“Let me see.”
Something in his voice, not a command, but not quite a request, makes me extend my arm slowly. His fingers are surprisingly gentle as he cleans the wound, his touch sending electricity skittering across my skin. I watch him closely, but he gives me no sign that he’s getting the same shocks, the same tingles coursing through his body.
“My father left this morning,” he says quietly, focused on my arm. “Taking most of the clan with him. He won’t bother you for a few days.”
Billy’s jaw is clenched hard, and the tendons in his muscular neck are standing out.
I keep my breathing steady, though my heart races at his nearness. I’ve never admired him up close like this before. His square jaw, hidden under a thick beard, and brown hair I want to tangle my fingers in. Damn, he smells so good. My insides practically melt as his scent swirls around inside me, making me feel drunk with its potency.
“Good riddance,” is all I can say.
A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “My thoughts exactly.”
Our eyes meet, and for a moment, I feel it again, that deep recognition, that pull. Does he feel it too? There’s something in his gaze, something questioning, curious. I curl my fingers to stop myself from reaching out to touch him, and as I do, I see my filthy skin and shrink back into myself.
How can he bear to touch me?
“You’re different today,” he says, applying a bandage to my arm. “Your scent...”
“Is vile?” I supply, with the embarrassment of how I must reek, making me want to crawl into a hole and hide.
“No,” he says abruptly, before softening his tone. “Something… else. Something… sweeter.”
Panic flares.
He’s noticed the change. Of course he has. He’s a bear, with senses more sensitive than any wolf. And if he has, others will too.
“I need you to do something for me,” I say quickly, desperate to distract him.
His eyebrows rise. “What?”
“Let me go.”
The words hang between us, heavy with consequence. I’m asking him to betray his father, his clan, for a wolf he barely knows. Possibly even risk his life.
“Please,” I add when he says nothing. “Leon said when he returns, I’ll have ‘outlived my usefulness.’ We both know what that means.”
Billy’s expression darkens, and he goes deathly still except for a muscle ticking in his jaw. “He told you that?”
I nod, hope flickering to life. “This might be my only chance. I can’t stay here and wait to see what he’s going to do to me.”
He stands abruptly, pacing the small space like a caged animal. Like I’ve been doing for three weeks.
“It’s not that simple,” he says finally. “The territory is still guarded. Whatever he’s up to… everyone is here. It’s not like you can just disappear...”
I’ll take my chances. Getting caught running is a better way to die than being stuck in this dark hovel.
“They don’t have to know you helped. I can pretend I got out on my own.”
Billy looks at me like I’m stupid. Maybe that is a stupid idea, and nobody will believe I got past him without help, but I’m desperate.
“And if they catch you?” he asks, his handsome face schooled into an expression of genuine concern.
Then I’ll be dead.The words sit unspoken between us.
I stare back at him mutely. He knows it. I know it. It doesn’t need to be said.
Billy runs a hand through his hair, agitation clear in every line of his body. “I need time to think. To plan.”
