“No harm’s come to me.”
“But it could have.” He turned toward me, and all of the emotions swirling inside him hit me full force, and the underlying essence of what he truly felt startled me completely.
I jolted back, and it struck me why he’d been so quiet. I’d been wrong about what he’d been feeling. He hadn’t been enraged at the males for defying him or regretting the fact that he’d killed so many or contemplating if that battle could have been avoided.
No, it wasn’t rage at all. Kole had been quietlyterrifiedat the thought of what would have happened to me if he hadn’t been there.
“That’s why you’ve been so quiet?” I gentled my tone. “Because you think they would have raped me if you hadn’t been at my side?” It hit me again what he’d said to the shifters.Mine. For the briefest moment, it felt as if the warrior believed just that. That I was his. His to protect. His to care for. His to cherish. That such a word hadn’t been said simply because fae males understood it. But because he’d meant it.
But I wasn’t his.
We barely knew each other.
I frowned, but I felt more curious than indignant that he thought me so weak. “Where is this coming from, Kole?”
He held my gaze, unflinching. Dark hair curled around his forehead in the wind. Eyes as blue as the Adriastic Sea regarded me steadily. “They would have done unspeakable things to you, Primelle. Disgusting things. Things that wouldmake your insides shrivel. I could scent it on that male who stood near the end. He was just waiting for the opportunity to hurt you.”
“And that’s why you killed him?”
Kole blinked, but none of the emotion in his energy abated. Nostrils flaring, he shifted his attention forward. “He deserved it. No male like that should be allowed to roam the Wood.”
It wasn’t lost on me that he’d evaded my question. But Kole was right. That male would have gladly raped any female who happened upon them. I’d sensed that too.
I swallowed down the sickening thought of what that male had likely done to other lone females who had been traveling this Wood, without a warrior at her side or psychic magic that was strong enough to protect herself. And I was suddenly glad he was dead.
“Well, he didn’t hurt me. None of them did, and now none of them will hurt anyone else either.”
“But theywould have.” His tone dipped. I only then became aware that he was breathing faster, and his hands were balled so tightly that his knuckles were white. “That’s my point.”
My arms loosened. I’d never seen the warrior this transparent. I’d seen hints of it at times, even a few moments, but not like this. Kole’s carefully controlled exterior had completely fallen away, as though it’d never been his emotional armor to begin with.
“Kole?” I laid my palm on his forearm. Heat billowed upfrom him, and his muscles stiffened. “They never would have hurt me. I wouldn’t have let them.”
“Six against one, and you truly believe that?”
Normally, my reply would have been biting if any other male were acting as Kole was, but the warrior’s expression stopped me, because when his gaze cut to mine, once again, I sensed what was truly lurking beneath the depths.
Not anger.
Not hatred for those males.
Not contempt for me.
But fear.
Bone-chillingterror.
I squeezed him. “You saw what I did to those two criminals in Mistvale. I’m not defenseless.” When he didn’t respond, I squeezed him again. “Nothing happened to me, and nothing would have happened. Believe it or not, I could have taken all six at once, just like you did.” Trying to lighten the mood, I added, “Just because my muscles aren’t as impressive as yours doesn’t mean I don’t have my own strengths.”
But he didn’t rise to my inviting humor, and his tone turned anguished. “You shouldn’t be alone up here, Prim. Not in this area. It’s wild in this portion of Stonewild. The kingsfae are few and far between. Shifters up here follow their own set of rules as you saw back there.”
I shrugged. “Then I guess it’s good that you’re with me.”
He abruptly raked a hand through his hair. “Dammit, Prim. This is serious.”
I sighed loudly. “I realize that, Kole, but you’re underestimating me.”
He growled. “That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
