Page 72 of Rescued

Breanna thought that over. “I guess you were trying to do something nice,” she said.

Switch said, “I just want you to be happy.”

But did he? Because he didn’t want her to be with him. And then she remembered something else Sanchez had said.

“What did Sanchez mean about wiping out my memories?”

She saw Switch’s hands close into fists. “That is not going to happen without your consent. I swear to you.”

She went cold inside. “But it could happen? How?”

He shook his head, and she pushed at him. “Tell me.”

He sighed. “It’s this thing that some shifters can do—they can go into someone’s head, psychically, and heal certain kinds of trauma or mental illness. But they can also remove or blur people’s memories.”

Breanna was shocked. “That’s awful. I would never want that.”

He turned to her, his eyes miserable. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be easier just to forget this place? The blood, and the wounded soldiers, and the fear and the worry? Just go back out into the world and forget this all ever happened?”

She stared at him. “Are you kidding? What is wrong with you? You want to take away me being friends with Mikey, and learning knife fighting, and watching Malory’s Peak with the guys? And what the pine trees smell like at night, and how beautiful your wolf is?”

Her voice broke. “You want me to forget what it felt like to make love to you, to have you look at me the way you do? Like I’m beautiful for who I am inside, not just the outside? You’d really take that away from me?”

She hit him with her fists, wanting to make him hurt. His arms closed around her, holding her close. “I just want you to be happy,” he said again. “And trust me, remembering hurts like hell.”

“It will always hurt,” she said. “Even if I don’t remember, I’ll know. In my heart. Even if you forgot about me, my heart would remember you.”

She felt him shake his head. “I could never forget you. I’d remember all of it, Doe Eyes. While you were famous and successful and living it up on mansions and yachts, I’d be thinking about you.”

“What if I don’t want mansions and yachts? What if I just want you?”

Switch felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach instead of the balls. All his breath left him. He pulled back to look into her face. “You mean that?”

“Of course I mean it, you big wolfy lummox.”

A smile started to spread across his face. “I didn’t think—I mean, I was going to offer—” He took a deep breath. “I did ask Gunn to see if the dragons had any work for a PTSD helicopter pilot who’s good with electronics. You know, just in case.”

She looked like she was going to stab him. “And you didn’t think to lead with that information?”

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I suck at peopling. You know that. And… you were so mad at me. I wasn’t sure it was the right time to bring it up.”

Breanna rubbed her hands over his pecs. “Wow,” she said. “Seattle. You’d really move there, if I wanted to?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, unless you’re planning on staying here for the rest of your life, planning activities for fucked-up wolf burnouts.”

Breanna said, “Well, it’s not like they don’t need it. They need that community center, and then there’s getting trailers or cabins for everyone. Like, actual homes, because Sanchez and those guys up the mountain are practically living in caves.”

Switch gave zero fucks about Sanchez and the guys up the mountain. Or maybe one fuck, but not a very big one. “They like it.”

“They don’t think they deserve better, is more like it. Look, Gunn is a mission commander. Mikey is… well, she’s a lot of things, but she’s not an administrator.”

Switch said, “But you are.”

“Damn right I am. I’m a fucking prom queen and top-tier sorority babe. I’ve organized fundraisers, work projects for college admissions bonus points, proms, community building events, volunteer programs. While fending off frat boys. Hell, this place is basically a giant frat party. With guns.”

Switch found himself staring at her, mouth open. “You’d really consider staying here?”

She shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know. Maybe I was thinking about it. At least it would be something real. Something worthwhile.” She paused. “A place to belong.”