half of your soul. That the Creator made us for each other and that we make each other whole.” He explained.
“So what, you just woke up one day and knew where I was and that I was everything you could ever dream of? You wolfed out and ran until you reached me?” I lifted an eyebrow, not sure I bought into that.
“Not even a little.” Tanner grinned. “I was in Walmart with my brother, actually. It was like a switch flipped in my brain, and I knew which direction I needed to go to find you. Scared me so much I dropped a can of spaghetti sauce.”
I tried and failed to bite back a smile.
“The wolf part was true, though?”
“Nah.” He opened the cupboard looking for a plate, getting lucky with the first cabinet he opened. “My car’s outside. I figured showing up on your front porch naked would just make you uncomfortable.”
I laughed, and he met my eyes with a bright smile.
“You have the most beautiful laugh.”
I immediately looked away, the happiness disappearing.
If he kept making me laugh and saying sweet things and looking at me like that, I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself from falling for the guy.
Not only was he the hottest man I’d ever seen, he was also standing in the kitchen making sandwiches for my dad so I could rest my arm, proclaiming that he was going to stay with me forever no matter what.
I don’t know how any girl could resist falling for that.
“What? Did I make you uncomfortable?” he left the sandwiches on the plate on the counter and took the chair beside mine at the kitchen table.
“No, it’s just my arm.” I lied again.
This time he didn’t look like he bought it even a little bit.
“You’re lying.” Tanner studied me.
He wasn’t afraid to call me out, apparently. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“So?” I leaned back against my chair. It wasn’t like he could force me to give away my deepest, darkest secrets.
“So tell me the truth.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table.
“No.” I stood up and walked away, heading down the hall to my dad’s room.
“Where are you going?” he caught up to me quickly, easily keeping pace with me.
“To see if my dad’s awake.” I didn’t look at him. I wanted to, though. I wanted to look at him.
I just didn’t want whatever came with it.
“He’s asleep, Hallie. I would’ve heard him. You probably would’ve too, since you’re a wolf now.”
I turned around and went back to the kitchen, headed straight for the freezer.
Four
Pulling out a hot pocket, I struggled to get the plastic off of it.
Tanner tried to take it from me, but I dropped the food and pushed him away.
“Back off.” I warned, and I really wasn’t joking. My walls were up and I was just about done playing soulmates. As soon as my dad woke up, I wouldn’t have time for anything but taking care of him, and I didn’t want to have to worry about Tanner and him trying to take me back to wherever his wolf pack and family were.
“No.” he reached over me and grabbed the hot pocket, getting the wrapper off in an instant.
“If you wanted one you could’ve just asked.”
I opened the freezer again and got out another hot pocket, which he also swiped from my hands as soon as I tried to unwrap it.
The wrapper was off of that one just as fast.
I went to open the freezer again, and he placed his hand over mine on the handle.
“I could do this all day, Hallie. Or you could just tell me what I did that made you so mad.” He suggested.
I didn’t turn to look at him. Simply having his hand on mine made me crave more. I wanted to feel his hands on my arms, on my face, on my hips. I wanted him to touch me, but more than that, I yearned for an emotional connection.
It had been three years since I’d had a real relationship with anyone, romantic or only friendly, and I wanted that so badly my heart practically ached.
Tanner being my soulmate was everything I wanted. The friendship, the closeness, the romance… I could hardly believe how much I wanted it. But I somehow knew that the moment I let myself choose him he would try to take me away from my dad, and I couldn’t abandon him.
I had promised myself that the day my mom walked out on us.
“I guess we’ll be doing this all day, then.” I pulled my hand out from under his and opened the freezer.
He closed it.
“I changed my mind. Telling me what I did wrong is the only option.” He turned, resting his shoulders and back up against the fridge, holding it firmly closed.
“Unless shifters have some powers you didn’t tell me about I don’t think
you can force me to tell you anything.” I grabbed a plate out of the cupboard and put both the plate and hot pockets in the microwave.
“I’m just going to have to assume that you’re upset because you’ve been having a secret love affair with a married man, then.” Tanner folded his arms, still leaning against the freezer.
“That’s it, you caught me.” I said sarcastically.
“Tell me who it is so I can kill him.” His face was so straight that I almost believed him.
“Sorry, my lips are sealed.” I shrugged and pulled the plate out of the microwave. Tanner took it before I could take even one step, and I rolled my eyes at him.
Grabbing a fork out of the drawer, I took a seat at the table next to him.
“Are you going to eat a hot pocket with a fork?” he raised his eyebrows.
“Yep.” I used my fork to cut off a corner, stabbing it and then blowing on it.
“Weirdo.” He sat back at watched me eat a few bites, once again staring at me unapologetically.
“You’re doing it again.” I pointed my fork at him. “Stop it.”
“Staring at you is another one of my strengths.” He smirked.
“That’s funny, because someone could actually come up behind you and stab you while you’re staring at me. You’re so busy looking at all of this,” I made a circle around my face with the fork, “that it could actually kill you. If that’s not a weakness nothing is.”
I stabbed another bite and stuck it in my mouth.
“I’m looking at more than just your face, Hallie.” He said, completely serious.
I almost choked on my food.
“Say something like that again and I’ll be the one stabbing you.” I nonchalantly looked up from my hot pocket.
“It’s sexy when you threaten me.” Tanner remarked.
The memory of his arms wrapping around me popped into my head and was refusing to leave.
“This conversation is over.” I pushed the plate and its one and a half hot pockets over to him and left the kitchen, heading straight for my room.
