“Growing up, I was the daughter of an alpha. They told me there was nothing I couldn’t do. I just had to work hard enough.” She snorted. “What a load of crap. I’ve never worked harder in my life and I’m still out here and called a traitor.”
“What happened to pulling together as a pack?”
She looked up when he spoke. He’d managed to finally open his eyes because he was pulled to look at her face. He wanted to see the emotions there, to catch the shift of grass-green eyes and the sweet curve of her mouth.
“The pack is only as strong as its weakest link.” Her lips quirked in a bitter twist. “I guess I’m the weak one here.”
“Or your brother.”
She shook her head. “He’s the leader over there now. That means he’s the strongest.”
He focused, lifting his hand to stroke across her tear-streaked face. “I was told to protect my family.”
“And you have.”
“My family didn’t protect me. My parents can’t even say the word ‘shifter.’ Nanook tried to kill me. And even the cops I work with day in and day out don’t know what I really am.” He wiped at her wet cheek. “I say we throw out all those stupid sayings and start making some of our own.”
Her mouth curved into a smile. “Like what?”
“How about, I’ve got your back, if you’ve got mine.”
She tilted her head, nuzzling her cheek deeper into his palm. “Do you?”
“Tried to.”
“Yeah, my bad.” She glanced across his shoulder to the hallway where—he guessed—she could see her father through the open doorway. “You protected my father anyway.”
“I still serve and protect. What I’m looking for is my family.”
She arched a brow. “The Griz don’t support you?”
“Not one went up against Nanook when he tried to kill me. He might have been holding them back. I don’t know.”
“But you don’t trust them now.”
“Simon and Alyssa are new. They seem okay. Vic, too. But I’ve been going it alone since Nanook betrayed me.” And where had that gotten him? Nearly dead in a sewer. Nearly dead at an abandoned factory. “Going solo isn’t working for either of us.”
She nodded but if anything, her expression turned even more sober. “Why do you trust me?”
Good question. There were obvious reasons why he shouldn’t. She was a wolf and she’d bailed on him at the storage area. But he’d understood why and would probably have done the same if he were she. She’d saved his life in the sewer and tried to protect him at Hazel’s home. That counted for something, but it wasn’t enough to explain why his instincts kept pushing him to trust her.
“Remember when I told you about roaming the woods? When I was a teenager?”
She nodded. “While your grandfather fished.”
“I was amped up from shifter hormones, but something about the place centered me. Life was chaos, or at least it felt that way, but the smell of the pine and the whisper of leaves made me feel stronger. Like the storm was outside instead of inside. And I could deal with that.”
“I get that.” She pressed her lips to his palm in a quick kiss. Then she pulled back enough to explain. “It’s what a good pack feels like. No matter what’s happening in your life, there’s that solid center inside.” She blew out a breath. “I haven’t felt that since turning hybrid.”
“Because your brother started taking over the pack?”
Her gaze turned thoughtful. “Maybe. I just assumed it was because I’d changed into a monster.”
He smiled. “You’re no monster.” Then he took a deep breath, letting her scent settle into his lungs. “No one who smells so good could be evil.”
She snorted. “I need a shower. I went full hybrid to escape the community center, stink and all.”
He frowned. “Were you hurt?”
