Tak’s wolf turned and gazed down at me. I froze when he craned his neck forward and sniffed my face. After licking my chin, he shifted to human form. His long hair cascaded around me, his fists on either side. But all I could think about was the bear, who let out another pained roar.
“Are you hurt?” Tak brushed my hair away from my eyes.
I wanted to tell him I was okay, but I wasn’t.
I was far from okay.
Strong women weren’t supposed to cower, and yet I couldn’t stop shaking.
After he yanked on his pants and stuffed his feet in his boots, Tak knelt and centered his eyes on mine. “You’re coming with me.”
He gently lifted me, and I buried my face in his chest. All I could think about were the people in that bar who knew me. Word was going to spread about how Lorenzo Church’s only daughter had behaved like a coward in the face of danger. I couldn’t stop the flood of tears.
Tak nodded at the bartender. “When that wolf shifts back, tell him Hope is in good hands. He knows where to find me.”
Suddenly a wave of dizziness had me trembling. My heart pounded at a frenetic pace, making it difficult to breathe. An impending feeling of doom descended upon me—the feeling of death. My throat closed up, and my chest constricted as if someone had wrapped a belt around it and was tightening one notch at a time.
I writhed in his arms. “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
Tak changed from a walk to a jog, and I clung to his chest. When my feet abruptly touched the ground, I wobbled for a moment before Tak caught me by the waist.
With his free hand, he opened his truck door and then lifted me into the passenger seat. I pressed two fingers against my neck, my accelerating heartbeat making me feel my own mortality.
After buckling my seat belt, he cradled my head in his hands. “I swear on my life that I’ll protect you. You’re going to be okay, do you understand?”
His alpha power sedated me like a warm fire on a winter’s night. But it was too late. I’d already hyperventilated myself into blacking `.
* * *
Tak spedtoward his motel without delay. With Hope passed out, it would give her inner wolf a chance to sleep. Fighting against your animal took its toll, but she’d played it smart back at the bar. That grizzly wouldn’t have hesitated to go after an aggressive female wolf.
Some Shifters had no sense of morality.
When Tak had arrived at the bar, he’d bumped into a man who challenged him to a game of pool. They instantly connected because of their tattoos, and after a while, they sat down and talked. The wolf named Wheeler bragged about his mate and was dead set on giving Tak relationship advice. Tak never mentioned Hope by name, but he told Wheeler about the woman who wouldn’t give him the time of day. Wheeler informed him that a good woman doesn’t give a damn about rank or even a checkered past. He said they were attracted to men willing to show them their Achilles’ heel.
Tak couldn’t have disagreed more. Tak believed women wanted a strong man who didn’t expose his weaknesses or have a dark past.
The two carried on their debate until Tak spotted Hope seated at a table with another man. Tak studied the man’s confident demeanor, his expensive watch, and the way he leaned in to give her his undivided attention. It wasn’t until the young bartender approached their table that the man turned his head and Tak recognized him.
From that point on, Tak no longer focused on Wheeler. All he could wonder was what that man had said to make her laugh so spiritedly. What sweet words had he uttered that she’d welcome his lips on her hand?
It made his blood boil. Sweet-talkers led wolves astray. They were the scoundrels in the pack you had to keep a close eye on. The guy didn’t come across as a wolf, so Tak wondered about his motives.
Tak glanced over to the sleeping princess beside him. He should have left town and gone back to his tribe where he belonged, but an invisible force had tethered him to this woman. Now he couldn’t leave—not with all the dangers lurking around every corner. Evil spirits were at work, and Hope was their object of attention.
He pulled into the parking spot outside the motel and got out. Sweat touched his brow as the sun burned like a torch. In a few hours, it would be dark. But in the city, nighttime didn’t bring reprieve from the sweltering summer days. The heat that baked into the concrete made the evening breeze barely noticeable.
Nearing the passenger door, he placed his hands on the roof of the truck.
Damn.He needed to control his anger. The scene at the bar flashed through his mind—that motherfucker splashing his drink in Hope’s face. Tak had reached for his dagger, but a split second later, she struck the man. When the Shifter hit her back, Tak lost it. Consequences be damned, he had no choice but to intervene.
A lone female stood no chance against a grizzly that size. Tak’s knife would have done some serious damage, but at the risk of Hope getting injured in the skirmish. To pin that bear in place and get his sights off Hope, he had to threaten him with a wolf attack. The protective instinct overpowered him, and though Tak’s wolf should have gone straight for the jugular, his only thought was to guard Hope with his life. Eye contact from an alpha was intimidating to a weak-minded Shifter, and he counted on the bear backing down.
When he opened the truck door, Hope spilled into his arms.
“Easy now,” he murmured, unbuckling her seat belt. “We’re almost there.”
As soon as he lifted her in his arms, an inexplicable calm came over him, and he kicked the door shut. Hope’s eyes opened and closed, but she remained silent.
