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“How are you ever going to trust him?”
“Exactly!”
“Just talk to him. Stone’s an idiot sometimes, but he’s not a monster.”
“It doesn’t matter, Shaw. I know he’s not a monster, but he’s another alpha who wants to control me.”
“He wants to control everyone.”
“That doesn’t make it better!” I looked over at him, feeling as if the walls of the car were pressing in on me. “Please Shaw. Promise you won’t try to trap me there.”
He pulled over, as if he could tell I was on the verge of panic. In seconds, he’d come around to the side of the car and opened my door and scooped me up. He rested his forehead against mine as he cradled me in his arms, easily carrying my weight.
“You’re free,” he told me quietly. “No one will ever cage you again. I’ll fight for you, Amelia, but not just to protect you…. I’ll fight for you to be free.”
My panic was subsiding, and he set me down on my own two feet, then leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re free, even if it means you leave me.”
My heart wrenched in my chest at the thought.
“But if you want me…” he said slowly, his eyes serious for once as they met mine, “I’ll follow.”
I stared up at him in surprise. “You’d leave your pack?”
“For you? Yes.”
The promise seemed to echo Brennan’s promise all those years before that we would be together, free of the packs.
And that had ended terribly.
I clung to Shaw. There was a small, rational part of my brain that knew what happened to Brennan wasn’t doomed to repeat itself. I wasn’t trapped in some miserable infinity loop. But there was a part of me that clenched in terror at the thought of loving anyone, and how easily they could be yanked away.
“I want you to be safe,” I murmured. “I don’t know what’s happening, Shaw. What if it’s not Nathan who’s been following me?”
Shaw stroked my hair back from my forehead with his palm. “We’ll figure it out. If Nathan allied with someone else to fuck with you, we’ll take care of them both. Alright? And when you’re safe, you’ll be free.”
I tugged on a strand of curly auburn hair. “Will I ever really be safe? Those shifters we met, they talked about me like there was something wrong with me… like there was a reason vampires would want me.”
“Vampires?” He frowned. “I’ve never seen one.”
“Most people think they’ve never seen a shifter,” I reminded him. “But we’re everywhere.”
“Well, vampires, shifters, whoever. You can trust that whatever else Stone might do, he’ll keep you safe. We’ll figure out what’s happening and… deal with the problem.”
“Violence as the solution.”
“I know Liam hates it, but…” Shaw shrugged. “I don’t really care.” His voice dropped to a murmur as he rested his hands lightly on my waist. “I’ll kill whoever it takes to make sure no one ever cages you again. I want to watch you fly, Amelia. I want to be there by your side as you swim in the ocean and explore the world without looking over your shoulder.”
His gaze was intense and I knew he meant every word. I threw myself into him and wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said. “Protecting you is the most primal drive that I have.”
“The most?” I cupped his cock, which was stiff between us.
“The most,” he promised me with a smile on his lips. “Though it’s not the only one.”
I looked into Shaw's eyes, and felt my heart swell with love. He smiled at me, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight, and I felt my pulse quicken.
I wanted Shaw so badly. But we couldn’t do much out here, when we needed to keep moving and be careful.
