Loretta thinks my wince is at her. “You’ve watched the baby almost all day. Here—”
“Hey! I’m not complaining. I think I just... I just realized it’s been a while since I ate. Since we ate. How did you like The Pine Loft Coffee Shop?”
“They have amazing food. If I lived here, I would gain ten pounds from that signature quiche and the pumpkin spice cheesecake. Thank you for taking us out. For paying.” She licks her lips. “If there is something... I don’t have money now, but my parents would help me to—”
I know her ex-bastard intimidated her and pushed around, so I keep my voice light and jovial, even though my inner wolf is howling and rearing, offended that my mate thinks I won’t willingly provide for her and Ari. Ari, my little girl, my pup.I know no one knows it yet (okay, I know it. Ardy knows it. Alban knows. Sneaky supernatural senses...), but one day she’ll be mine. I hope.
“I would like to set a household rule,” I say gently. “One I really hope you won’t mind following?”
She looks startled, then nods slowly, hesitancy written on her face.
“You have to stop acting like I need to be paid back. Sometimes people just want to take care of you. I mean, to help you! To help others.”
“But this is too much? I... I have to ask. Is there any ulterior motive I should know about?” Loretta asks, and honestly, that just tips the scales further in her favor. She’s obviously vulnerable and afraid of what I could say, but she forces herself to face the fear head-on.
So, maybe I should be as honest as I can, without scaring her away?
I’m smooth when there’s a teleprompter in front of me. I’m afraid I’m going to screw up unscripted. “Nothing except that I get to be part of a happy little family for a while, even if I’m just like the neighbor who gets to watch. You know? You make it less lonely here. I’m happy when you and Ari are around.”
“That could change.”
“Lots of things change, but around here, they could be for the better,” I say with what I hope is the right blend of hope and hinting, heavy on the goodwill, just the merest suggestion of how much I’d like to be part of the sweetness coming into her life after months of stress and fear.
“I... I’m worried that I’m putting you at risk. He said he’d find me. When the order of protection is served, and Alban sends the divorce papers, won’t it say where his office is? Where the police station is?” Loretta stops gathering up fresh clothes from the assortment on the bed.
Ari and I stand in the doorway, her little feet resting in my large hand, both heels in one palm as she wriggles and giggles. She now associates me with fart-y sound effects that make her giggle until she snorts, which I’m taking as a win.
“Yes. I guess they will.”
“And I can’t keep running. All I can do is hide. In this town. But it’s a small town.”
“You have powerful friends to protect you here. My friends are your friends. Matt might talk big, but he’s a bully. Bullies back down from stronger men.”
Loretta looks me over, and I don’t mean to feel the heat that races through me, but I do. Can’t help it. Parts of me react to the way her eyes coast over me. “I work out,” I say lamely, willing all of my swelling parts to go back into hibernation.
Thank God, she laughs. “You look like you could break Matt in half. You’re what my grandma calls a ‘tall drink of water.’”
Hm. Well, that’s a start. I’m in no rush. I repeat it like a mantra as I pass Ari to Loretta, and then I motion for Loretta to come into my bedroom across the hall.
The fact that she follows is a blessing. She must feel safe enough to know that I wouldn’t try anything. But I can’t resist showing off. This close to the full moon, I have more than average strength and probably less restraint.
“This house is more and more gorgeous with each room,” Loretta gasps when she stands in the doorway and looks at the king size bed, the black and white photo collection on the wall that picks up the blues and grays in my decor (ha, I just know that if you suck at matching things, keep them in one color palette), and the fireplace. “You have two fireplaces?”
I nod. “Ready to see me flex my ego a little?” I pick up the poker by the fireplace, and my heart swells when Loretta’s eyes widen in surprise, but not fear. My brave girl. That bastard hurt her, but he didn’t break her.
I grip the iron in my hand and think about Matt shoving her, shaking her, making her cry and run from her home, from the nest he should have lovingly prepared for her, that he should have defended with his life. I think about the terrified cries of a baby girl whose mother can’t pick her up because she’s on the floor somewhere. Of how cold they were last night, and how they might have been sleeping in their car if we hadn’t found each other.
The poker is in two pieces, and I didn’t even feel it break. I was seeing through a red haze of spilled blood, of Matt’s broken back, half under each clawed hand.
Loretta lets out a little shriek when the metal snaps, and Ari blows a raspberry. “What? No way!” Loretta comes all the way into the room and kneels down, picks up one of the pieces, and gapes up at me. “It’s real metal.”
“Iron.”
“You just broke iron in half.”
“It’s thin iron.” Not really.
“How?”
