Her brow furrowed. “There are bears everywhere. And they’re talking some serious shit about Nana.” She stepped closer and whispered, “Problem is, I think they might be right.”
“Come on.” I nudged her with my snout, not expecting her to jump. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“I can’t leave,” she whispered. “They say I have magic too. Actual magic! What if they’re right, and it didn’t skip me?”
I’d almost prepared myself for every terrible scenario that could happen when we found her, except for her being completely fucking delusional. It was best to play along because if I made her angry, I could lose her forever. “Do they know where the locket is?”
She shook her head. “They think I’ll tell them how to find it.”
Problem was, her unhinged story lined up with that feeling in my gut.
“We need to get you home.”
“No!” She pushed me away. “I feel safe here. I finally know what that feels like.”
Fuck. This wasn’t just Clover being her impossible self. There was way more to this.
I had to get her out of here even if I needed to drag her to a place where she was actually safe. I picked her up, ignoring her kicking and punching and screaming as I hoisted her body over my shoulder.
“Stop it. We’re the only ones out here. Don’t think you’re gonna get someone to save you. That’s why I’m here. Just like you asked me to be days ago.”
“You’re trying to take me away from them. I’m so close to finally knowing the truth. You can’t do this to me.”
“We’ll find out the truth. I promise. But you can’t stay here.”
“Everything we know about our clan is wrong,” she said as she wriggled in my arms.
“It’s not my clan anymore. You made sure of that when you rejected my claim,” I grunted.
“It will always be your clan.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “You’re the one who left.”
“Didn’t want to wake up every morning without you in my bed. So I found a different bed.”
She chuckled and got in another kick. “How’s that working out for you?”
“Since I’m still saving your ass, I guess it’s not working out that great for either of us.”
“I told you to leave me there. You didn’t listen.”
“I learned from the best.” Once she got some rest and whatever was making her delusional out of her system, we’d get to the bottom of what really happened.
“Still trying to woo me after all this time.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Hardly.”
She exhausted herself and her body grew heavy in my arms. Her heartbeat had finally evened out. We got back to the road, and I put her down, trying to ignore the way her curves felt as they slid against my fur.
Like that was even possible.
She looked around, and then her face lit up when she recognized where she was. “Oh good, you found my car. I guess this is goodbye? Thanks for the unwanted rescue. I’m headed home. I’ll give the clan your regards, if you want.”
“Absolutely fucking not.”
“What are you talking about? That’s my car. As long as everything’s still in there. I should be good to go.”
“Your stuff is in there. And there’s no way you’re driving like this. You’re high as a kite.”
“I’m fine.” She tried to get around me and I stepped in front of her. She jabbed her finger into my chest. “My car is a lot faster than any bear.”