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When she reappeared, she carried a framed photo in her hand. The frame was silver.
She handed it to him. “This is Aaron and me.”
Her husband who had died during his transition, was a good-looking young man with a faint black beard and black hair combed straight back. He had thick brows and a nose that looked crooked but not in a bad way. He would have made a handsome wolf.
In the photo, Natalie leaned against him. She looked incredibly happy. Her hazel eyes shone with love and laughter. Aaron had his hands low on her abdomen, too low, unless…
Oh, God. “You were pregnant.”
“Almost four months. This was a week before the serum stole my life. And theirs.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t you see, Grant? Kryder didn’t just take my husband, he took my daughter, too. I watched Aaron leave. To this day, I don’t know if it was real or if I was hallucinating, but when he left this earth, he carried her in his arms and named her Grace.” She swallowed hard. “My family.”
Grant stared at the photo for a long time, his throat aching. Natalie hadn’t aged a day since her transition. She looked the same except for a present, persistent tension around her eyes and the compression of her lips. Always on guard watching, searching the sky, the horizon, the shadows.
Theirs was a world of suspended state, of waiting for the other shoe to drop, then drop again, and again, ad infinitum. Even more so right now since they were both caught up in something inexplicable, he with his fae qualities and Natalie with her iridescent wolf of many colors.
But this photo of her very human joy. “I can’t imagine this kind of loss. Renee was hard. But if she’d been carrying our child—” He broke off not knowing how to finish that sentence. His throat had grown all but closed up.
The photo didn’t lie. Their child was the start of a new level to their life and to their love. He’d wanted children with Renee, but she’d wanted to surf as long as she could then she would settle down and give him a dozen brats, as she used to say, if that was what he wanted.
He was a patient man. He could wait.
Now she was gone and every hope of a family.
“Grant, I know you’re trying to protect me, which is why I’ll forgive your ridiculous behavior when you hauled me into the air in the forest. But I need you to curb that kind of thinking because it won’t help. Now that I know the truth, that Kryder was the one who stole my family from me, I won’t rest until he’s imprisoned or dead.”
He handed the photo back to her, then drew close, because he needed her to hear what he had to say. “I want you to look at me for a moment, at my physical power. I want you to think about my ability to build and maneuver dreamglides, to take you to the far ends of the earth. Do you see how much power this entails?”
“I do.” She bobbed her head. Her lips were still compressed, her jaw in a jut.
“Then understand this: All that I possess is still not enough for me to unseat Kryder, to challenge him in any way. If I met him in a dominance fight tonight, he would take me down. I’d leave him bruised, maybe even with a few broken bones, but I’d be dead and that’s the difference, that’s why I don’t want you in Savage right now.”
Her chin remained elevated. “I understand what you’re saying, but it’s irrelevant. I might even have a death wish at this point. But I’m going after Kryder, whether you come along for the ride or not.”
“Bold words.”
Her gaze slid off to the side as her thoughts drew inward. She tugged at a loose curl at her shoulder. “I’m not bold. I’m deep-water angry.”
“What do you mean?”
She met his gaze once more. “This isn’t a surface rage, Grant. The way I feel is that nothing else matters until he’s gone, however long that takes. If I die in the process, so be it. People like Kryder, male or female, need to be rooted out of Five Bridges and exposed for what they are so no one else can ever be hurt again. I’m under no illusions. If he dies, others will take his place. But for now, for this point in time, Kryder is my responsibility.”
He’d never heard it put like that before.
“Let me say it another way, in case I haven’t made myself clear: I’m going after Kryder whether you’re involved or not. This isn’t about you ‘letting me’ do anything.”
He saw her resolve. Hell, he felt it in waves coming off her. What right did he have to tell her what to do one way or the other? What he felt was all about him, his fears of losing her when he now realized how important she was becoming to him.
Yet, he understood better than anyone the resolve she had. “You’ve made your case. I was reacting to a need to protect you which is my job as an alpha wolf. But your path is your own.” These were some of the hardest words he’d ever spoken. Every wolf-cell in his body wanted to ensure her safety by whatever means he had possessed.
She gave him a measuring look. “We could try to work together, you and me. If you wanted. We might even have a chance if we joined forces.”
He nodded slowly. “You may be right.”
“You think it’s a possibility?”
This wasn’t his first choice. He’d rather she stayed out of the picture. Given Kryder’s investment in her, she was in more danger than she understood. “I see and accept your resolve. I don’t approve of it, but I accept it. I also agree that we might have a chance if we team up and I’m willing to do that.
“But you have to understand, Natalie, that it’s in my wolf nature to protect you with every tool I’ve got.”
