May a hunter strike me with a bullet between my eyes, this female packs a punch! I can barely breathe. “Damien wasn’t going to see things objectively given how mad he was at me. Which meant another tactic.”
When her fist flies again, I catch it. “I’m not a punching bag.”
“I followed you in the storm without any hesitation because you’re all I had. Now that we’re at your pack, you’re trying to get rid of me.”
“I’m just putting you where you’ll be comfortable. Other females to talk with, ask questions, get whatever you need. They’ll help you.”
“You don’t get it, do you? You’re my anchor, Garrett. Not just in the storm. Here, too. I’m sure there are a lot of nice shifters in your pack, but I don’t know them and they don’t know me. You can’t just drop me now.”
“You can come find me anytime you want.” I point to the path between the cookhouse and the hill that leads down to the lake. “You’ll pick up my scent easily enough. Not many shifters live out my way. They prefer to be closer in, among pack, where it’s safer. I figured you’d want the same.”
“I’ll be safer withyou.”
“No you won’t. Besides, I only have one bed and that’s a complication neither of us needs.”
“We’ve been sleeping together for three nights now.”
“Side by side, for warmth. That’s notsleeping together.” I take her face in my hands, and fuck, I’m tempted to give in, especially when those blue eyes glass over. “Hey, I promise, you’ll be safe here. No one will touch you, including Damien. He agreed to keep his distance, give you the chance to acclimate.”
“I don’t want to acclimate.”
“What do you want?” When she doesn’t answer, I take hold of her chin so she doesn’t look away. “You need to rest and heal. In more than body. Your spirit needs more than I can give, Angel. Trust me, this is the best place for you.”
Ten feet to my right, a female clears her throat.
“That’s Kiera, one of your cabin mates. She’ll get you everything you need.”
With cautious eyes, Angel quickly scans the female that’s roughly her age. At least, I think they’re similar in age.
Angel’s pretty pink lips part, then quickly close. She says nothing, but I see her displeasure in her eyes.
Fuck me, I didn’t handle this well, and it’s too late.
I kiss her forehead and linger a second too long before turning my back on her, leaving her in Kiera’s trusted hands.
That’s when my wolf starts clawing the fuck out of me.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ANGEL
“That’s your bunk.” Kiera places the pile of bedding and pillow on the only open bottom bunk bed in my new—but as far as I’m concerned, very temporary—home.
“There are only three of us in here. Shifters come and go as needed, usually women who are fighting with a boyfriend, or new adults who need to get away from their parents. You know how it is. We rarely have more than five women in here at once. And there are no rules for the most part. Come and go as you please. Keep your area clean, and stoke the fire when you’re here to keep the place nice and toasty. One of the men is in charge of chopping and stacking the wood outside, so we don’t have to worry about running out.”
“I lived with my mom and brothers back home, but we had similar cabins.”
“That’s Olivia,” Kiera points to a red-headed shifter lying on her stomach, reading in the far end of the small but quaint cabin. She’s closest to the wood-burning stove, and at my end there’s acard table under one of the two windows. Aside from the colorful area rugs overlapping the concrete floor, the place is rather drab, but warm enough. Certainly better than a dog crate.
“Olivia, this is Angel, the outcast.”
“I’m not an outcast. I’m just alone.”
“Aren’t we all,” Olivia mumbles before flipping the page of her book.
Kiera taps the bottom two drawers in a massive dresser beside the door. “These are yours.”
“I don’t have any belongings with me.”
