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“You’re right. I just stopped by for a visit. I should probably be heading back to my cabin, though.”
“You’re leaving now?”
It seems like the best idea. It’s one thing for Duke to keep an eye on me from a distance. I don’t understand it, but I don’t mind it. Having him right there, fighting the pull between us that I noticed after our time in the cages? I wish I was a stronger female than I am. He’s my friend, and that’s all he can be.
Which I why I don’t even bat an eye when he offers to walk me back to my cabin instead of joining Grant and Audrey for lunch.
I’d expect no less from such an honorable male. “Sure. That would be nice of you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Audrey is frowning. “Nice? Trish, sweetie—”
“Thanks for the drink.” I stand up. “The chat, too. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Um. Yeah. Okay. Take good care of her Duke.”
His gaze never leaves my face as he answers in the solemn, deep voice of his, “I will.”
CHAPTER3
SHADOW
Once we’re outside of the Carters’ cabin, I expect my shadow to quietly escort me back to mine.
That’s what Duke is, I’ve long decided. My shadow. A big one, sure, since he’s a giant of a male, but he doesn’t often walk at my side. In fact, he usually keeps his distance, watching over me from afar.
He’s done that since we returned to Accalia. As though he’s expecting me to have a mental breakdown at any minute, it seems like he’s alwaysthere. Not that I mind. I don’t. My time away from the pack changed me. I’m not the she-wolf I used to be. Instead of expecting males to sniff at my tail—to which I gladly rejected them because I only wanted Ryker—I’d rather they leave me alone… except for Duke.
We don’t often have conversations. It’s hard to do so when your shadow prefers to stay a good couple of feet behind, forever silent. A few stand out in my mind—nearly all of them revolving around how I’m feeling these days—but I asked him once if I should call him by his real name or his nickname. After how he took care of me, I didn’t want to think of him as just another packmate. He was my friend, and I respected him.
He’d looked at me, surprise written on his ruggedly handsome face, before he rumbled out a quick, “Call me whatever ya like. What about you? Is it Patricia, or Trish?”
I’ll always be Trish. But when he saysPatriciain that deep voice of his, I couldn’t help but remember the way he called my wolf the same while I was spiraling back in the cells. She had responded as if she’d been waiting for him her entire life, and though I told him, “Trish,” when he asked, I admitted to myself that what he said went double. He could call me whatever he liked.
I’m the type of she-wolf who used to adore being the center of attention. Not anymore. I’ve had my fair share of it. In my foolish youth, I was the talk of the pack because I told anyone who would listen that I aimed to make Ryker mine, no matter what. Even after Gem left, and Ryker spent a year searching for her, I persisted even when I knew I shouldn’t have. Looking back, I admit that I deserved to be banished from the pack. I got lucky to be reinstated, and luckier still that my Alpha didn’t leave me to rot in California.
Rumors swirl. I know better than most that shifter packs gossip worse than little old ladies. I went from being the assumed mate for the Alpha heir to Trish Danvers, home-wrecker in a year. Since then, I’m now damaged goods.
Nothing made that more clear than when Duke gave me the opportunity to call him whatever I wanted. The old Trish would’ve felt the need to one-up Gem, maybe give him a nickname just from me. Or I could’ve been contrary, referring to him as Jack since that’s his name.
But I don’t. I can’t call him Jack—for the same reasons the Alpha female doesn’t—and when it comes to Duke… it seems as if he likes the nickname. Over the last year or so, every packmate refers to the big male as Duke.
So I do, too.
I’m actually kind of surprised when he doesn’t fall back as soon as Audrey’s front door is closed. That’s usually what he does, almost as if he’s eager to keep some space between us, but not today. His big hand hovering an inch or so at the small of my back, he shortens his stride so that we’re walking side-by-side.
He’s still quiet, though, and as we start for the path that will lead us toward my cabin, I decide to break the silence for no reason except I like to hear his voice.
It… it does something to me. When the bad memories start to rise, or I feel the walls closing in around me like I’m still in that tiny room, his gentle rumble is enough to help me get past it. Not that I can admit that to him. For some reason, he already thinks he has to watch over me, even though there hasn’t been any more trouble in Accalia since Walker’s death. If he—or anyone—found out just how much I rely on Duke… it’s not fair. It’s not fair to make him responsible for a broken she-wolf he has no tie to.
If only he did…
Giving my head a small shake, I glance up at him. His expression is careful, kind of like he doesn’t want to spook me.
He doesn’t have to worry about that. I might have come out of my abduction a lot more aware of what dangers this world can hold, but I’ll never be scared of Duke. As big as he is, as fierce as I know any wolf shifter can be, if there’s one thing I’m absolutely certain of, it’s that I have nothing to fear from Duke Conlon.
I give him an encouraging smile, a little surprised when his cheeks immediately go pink. “You know, you don’t have to do this. I’m not too far from Audrey’s.”
He nods. “I know. But I’m a protector. It’s my job.”
