“Theydidn’tabuse you?” Tristan’s mouth pulls into a tight line, clearly stopping himself from saying something. I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing that Killian already said: They did nothing to help me. Nothing to stop the abuse.
“My father is a dangerous man,” I repeat, and my shoulder starts to ache. I want to lower the knife, but I’m worried that Tristan will rush me if I do. “I need to go home to protect?—”
“And who will protectyou?” the alpha cuts me off.
Anger shimmers just beneath my skin, and I huff loudly. “I don’t need protection. I need to go?—”
“Yeah, I know.” Tristan strolls toward me. “You need to go home.”
“Don’t move!” I command him, lifting the blade, ready to use it if I have to. But the alpha completely ignores me as he walks right past me. I turn my body, keeping him in front of me.
“I’ll tell you what.” He narrows his eyes as he scans the yard, then the mountains in the distance. “I’ll take you home.” He straightens his back, looking down at me as if gifting me a wonderful prize. “Let's go.”
Don’t trust him, my mind screams, but my heart is almost convinced. After all, this alpha has been very…I don’t know how to finish that thought. Protective? Kind? Patient?
“You’ll really take me home?” I ask, watching for a flicker in his eyes or a twitch of a muscle. Anything that might tell me that this is a trick.
“Yeah.” Tristan crosses his arms and shifts his weight. I hate how relaxed he looks right now. “I’ll take you to your parents’ house so you can see your mom.” Hope blooms in my chest. “Then I’ll kill that violent, piece-of-shit father of yours, have some dinner, then head back home.” He nods as if it’s the perfect plan. “You won’t have to worry about your mother again.” His tone is so light, I half-expect him to say, “easy as pie”.
“No.” I shake my head, stunned by the horrible things he just said. “That’s not—I don’t—” I can’t find my words. “You can’t?—”
“I can’t what?” he asks simply. “I can’t protect my omega?”
Anger and defeat grip me and I lower the knife. “Stop?—”
Tristan’s hand flies out, snatching the knife out of my hand so fast it takes me a second to realize it’s gone. “Where do you live?” he asks a little more forcefully, and I back up.I’m defenseless.“You have to know.”
“I don’t know,” I whisper, staring at the tiny knife in his hand. It looks like a toy between his thick fingers.
“Bullshit,” he says with a lazy lift. “I refuse to believe that you were going to pick a direction and walk.” His dark eyes flicker toward the mountains. “You’re too smart for that.” He’s giving me too much credit.
I’m not smart.
If I were, I wouldn’t have talked back to my father every chance I got. I wouldn’t have snuck out to meet Linden. I wouldn’t have left my parent’s home that night.
“Beth?” Tristan leans down, bringing us eye to eye. His gaze flickers to my necklace, then back to my face. He’s probably judging me for keeping the pretty trinket, but I don’t feel like explaining that I tried to remove it. “Do you want to tell me where you live or do you want to go to bed?” There’s a slight alpha command in his tone, forcing me to make up my mind, but I can’t.
Because I don't know what I want.
“Let it go, omega.” Tristan finally says, when I don’t answer. “Your family will be fine without you.” He places his hand on the small of my back, urging me to walk. “There’s too much scary shit out there for a tiny thing like you to just wander.”
I stare at my feet, seething at my own stupidity.
He’s right.
He’s right about all of it, but I’ll be damned if I admit it.
“Go crawl in bed with Killian.” Tristan’s hand pushes gently against my back as he walks me past the couch. “I’ll be right there.” He moves back to the kitchen island and turns on the faucet. “Go.” He slips the tiny knife into his pocket before rinsing out his dirty bowl.
Defeat washes over me and I walk. The long hallway along the front of the house is dark. The only light streams in through a tiny window above the front door and the two narrow ones on either side.
Curious, I touch the doorknob as I pass, then I turn it. To my shock, it opens. It slowly swings, revealing the outside world inch by tortuous inch. I pause, listening for Tristan’s heavy feet, but the water keeps running, and he keeps washing.
The cool night air blows across my face, beckoning me outside. I take a single step onto the porch and inhale deeply.
It smells so good out here.
Fresh pine trees, mountain air, and sweet earth.
