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She laughed and told them I’m her bodyguard, but the seed of an idea formed. One I’ll discuss with her once she sobers.
I decide to end the evening, since the others are calling it quits. “I think we’ll be headed home now, too.”
Pinky steps up to hug Vanessa, staring at me over her shoulder. A shadow flickers over her face and for a moment her eyes flash with dragon fire. I nod, silently telling her I understand the threat. Vanessa goes home to bed and the wolf does not. As much as I yearn for the touch of my mate, I’m civilized enough that it was already a forgone conclusion.
“I’ll call you when I get home,” Pinky says to Vanessa, shooting me another look. “You need to come pick up your owl. He’s set himself up on the roof of my shop, which isn’t cool.” As she walks away from us, she turns back to say, “Congrats on the part, babe! Well deserved!”
“It’s not mine yet!” Vanessa calls after her.
“You’re gold on screen, Van,” Timothy pipes up. “There’s no way Wesselman is going to turn you down. A little media attention was all your career needed. Someone to see how amazing you are. I bet you’ll have your pick of parts after this.”
I reassess the evisceration plan and decide it might still be necessary. Vanessa might not be interested, but the pup definitely wants my mate.
“Don’t get her hopes up,” Laz mutters, but I can tell he’s also feeling hopeful about Vanessa’s career.
I tuck her into the passenger seat of her car, striding around to the driver’s seat. Despite pushing the seat of the Jetta as far back as it goes, I still have one leg crammed under the steering wheel and the other knee cocked out to the side. Next time, we take my Jeep.
Vanessa snores from beside me, giving me the opportunity to think as I navigate traffic back to her apartment.
“What now?” I ask out loud, glad she’s asleep and unable to hear the bewilderment in my voice. “You’ve gone and fucked everything up.”
This mate was never supposed to know me. It’s easier on them if they don’t. They all die anyway, but sometimes they have more time. Once I become involved, they die faster. Usually within months of meeting me.
I glance at her slumbering form. The gentle rise and fall of her breasts against the seatbelt, her head against the window with her hand tucked under her chin, her red hair falling in ribbons over her shoulders.
It’s not just her physical beauty that draws me, but her happy-go-lucky determination to never let anything get her down. Time after time, as she grew, she faced challenges that might cripple others, but she came out of them with grace and compassion.
I stood on the sidelines for years, determined to watch over her until the day she died. I would witness it from a distance, then leave as I did with my last mate. After, I would have returned to Wolf-Haven and awaited the birth of my next mate.
Vanessa and I met thirty hours ago and already I know this mate is going to break me. I don’t think there’ll be any coming back from her. I don’t know how I know. Just a feeling, I guess, but something tells me this is it. When Vanessa dies, I will kill myself and rest for eternity with her. It’s time to end my suffering.
I pull the car into the parking space at her apartment and get out. She doesn’t wake as I carefully pull her from her seat, lifting her into my arms. I kick the door shut and juggle both her keys and purse as I lock the car.
Next challenge comes when I have to use the same set of keys to get the building door open. It doesn’t go well and I drop them twice, having to bend slowly to pick them up so as not to jostle Vanessa.
“Fuck it.” I use my superior strength to break the lock and shove the door open.
I decide not to break Vanessa’s door lock, but I’m less than impressed as I examine the flimsy mechanism. I may have to have a discussion about my mate’s security with the building manager. Either that or convince Vanessa to move into a more secure home.
Inside, I carry Vanessa into her bedroom, laying her gently on the bed. She doesn’t wake, but she clings to me in her sleep, trying to snuggle against my chest as I lean over her.
Though it’s torture, I extricate her fingers. She lets out a tiny grunt and rolls onto her side. Looking her over, I decide it’s probably best to take off her shoes and leave the rest. Humans can be strange about nudity and I don’t know how Vanessa would feel if she woke up alone and naked.
As much as I want to lick, touch and fuck my mate. This isn’t the time. I’m a beast, not a monster. I leave the room, turning on her hallway light as I leave the apartment. As much as I want to stay, I know it isn’t the right time yet.
Besides, I have an owl to murder.
Chapter 8
The Bodyguard
KEENAN
“Wake up.” I throw a stone, startling Thorny awake.
He hoots his annoyance as he soars to the ground, shifting so he lands in his human form. He reaches under the bench beside Pinky’s shack and pulls out a pair of glasses, perching them on his nose. “An emergency, I presume?” he huffs.
I resist the urge to wring his neck, reminding myself I’ve spent centuries turning myself into a civilized wolf. And civilized wolves don’t kill… often. This bird is testing my patience though.
