“Love you.” Odette burrowed sleepily into her side.
A lump caught in Echo’s throat. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”
Unfortunately, her duty to The Garm and to her father meant leaving Odette as soon as she was asleep to work. The next evening, however, her father had called at the last minute to tell her she had the night off. She didn’t question it. Instead, shewaited until Odette slept, then left the apartment to the one she kept for herself, where she had a fridge filled with blood. After slaking her thirst, Echo had gone for a walk around the city and returned to the apartment via the underground entrance.
Later, she would realize it was that unintended sneakiness that had made the wolf bold.
Echo woke abruptly.
Her eyes flew open and her body was stiff with tension beneath the covers. Her whole being seemed to hum with alertness.
She willed the blood to slow in her veins so she could hear, sitting up slowly and zoning in on her newly heightened senses.
The preternatural connection to the world meant she knew the sun was about to rise so she shouldn’t be awake.
Something was wrong.
That’s when she heard it.
Odette’s muffled whimper.
One minute she was in bed, the next she was down the hall and throwing open the door to Odette’s bedroom.
A large figure sat on her sister’s bed, looming over her, his big paw covering Odette’s mouth while his other pressed to her sister’s stomach. His gaze flew to Echo’s in shock.
Gideon. The new werewolf guard.
She could smell the perverse lust pouring off him.
Rage unlike anything Echo had ever experienced threatened to control her. The only thing that stopped her was her desire to protect Odette from everything. Even herself.
“Get up,” she seethed.
The wolf swallowed hard. He was twice the size of her but he knew he was going to die for this. “It’s not what you think.” He stood slowly. “She was having a nightmare.”
Odette burst into noisy tears. “No, no, I w-wasn’t.”
Fury and grief ripped through Echo. “Has he touched you before?”
Odette shook her head, sobbing hard.
She was so little. She didn’t understand what had nearly happened to her. She just knew it was scary and bad.
“Stay here, little darling. I’ll be right back. But stay here. Don’t come out.”
Odette just cried harder.
Gideon scowled, lumbering toward her, fists clenched at his sides. “Nothing happened.”
Echo braced, sensing the change.
He charged at her.
She sidestepped him and he fell against the wall in the hallway from the force of his propulsion forward. Slamming Odette’s bedroom door shut so she wouldn’t see, Echo grabbed the wolf and vamp-sped them into the living room.
He tried to fight.
But her fury made her stronger than ever.
