She succumbed, sinking against the pillow behind her back. “What about you? Aren’t you going to go eat as well?”
“I’ll get a plate for myself in a minute.” He positioned the tray over her lap and ensured it was stable.
“Will you bring your plate in here and sit with me?” Her blue eyes implored him.
An unfamiliar but pleasurable sensation filled his chest. She’d invited him to sit with her. That was one step in the right direction. It meant she didn’t fear him as she had when she had awoken.
“Of course. I’ll be right back.”
Once he filled a plate for himself and refilled a mug with coffee, he returned to the bedroom. He brought a chair from the kitchen and set it up as a little side table and then sat near the foot of the bed. He grinned to himself.
“Why are you smiling?” Sophie asked.
“I never thought I’d be having breakfast here in this room quite like this.”
She arched a brow and grinned. “That makes two of us.”
Her smile dazzled him. It was the first time she looked at him without wariness since she woke. A desire in him grew—he wanted to be the one to make her smile from this point on. He wanted to make his mate happy.
Ugh. He closed his eyes. Mate? Nope. Making her happy? Why was he allowing himself to think this way?
She didnotlive here on this mountain. She would be out of his life before long.
His wolf nudged him not to think that way.Not if we can convince her to stay.
Damon squelched that insane idea before his wolf took it any further.Stop getting crazy ideas about things that will never happen.
While they ate, she said, “Tell me about yourself, Damon. I didn’t even know you lived up here.”
He motioned to their surroundings. “I grew up in the area and now live alone here in this cabin. Many of us who work at the resort live slope side or in the mountain village.”
She nodded. “I’m in the village. My friend and I rented a condo for the weekend.”
Most of the guests stayed in one of the developments. The wolf shifters lived in the mountains, which gave them ample opportunity to run through the forests and hunt at night. “How long are you here for?”
She glanced out the window. “Just one more night. I was supposed to go skiing with my friend today.” She made a doubtful sound. “That’s not going to happen after last night.”
His pulse jolted. Only one more night? Such a brief encounter before she disappeared again hit him with a cruel pang.
He struggled to keep his voice neutral. No point in coming on too strong and scaring her off. “I don’t blame you. But don’t let that one incident turn you off skiing. If we all walked away from something when it knocks us down, it would be a very boring life.”
She stared at him and nodded. “True. Still, today I plan to take it easy.”
“Good plan.” He glanced at her. He wanted to learn all he could about her while he had the chance.
Her eyes widened. “Damon, I know I hit my head and there’s a possibility that I may not be remembering things clearly but—” She bit her lip and then exhaled. “When I was lost, I saw a wolf. I’m sure of it. But it was much larger than I thought wolves could be.”
His muscles tightened. She gazed at him as if assessing whether he believed her.
“It lunged forward, and I thought it was going to attack me.” She covered her chest and her breath came quicker. “But it didn’t. It went for another wolf behind me.” She raised her hands to her face. “I know it sounds crazy. I’ve never heard about wolves living in this area. But I swear what I saw was real. One was white and the other gray.”
The back of his neck tightened. She’d seen it all.
“I’d never been so scared before,” she added. “That’s why I ran back into the woods.” She tilted her head and stared at him. “Am I losing my mind? Or could that—could it have really happened?”
Shit. Damon didn’t want to reveal his pack’s secrets about them being shifters. Yet, he also couldn’t lie to her—especially when she seemed so distressed about the situation and fearing she may have imagined the entire thing. He had to be careful about what he said.
He measured his words and spoke them with care. “Coyotes live in the region. Maybe that’s what you saw.”
