Maddie shoved me so hard I nearly stumbled backward, but I held her in a vice grip anyway, righting myself before we both fell.
“You are such anasshole!” She banged her fists against my chest, one bare, the other still mittened, fresh tears brimming in her eyes. “What in god’s name made you so mean? Because wolf or not, you’ve got heartless bastard down to an art form, Hawke. And trust me, no one is born that way.”
“Yeah, you got me there, Cupcake. I wasn’t born this way at all. The world took its sweet-ass time carving outmyheart.”
“That’s not an answer,” she said.
I scoffed. “Tough shit. It’s the only one you’re gonna get.”
“What happened to you?”
I opened my mouth and took a deep breath of icy cold air, so close to telling her to fuck off. To saying something so cruel and cold, it would give new meaning to the phrase “heartless bastard”—something that would shut her up until the storm passed and I could finally get her the fuck out of my life for good.
But then out of nowhere she slid her bare hand against my cheek, smoothing her thumb across my lips, her big blue eyes full of something so fucking rare and beautiful, it made my chest ache. I couldn’t even give it a name.
One touch, one look, and sweet little Maddie Lockwood had completely diffused me.
Again.
I kissed her palm, closing my eyes and inhaling the scent of her skin. When I finally found the words to respond, my voice was a scratchy whisper, and I couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes again, so damn afraid that I’d fall right into them, lost forever. “There are things in this world, Maddie… things I’d give my life to keep you safe from.”
“Like the fact that wolf shifters are real?”
I nodded. “Among other things.”
“Other things.” She blew out a breath and nodded, and I braced myself for a barrage of questions, but they didn’t come. Maddie didn’t push. Didn’t pry. Just stretched up on her toes and leaned into me, brushing her cool lips against my cheek, whispering words that cut me deep in the best possible way. “Thank you for finding me. I missed you, Hawke.”
“Missed you too, Cupcake. More than you fucking know.”
I finally found the courage to meet her eyes again, and when I did, my girl grinned up at me, and for the briefest instant I was pretty damn sure I finally understood the true meaning of Christmas.
But as quickly as it’d appeared, her smile fell away, the color leeching once more from her face. She swayed against me, all out of fight, all out of steam.
She didn’t argue when I scooped her up into my arms and held her against my chest. Her whole body trembled with cold and exhaustion, and I could feel her heart slamming against her rib cage, right through my bare chest, right down to my bones.
I wanted to kill her for being so stubborn and stupid, for putting her precious life at risk just because I’d pulled a dick move back at the cabin.
But more than that, I just wanted to hold her close. To keep her safe. To take care of her.
To give her everything she fucking deserved.
And that feeling—the feeling of being responsible for another human being, andwantingthat responsibility,welcomingit—scared the ever-lovingshitout of me.
But I was done running from it. Done running fromher.
“Hang in there, Cupcake.” I pressed a kiss to her ice-cold forehead, tightened my hold on her, and started the trek back to the cabin. “I’m taking you home.”
