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Without a second thought, I set my sights on the knife man and squeeze the trigger.
Pain shoots up my arm as the gun kicks back and flies out of my grip. My first thought is to scramble for it. There’s no way I hit my target. When I reach my weapon, without hesitation, I pick it up and take aim again.
“Whoa, whoa,” a naked Kane says from where he stands over the man whose blood spills from his throat ripped wide open. Kane holds his hands out in front of him as he ducks out of my line of sight. “Easy, Princess.”
My hold is still tight on the pistol’s grip when Kane grabs the barrel with blood-soaked hands and twists it out of my grip.
His calm tone tells me the threat is gone, but my body doesn’t believe it yet. Adrenaline still rushes through my veins. I can’t slow my breathing.
“It’s over, princess,” Kane says in that same calm tone. He touches my face. Fingers my hair. Tries to catch my eye. But all I can focus on is the slick of blood between our skin.
All at once, my focus softens, my limbs slack as bile rises in my throat. I can’t hold it back any longer and bolt over to the sink.
When my stomach is empty, I turn to Kane, tearing my hair out of the gentle grip he kept on it while I was sick and demand to know, “What. The fuck. Just. Happened?”
Chapter twelve
Kane
“You weren’t supposed tofind out this way,” I tell Alice as I finish washing the blood off my hands.
That’s one of the reasons I brought her out here. We had to sit tight until her dad got back, to prevent this kind of thing from happening before he could tell her everything. This place should have kept us isolated. Especially with the snow covering the roads and our tracks.
“Find what out? Why are you naked? Where the fuck did that wolf come from? Who are these people? How did they—?”
Not caring how inappropriate it might be considering the circumstances, I cut her off, pulling her against me. To hold her. Soothe her the best I can without giving her my bite.
It’s not easy to refuse my mate what she so desperately needs. Even if she doesn’t know it yet.
Alice is tense as fuck. Thankfully, after a minute or so buried in my scent, she takes a deep breath and finally slacks in my arms, letting me support her as she sobs into my chest.
Her father should be the one to tell her the truth about who he is. I’ll avoid telling his secrets if I can, but I at least owe herthe truth about myself. So she can decide what she wants to do with it. If that means she doesn’t want me anymore, I’ll just have to accept that. No matter how much it will kill me to let her go again.
“Come on, Princess,” I whisper, scooping her up into my arms to carry her to the couch.
After setting her down, I pick up one of the blankets and wrap it around my waist before sitting next to her.
“Dammit, Kane. I need some fucking answers!” She rocks forward in her seat, gripping her stomach. “Oh, god. I think I’m gonna be sick again.” Alice’s chest heaves like she can’t catch her breath. Our bond took a big hit in the chaos and confusion. Through what’s left of it, I can sense she doesn’t know what she saw and now she’s questioning everything she thought she knew or felt. About me. About life. Her perception of safety.
Fuck me. She’s not supposed to be scared when she’s with me. I’m her protector. Her guardian. More now than I ever was. With me, she should never have to fear for her life because she knows I’ll never let any harm come to her.
I should hold her again and tell her exactly that, word for fucking word, but I can’t. It will only make things worse. The next time I hold her, it will be because she wants me to hold her. This moment requires restraint.
My wolf protests with an ear-piercing howl inside my head.
I grit my teeth and growl to quiet him.
Alice locks her wide eyes on me.
It’s time to come clean.
“Alice. These are the men from the bar. Don’t look at him,” I say, gripping her chin and turning her head to look back at me and not at the man still laying lifeless by the door with his throat ripped out, evidence of the swift action I took when her shot didn’t connect. “That was the man who tried to pull you away from the group before I did. I had a gut feeling they werehunters, but when they didn’t follow us here, I let my guard down. A terrible lack of judgement on my part. I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean? Hunters?”
I nervously scrub my fingers over the scruff on my jaw. “You wanted to know why I’m naked.” Alice nods as her eyes dip to my lap covered by the blanket then sweep up my bare torso. Taking me in—her mate—calms her even though she doesn’t know why or how. I have to bite back a smile when she struggles to reconcile that sudden calm with the chaotic scene and the hard thump of her heart that plucks the bond trying to repair itself between us. “And you wanted to know where the wolf came from.” She nods as her heart thumps again and I realize telling her isn’t going to be enough.
I need to show her.
