Stone: I’m not sure. Applications still, I believe? I was trying to be respectful and not stalk her every waking moment. How else are we supposed to earn her trust?
Tongue in cheek, I type and delete my response three times.
Me: And if that bastard had snatched her off the side of the road while we were sitting around with our thumbs up our asses?
Me: She needs us. We know it, and deep down Amara knows it too, or she wouldn’t have called me. She’s just scared to accept it.
Raiden: We make ourselves known, but keep to the background as much as possible. Near enough that we can come to her aid quickly if necessary, but offer her room to breathe. We’ve seen a glimpse of what this guy is capable of, and while I want her to have the space and freedom she deserves, I’m willing to suffer her wrath if it means keeping her from falling into his hands again. We just need to find a balance that everyone can compromise on.
Stone: The most important thing is Amara understanding that we aren’t a threat to her so she’ll come to us for help when she needs it, like she did tonight. That never would have happened if I’d been breathing down her neck all day, and you know it.
There’s a knock on the adjoining door, and I pocket my phone instantly. Pulling it open, I find a sheepish Amara standing in the threshold. “Can we talk?”
“Always.” Stepping aside, I gesture for her to come in.
After a moment’s hesitation, she takes a seat on the edge of the bed. Gently closing the door so it doesn’t slam and startle her, I take a spot across from her leaning against the dresser.
“I’m sorry for ditching you guys,” she suddenly blurts, refusing to look at me. “Not the first time, but the second one. I honestly planned on shooting Stone a text before I left town again. As long as you guys aren’t trying to lock me in your basement, or act like you’re entitled to use me like your personal plaything just because of some mark that none of us had a choice in -” my jaw clenches so tightly that I’m surprised I don’t crack a tooth as theories run rampant, each darker than the last “- I figure we can be civil about this whole ordeal.”
“Why didn’t you, then? Message him that you were leaving, I mean.”
She falls silent, worrying her bottom lip until it bleeds. Shifting so she can reach into her front pocket, she withdraws a crumpled piece of paper. For a solid minute, she stares down at it like it means to bite her. The bitter tang of fear becomes so thick in the room that evenIstart side-eyeing the thing like it’ll rear up and strike at any moment.
Clenching her fist, she thrusts it in my direction without meeting my eye. “I found this taped to my car.”
Knowing I’m going to hate whatever I’m about to read, I hold my bare palm open beneath her hand so that she can drop it without any contact. The moment she does, I smooth out the paper, reading it several times. Fury builds in my veins with every additional pass, yet I can’t seem to stop myself from scanning it again and again.
He wasthere, right under our noses. But Raiden and Stone are so convinced that we should be giving Amara space, forcing me to stay behind and catch up on some sleep, that we missed him. He touched her car, was watching her closely enough to know when it was safe to leave the note. Maybe he didn’t grab her because he sensed Stone nearby and thought it was too risky, pitting her against us instead to trick her into running towards whatever trap he laid out, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter.
I’ve spent several lifetimes searching for a way to fill the painful void where my heart is supposed to be. Now that I’ve finally found her, may the gods have mercy on any soul that attempts to take her from me.
Only after I’m confident that I can keep my expression neutral do I face her again, and I immediately regret it. She looks exhausted; thoroughly beaten down and defeated. So, rather than demanding information that I don’t think she’s ready to give, I remind myself how much progress we’ve made in such a short time. Embracing Raiden’s usual trick, I take a deep breath in through my nose and release it slowly through my barely parted lips. This sick fuck did a number on her, yet here she is, taking the risk of letting me in.
I'm both terrified to know, and desperate for more details so that I can ensure that when I get my hands on the bastard, I can replicate every wound he inflicted on her ten-fold. Until then, I'm going to run on the assumption that if she’s nervous around male shifters, being in close quarters with a volatile one is a particularly bad idea.
With another deep breath, I dispel the remaining tension from my shoulders. “If he recognized your car, it’s time to ditch it for a new one.”
"I can’t afford that," she immediately protests, clutching the edge of the overly-starched blanket in a death grip.
“I know." Biting my tongue until I draw blood, I curb the impulse to bury my face in her neck, sucking down lungfuls of her scent like an addict. "But he knew where you were, and what you were driving. You only made it a few hours away before breaking down, and it took me a couple more to get here, so he had a head start to track you down again. It’s likely that when you take it to a mechanic, as you’re waiting around for it to get fixed, he’ll have run the license plate and found you again. And this time you won’t have a way to run."
Her eyes glaze over as she triple checks that her sleeves are tucked into her gloves before wrapping her arms around her middle. Absentmindedly, her thumb traces the same path on repeat, and if I hadn’t been studying her so closely over the past month, I wouldn’t have noticed the different patterns. It finally clicks, hitting me hard.
Whenever she gets lost in her head, she traces whatever scarred design her fingers wind up resting on top of.
Clenching my fist in my pocket, I gently pull her out of her thoughts before they can spiral too far. "I’m not offering you a Mercedes or anything, but I can buy you a cheap junker to get you by for a bit that you won’t have to feel guilty about inevitably ditching in a few months."
She scrubs a hand down her exhausted face, pushing to her feet. “As much as I wish things were different, I can’t really be too proud to say no right now, can I?” She sighs. “Thank you. Seriously.”
“We’ll get it taken care of Monday when the lots open, then you can get back on the road. Sound good?” At her nod, I add, “Just... do me a favor?” She pauses in the doorway, turning back to nervously search my face while tightening her grip on the handle to her room. “Shoot me a text if you change your mind and dip out while I’m sleeping? I get it; more than you might expect, but that’s a story that requires some emotional support vodka, so we’ll save it for another night.”
Offering a sad smile, I try not to reveal the way her muscles relaxing in relief that my request wasn’t something awful makes my stomach turn. “I’ll be keeping you safe either by your side, or from the shadows, Amara. I’m only asking that you make my job a little easier by ensuring that I can intervene before anything happens instead of needing to seek revenge.”
Throat bobbing as she swallows, she nods once before quickly retreating to the safety of her room, flipping the lock behind her.
