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But looking at Tabby as she smiled up at him in the way… it was exactly the same kind of indulging smile his mother used to offer him whenever he pulled the “I’m the man of the house” routine when he was… what? Twelve? Thirteen?
The kind of smile that said, you’re cute for trying, but you haven’t got a chance of changing my mind.
Tabby was going out to face off with the wild animal, wasn’t she?
“Getting hurt is part of the job. I’ll survive. I always do. Right now, I’ve just got to make sure that everyone else does.”
Because, unlike the stretch of road by the woods where they purposely left his car, this neighborhood was full of houses.
Full of people.
He couldn’t stop her. No—well, he could. She was a small thing compared to him, and even when he was still human, he had the strength to hold her back. But he wouldn’t. It wasn’t fair of him to try, and, deep down, Adam accepted that even if Eva hadn’t given in to the mystical mating bond pulling her back toward her shifter mate, it never would’ve worked. He had been too controlling, under the guise of being caring. He hadn’t been able to stop himself then, but he promised to get a hold on his overbearing instincts if he ever found himself drawn to a woman again.
And considering what Deb told him…
Adam changed tactics. He laid his hand on Tabby’s shoulder, wincing when he noticed how much of a stark contrast his midnight black claws were against her pale grey shirt. Her shoulder was delicate; he could feel the bones under his light squeeze. He knew she was small, could see how tiny she was, but he somehow forgot when faced with her attitude and her personality.
He had to try.
“Can it wait? Sun’s bound to be going down soon. I can go out there with you. I know you’re more than capable… you proved that earlier tonight… but one thing I learned while I was on the job, it’s that you can never go wrong with back-up. Wait for me. Then you won’t have to go out there alone.”
One look into her dark brown eyes and he had his answer. That was pure steel staring back at him.
He’d expected it, too. Adam didn’t like it, but he expected it. “It was worth a shot.”
“This house was empty. Doesn’t mean they all are. I can’t wait. You know that.”
“Yeah. I do.”
Her lips quirked upward. It was a sweet smile, though the dangerous glint in her gaze didn’t go anywhere.
Adam’s cock ached. It had be
en a constant throb since Tabby curled up next to him to get some shut-eye, but that innocent expression she could pull coupled with the hard look in her eye… that was it for him. He was a fucking goner.
Because he wanted nothing more than to keep on touching her, Adam reluctantly moved his hand off of her shoulder.
“Stay back,” Tabby said again, reaching for the dagger at her hip before moving toward the closed door. “I don’t know how far the sun will stream in. Can’t risk you getting hit.”
He could handle a few stray beams refracting through a windowpane. It would hurt like hell and it would take at least a bag of blood to heal the burn, but he could handle that. Taking a straight hit? It would be ash time before he knew it.
And he hated—absolutely hated—that he couldn’t go out there and face off with the shifter instead.
“Kick his ass, Tab.”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh. I plan on it.”
10
It was harder than Tabby thought to step out of the safety of the house.
Not because she was afraid of the wild animal pacing the lengths of the neighborhood street. She wasn’t. The purple glinting off of the wolf’s brindled fur told her all she needed to know about what she was facing. The shifter was clearly under some kind of spell that turned it feral; unfortunately for the suffering beast, there was only one thing she could do. Before it got its claws or teeth into anyone else, Tabby would take care of it.
She’d done it before. When her time in Grayson was over with, she’d do it again. So, no. It wasn’t the threat of the growling, drooling, cursed shifter that had her dragging her heels.
It was the way her mind stayed stuck on what Adam said, like streaming a song on repeat. She couldn’t stop replaying it.
You don’t have to go out there alone…
