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Tears welled in my eyes. I darted my gaze to his and gave a single nod.
“I’m sorry.” He put his hand on top of mine for a second then pulled it away and set it back in his lap. “Sawyer and I will do everything in our power to make sure that no one else in your family or pack is harmed.”
I bowed my head and swallowed back a sob. There was truth to his words, but there was only so much they could do against their tyrant of a father. He had a whole pack of loyal followers.
“We are working on a plan, Sloane. I promise you. Things will get better.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and swiped away a stray tear with my hand. “I hope you’re right.”
The alternative was something I dare not even think of.
“Sawyer and I will do anything to keep you safe, even if it means giving our lives.” When he met my gaze, there was a raw intensity swirling in his pale-blue eyes.
“I don’t want to see either of you die.” My chest tightened at the thought of a world without either of them in it. It gripped my chest like a vise, making it hard to breathe.
“I don’t want either of us to die either, but you are our mate, Sloane. It’s our job to protect you.”
I gritted my teeth and exhaled through my nose. No one else I loved was dying, not if I could help it.
“You mentioned teaching me to fight. I want to learn.” I needed to know how to protect myself.
Lincoln picked up another piece of bacon and stuffed it in his mouth. “Sawyer would be better. He’s had more formal training, but I’ll teach you everything I know.”
I let my gaze wander over his frame. He was built like he worked out on the daily, and he had scars like he’d been in a few fights.
Lincoln must have seen me staring. He cleared his throat and ran his hand across a particularly nasty set of claw marks that ran across his belly. “My dad doesn’t believe in holding back. His training is as brutal as he is.”
I gulped and nodded, flicking my gaze over the silvery lines on his stomach. The scar was years old. How old had he been when it happened? Too young.
He picked up a glass that looked like it had apple juice inside and chugged half of it before setting it back on the tray. “I won’t teach you like that. I want to teach you right.”
I picked up my toast again and took another bite.
He speared a sausage link with a fork. “We will make sure to get out and run. It will be important for us both to keep our physical strength and endurance.”
“I would like to see that creek.” I offered him a small smile.
“Dad and Sawyer leave at the end of the week. We will go once they’re gone. A good chunk of the enforcers will be gone, too. We should be able to move about without interruptions.”
“Okay.” If this were a friendly pack, I’d be wandering around getting to know everyone. Here, I wanted to stay holed up in this room for as long as I could.
He pointed to the tray. “Eat. You will need your strength.”
I finished my piece of toast and then used the fork to get a piece of sausage. “Why wasn’t Mikey at dinner last night?”
I thought back to the table. There had been an extra chair.
Lincoln took a bite of eggs. “He was tending to some sort of business for my dad. He handles a lot of the unsavory aspects of the pack. He’s really good at hiding and dumping bodies.”
I swallowed down a piece of sausage that wasn’t all the way chewed and coughed as it lodged in my throat. I gagged and then got it up. I blew out a breath and took a drink of the juice.
“You okay?” He put a hand on my back, right between my shoulder blades.
I waved my hand and took another sip of juice. “I just…didn’t realize that packs had to do that.”
“We do here. Unfortunately.”
Lincoln stood from the bed. He picked up one last blanket from the floor, set it by the edge of the bed, and then made sure nothing else was at the foot of the bed.
