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I crossed my arms over my chest. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Didn’t you call out for help?”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Yes, you did,” he replied for me. As irritating as it was for him to do, it was true. “Your heart screamed. Did it not? I heard the horrifying wail from across the bar.”
Terror struck me like lightning. Again, it didn’t make sense. How was it this man could read me when no one else had so much as tried? I was a basket case, a complicated ball of fury that would lash out at anything and everyone given the chance. I’d proven that. I’d hurt his feelings already.
Yet he kept trying.Why?
I was getting tired of wondering. But I couldn’t help the way I felt.
“Macy, I can’t ignore a cry for help,” he whispered as he stroked my cheek. I closed my eyes, hot tears rolling down my cheeks at the thought of him granting me grace in the wake of everything. “Yours was too painful to disregard.”
Confusion ran amok. How was I supposed to respond to that? How was I supposed tofeelabout that?
Nothing could have stopped the tide of emotions overwhelming me. Not Juriah holding my hand again. Not the way he wiped my tears from my face. And certainly not the knock that erupted from the front door.
I jumped from the couch and hauled ass down the hallway to the bathroom. It was too early to be sobbing in a stranger’s arms. Sure, I’d done many more intimate things last night, but that was under the cover of darkness and now the sun was out. That meant things were different.
Everything was different in the light. Even kind men like Juriah.
Distant discourse met my werewolf ears. I ran the faucet and splashed cold water on my face, avoiding the mirror because it was hard enough feeling self-conscious. I didn’t need to look self-conscious. A multitude of emotions rose and fell inside me, a warring sea sprouting where I’d recently felt desire. Or had it just been lust? Things were different in underground places likeMoss. Hell, they’d probably already torn the whole building down or covered it with a fancy spell.
People like Juriah could make places like that disappear with the snap of a finger. The way he had grown and shifted with those massive wings told me he could probably flatten entire cities with one distinct scream. Being in his home confused me more than it had when I first walked in.
There was no earthly reason for him to protect me. He must have wanted to own me. That was the only logical reason.
I shut off the faucet. I patted my face dry.
The smell of a wolf sneaked into my awareness. It was paired with something unique, something more supernatural than what already existed here. Bits of it were floral, kind of reminding me of Juriah, of Elderlings.
When I returned to the living room, Raven stood up from the couch and greeted me with a wide smile. Someone that matched her height stood next to her, causing me to pause near the mouth of the hallway.
“You’re all so…tall,” I said as kindly as possible. “Are all Elderlings tall?”
“Yeah, it’s a thing,” Raven replied. She gestured to the man with platinum blond hair and brown eyes. “This is my brother, Rynar. He’s a hybrid like me.”
I waved but didn’t move. I didn’t like being the shortest person in the room.
Juriah inched toward me. “They brought more clothes for you.”
Lo and behold, a pile of more fashionable threads sat on the couch, folded neatly with care. Far from the haphazard tossing my previous pack would have done.Ifthey gave me new clothes at all. I stared at them. They looked kind of nice.
“I figured a woman would like more than just some shorts and a t-shirt,” Raven continued. “And I wanted to welcome you again to the Silverdawn pack. Juriah tells me that you have nowhere else to go.”
I snorted with indignance. “I wastaken. Or did he leave that part out?”
Raven glanced at Juriah and then at Rynar. When she focused on me, she nodded with understanding. “Correct. You were taken. He said he bid on you during the auction and paid with fake money.”
Surprise led me to lean against the wall. While crossing my arms, I cleared my throat and agreed with her.
“You can stay for as long as you like,” Raven offered. “I’ve heard about trafficking happening near Wolfcreek, but not in the town. That shocks me.”
“A lot of things happen there.”
She looked sad. “You’ll never have to worry about those things here. I can promise you that, Macy.”
