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There was only one way forward that made sense.
“I’ll help you take them down. And you’re staying here with me. We’re going to get my stuff back from your … camp, and you’re going to fill me in on everything that’s happened to you. I want every detail.”
There was a moment where it looked like she was going to say something else, but she shook her head. “Thank you.”
He sensed how much she wanted to lean on him for protection, and he felt like a heel that he’d made her feel that she couldn’t.
Magnus knew he was her safest bet. “I’ll keep you safe.”
She bit her lip but nodded after a moment. “Thank you.”
The tension in him relaxed a little at her agreement. His gut, however, tightened. An idiot pack of wolves tried to hurt her, and he wasn’t going to allow them to get away with it.
Not his mate.
He shoved the thought down. He was doing this because it was right. It had nothing to do with whether or not she was his mate.
“Come on. Let’s get you something to wear.” The sooner the better. It was bad enough he’d felt the heat of her pussy burning through the fabric of his sweatpants, but he could smellthe honey-laced musk of her arousal. It was making his bear crazy, and his cock ached in a way he’d never experienced before. And her legs … all he wanted to do was lick his way up them to the siren call of her core, dive in, and never resurface.
“Your clothes are pretty much ruined.” He nearly tore the door off his wardrobe in his haste to find something to cover her up.
He dug through the meager collection. There was little hope of finding anything as trendy as the clothes she’d been wearing. He grabbed a pair of jogging pants and a flannel shirt for her to wear over the t-shirt she already had on and thrust them at her. “Here. You can wear something of mine.”
Her gratitude was mumbled as she tugged the clothing on. The result of which left her looking like a child who’d jumped into the laundry pile and clambered out with her parents’ clothing clinging to her.
Nari looked down at herself and giggled. “It won’t look so bad once I do this.” She did some weird thing that involved tightening the drawstring of the joggers as much as she could, rolling the waistband down and then the legs up. Then she rolled the sleeves of the shirt up before tying the loose ends in a knot. It looked ridiculous, but, at the same time, the fact that she was in his clothes was so fucking sexy. But was there anything she’d done so far that wasn’t a huge turn-on?
She completed the outfit with the ridiculous boots that had to be more about fashion than practicality. He only let her get away with it because stumbling around the woods in a pair of his boots was an accident waiting to happen. But could it be any worse than teetering around on those heels and thick soles?
Deciding, if worse came to worst, he’d just carry her, Magnus waved at the door. “Ready?”
Nari nodded while Ulf padded over to his bed and settled down.Guess he isn’t up for a walk.His heart banged a littleharder in his chest, however, when Nari knelt down and gave the dog a cuddle and a kiss on the head as she whispered a promise that they’d be back soon. Ulf thumped his tail adoringly at her.
He’d probably be doing the same if he had a tail.
Magnus mentally shook off the feeling. He wasn’t going to give in. He’d seen what losing his mother had done to his father, and he wasn’t going to fall into the same trap. Mates were nothing but pain in potential.
Why was that so hard to remember with Nari around?
“Which way?”
She waved a slender hand. “Follow me.”
And he did. Like a pathetic rat following the Pied Piper.
The way she looked at everything like it was all shiny and new almost made him smile. Her curiosity and delight were almost childlike. Nari touched and smelled virtually everything within reach as she passed as if she was trying to commit everything to memory.
Though she seemed relaxed, he sensed the tension in her. Saw her gaze darting to pin new sounds. The way she jumped just a little when some creature would scurry through the bushes. He hated that she felt any kind of fear. Almost as much as he hated the urge to slay everything that startled her so she could relax and enjoy herself.
It wasn’t long before he caught her favoring her injured leg. Why hadn’t he considered that?
“Come here.” Before she could react, he swung her up in his arms.
For a moment, she leaned back and sighed happily as she looked up at the autumn leaves. Then she lifted her head to look at him. “As much as I’m enjoying this, you can’t carry me around.”
“I can.” He proved it by stubbornly marching through the brush.
“It’s not that much farther. I can walk the rest of the way.”
