A hand closed around my elbow, and for all my stubbornness, I set aside my pride and let Liam guide me through the dense copse of evergreens toward his car. I wasn’t sure if Alphas were warmer-blooded than normal shifters, but even through my puffer coat and bulky cream sweater, I could feel the heat of his skin, a mix of fire and sunshine.
He got my door and didn’t let go until I was settled in the passenger seat, then rounded the front bumper and climbed in. Although he turned the key in the ignition and started the wipers, he didn’t reverse onto the road, just stared straight ahead at the white land.
“We should get back,” I said. “The snow’s coming down hard.”
Liam blinked, then clicked in his seat belt and put the car in gear.
Once we were on the way home, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Want me to call him?”
“Already done.”
“Already . . .?”
He tapped his temple.
Oh.“What’s the range on your nifty Alpha way of communication?”
Fog was starting to build on the inside of the windshield. He jabbed the defrost button. “Fifty miles.”
That explained why he didn’t communicate over the mind link when he was in Boulder. In six months, that would change.
“Same range as your wolf GPS?” Another gift Alphas were endowed with was the power to geographically locate their wolves.
“My wolf GPS.” The terminology kicked up a corner of his mouth. “Yes.”
We drove in silence the rest of the way, but unlike on the drive over, it was a relaxing type of quiet, both of us lost in thought. Mine surely nicer than his considering the sharpened contours of his features.
He put on his blinker when we reached the long road that led toward the compound. That he’d even spotted the turnoff was a miracle considering the atrocious visibility. I imagined he’d warned Lorna of our arrival, because the gate was already open when we approached.
“Niall was telling me you two were supposed to move in together after you finished high school. Is that still in the cards?”
Flashes from the accident made my lids flutter—crumpled metal, charred skin, blazing gasoline, Grant’s damned fluorescent helmet.
“The accident sort of pressed pause on all my life plans, but hey, I recovered. And while I was stuck in bed, I learned how to paint digitally, and now I get to do it for a living.” Not to mention, I’d gotten rid of a useless boyfriend. “All in all, it gave me more than it took away.”
He pulled into the driveway and parked next to my Jeep. “You’re a glass half-full type of girl, huh?”
“More of a,as long as I have a glass, I’m filling ittype.”
That earned me a smile. It wasn’t very broad or very lasting, but it sanded away a little of the stress Liam carried around him like an aura. “Solid philosophy, Miss Freemont.”
“Why thank you, Mr. Kolane.”
As I reached for the door handle, he touched my forearm.
“Wait.” His door clapped shut. Before I could tell him that I didn’t need assistance, he was drawing my door open.
“You know—”
“That you’re fine? Yes. I heard you the first hundred times you said it. My hearing’s the other sense that improved when I became Alpha.”
“Too bad your grasp of the English language didn’t,” I quipped.
That earned me a grin. “I’ll have you know that my grasp of the English language is perfectly adequate, as is my grasp of body language. You’re favoring your uninjured leg and wince when your foot touches the ground.”
I eyed his proffered palm. “Cassandra Morgan used to say that holding someone’s hand promoted codependence.”
“She also used to say she rose to power without cheating.” His eyes had darkened, or maybe they just appeared darker because the surrounding world was so very pale. “I’m not trying to make you feel weak, but don’t expect me to stand back while youtrynot to fall. It’s not in my DNA.”
