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“Don’t tell me to calm down again,” she said in a low, dangerous voice. “If I want to freak out, I think I’ve earned the right. But I’m not freaking out.” Trying very hard not to. “What’s this mark? What does it mean? I know you know. What is it?”
“Their sign that Amdis wants you alive.” Kodiak paused and glanced at her, then shook his head. “No wonder they’ve been so persistent in trying to get you.”
Tamaska’s stomach roiled, and a wave of greasy bitterness rose in her throat at the thought. “I don’t understand why. All of this is just weird.”
Which really was an understatement of the century if ever there was one.
He zipped up the bag and crossed to her. “Me either, which is another reason why I need to get you to the pack. Ash is a whiz at finding information, and Olcan—the pack leader—will know what to do. I guess that’s one good thing about sticking to the old ways, he understands a lot of the ancient history more than the rest of us. We all need to work together to find out what’s really going on.”
“The vampires want me, that’s what’s going on. And it’s not for anything good.”
“Hey, I said I’d keep you safe and I will.” Kodiak drew her close to him. His protective body heat warmed her. “But we need to go, now.”
Tamaska swallowed hard. Whether or not she wanted to, this was the time to face her fears. “I…”
“I’ll be there with you.”
His words held a beguiling note, a feeling of comfort, and she wanted to let them wrap about her, because he said he’d protect her and she needed that. The idea of a pillar to cling to in this coming storm.
His people were shifters and…
No. She’d deal.
She didn’t have another choice.
“Fine, then.”
Relief spread across his face. “Let’s get going.”
She nodded and took a step towards the door.
“Tamaska?”
“Yes?”
He came up and pulled her to him, his mouth brushing the top of her hair. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“You can’t promise that. You can’t see into the future. Can you?”
He laughed. “No. But I mean it. I’ll keep you safe.”
Meaningless words with volumes behind them and she’d take the false comfort of them, the meaning there. She slid her hands around his waist, fingers gliding beneath his shirt and dipping beneath the waistband of his jeans.
She expected to touch the wound but it was gone. His hip had healed from the fight with the vampire.
“Did being in wolf form help you heal?” she asked while he checked the place.
“A little, and so did the hunt.” He grabbed two lightweight jackets, passed her one, and slipped on the other. There was a pause and she suddenly got what he meant. Hunt as in for food. “You don’t mind my saying that?”
“No, but it will take some getting used to.” She shifted uncomfortably on her feet as she pulled on the jacket he’d given her. “Where do you go when your wolf is hunting?”
Kodiak frowned as he put on his sneakers. “Oh, you mean, my consciousness?”
“I guess so.”
“I’m there while he hunts, watching, but it’s also time for me to think and clear my head.”
Tamaska couldn’t imagine what that would be like, but oddly it didn’t sound as foreign to her as it should have.
