Page 66 of Bad Blood Bear

Tank said, “What if I claimed her?”

Lissa stared at him. He didn’t really want to do that, she knew he didn’t. And yet it might keep her safe from Brother Damien.

And she wanted it. She was shocked at how much she wanted it.

But she couldn’t let him sacrifice the rest of his life when they might have another solution in two days.

Flynn scrubbed his head, a sure sign he was agitated. “I don’t know. It could make the legal stuff more complicated, not to mention tangling up the magic. And even if you pledged to me and then did it, we don’t know how it would affect Lissa. Look what happened when I tried to offer her my protection, the first day she came.”

They all went silent.

Flynn turned to her with a sigh, and she could see the worry lines around his eyes. “Try not to worry, okay?” he said. “Just make sure somebody’s with you at all times. Don’t go off on your own. We’ll have a nice Thanksgiving, with a nice healthy fight at the end of it, and then Israel and Ashley will be here the next day. We’ll keep you safe.”

Lissa tried to do what Flynn said, but she couldn’t keep the worry from crawling through her belly. Brother Damien was here. He might be able to sense where she was. He could call her, and she would have to come. Or worse.

“He could make me hurt you,” she whispered to Tank. They were alone in his room, getting ready for bed. “He could make me hurt all of you.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Flynn’s locking up the weapons. I’m with you. We don’t even know for sure that Brother Damien knows where you are. You’ll be okay until Israel gets here.”

He put his hands on her shoulders, those soft green eyes looking into hers. “I’ll claim you if you want me to,” he said. “It’s your decision.”

She yearned so much to say yes, to feel his bite on her shoulder, to be his. But she couldn’t do that to him.

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I know you’ll take care of me. In two days, this will all be over.”