AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silence filled the cab when I didn’t say anything more. She didn’t let it stay that way for long though.
“And you suddenly decided to join his pack because?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Jaxson would only go through with a deal if I left with an Alpha who took responsibility for me. Joaquin was the only one I could think of who might have taken me in. And thank fuck he did.”
An involuntary shudder ran through me at the thought of having to spend years in jail.
Lily-Rose
This man did not like to talk. All I wanted was to get to know him, his history, how he ended up where he was now. But it was like pulling teeth. All these short answers. But I was determined to get to know my mate, so bring on question time. We had a two-day drive ahead of us with nothing other than the occasional stop to interrupt me.
“What deal was that exactly? What did you do to get arrested?”
His grip on the steering wheel tightened a moment before he blew out a breath.
“I’m a mercenary of sorts. I’ll do whatever the client wants. In this case, the client wanted me to bring a woman to a particular place.”
I rolled my eyes at him trying to make what he did sound better than it obviously was. “You kidnapped a woman. Just say it. You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
I didn’t want to believe I mated a man who would hurt a woman, but what did I really know about this male?
“She’s totally healthy and intact. Jaxson wanted to know who I was working for more than he wanted to lock me up, so I bartered with him to get my charge lowered down to a fine rather than going to jail. You saw how my wolf handles cages. It doesn’t end well.”
I started to chew on my right index fingernail as I thought about how to ask him what I wanted to know. Would he tell me? He seemed like a fairly private person, but I was his mate. Surely, he wouldn’t try to hide his past from me? I decided to leave it for now.
“How did you know Joaquin would accept you?”
He shrugged again. “I didn’t, but he’s the only Alpha I know that there was a fucking chance he’d step up.”
“So, when did you meet Joaquin?”
He frowned over at me before turning his attention back to the road. “You ask a lot of fucking questions, you know that?”
I grinned. “You give short answers, so I have to.”
He shook his head, but I could see his lips twitch with a grin he was trying to hold back.
“I did a job for him a while back. He was searching for a female who’d been trafficked. I helped out with some investigative work. He actually offered me a place in his pack back then, but I turned it down.”
He went silent again and when I sighed, his lips did that twitch thing again. Was he playing with me? I mentally shrugged, like it mattered. He was answering my questions, even if he was forcing my hand in asking him more than I should have to, and that’s what was important here. He was also proving he had a sense of humor, which I didn’t mind one bit. My feline half loved playing.
“So Mr. Lone Wolf, does that mean you don’t intend on staying with the Iron Hammers?”
His entire body stiffened and with a low growl he shook his head.
“Originally that was my plan, to leave as soon as we were away from Timber Cove, but that’s all changed now. I’d never risk you like that.”
I frowned. “Risk me?” I’d have thought staying with the Iron Hammers was the risky thing to do. I only had Joaquin’s word to go on that they’d changed from what they used to be.
Cujo nodded. “My parents were both shifters, living up in Boseman, Montana. But they had no pack. I was two years old when the hunters found us. Mom shielded me as best she could while Dad fought them off, but there were too many of them. He never stood a chance. None of us did.”
My heart lurched in my chest. Clearly, he’d survived, but how? “What happened? Are your parents still alive?”
He shook his head and I wanted to reach out and hug him, do something to ease the pain that was clear to read in the tense line of his muscles. “The hunters killed them both, but kept me alive. They sold me to a bunch of scientists.”
How were you meant to respond to information like that? I said the first thing that came to mind. “Hope you killed the fuckers.”
He barked out a laugh and I relaxed that I’d said the right thing.
