Page 36 of Claimed

I nod.

“Okay, so we might have today?”

I shrug. “Maybe today. Maybe more than today. He’s a… wildcard. Not the type to have a plan B when plan A fails so I think he’ll need time to re-group. I just don’t know how fast he’ll act or what he’ll do.”

He looks troubled for a beat but then he looks like he’s decided on something. “First thing’s first. Fuel. How about we rustle us up some food? Show me your talents?”

“Well now that you’ve put me under pressure. Sheesh…” I mumble.

He smiles wider and it’s a beautiful sight. To be the woman who gets to make this man smile on a continuous basis? Could I be that lucky?

“And then I’ll show you some more ofmytalents,” he says, voice gravelly.

I jolt in surprise, feeling my face go even redder, but I manage, “Sounds like a fair trade…”

He reaches for my face and caresses it with his thumb, the rest of his fingers cradling my jaw.

“I’d love to spend today with you, getting to know you and keeping bullshit at bay for at least today. Think we can wait to deal with the shit till tomorrow?”

“Maybe?”

His eyes rove my face for a moment and although I would normally feel uncomfortable under scrutiny like this, I don’t this time.

“It’s settled,” he decides. “Today is for us. I’ll send a message to the council to keep their ears peeled. Noses alert. Meantime, we’ll spend time together and you’ll see you’re safe to open up.”

I chew my thumbnail nervously.

“And no pressure on the food. I’m a straightforward guy. Like hearty food. Cold beer. Like to exercise. Play some sports. Spend time on the lake fishing. Spend timeinthe lake fishing when I’m wolf. Simple pleasures. What do you like?”

“I like fishing. And target shooting. But… cooking. Cleaning. Um…” I don’t want to say waitressing, because that sounds really lame, but I don’t really know what else I like. I sound like I’m lamely trying to convince him I like domestic stuff but in truth, I do. I’ve dreamt about having a beautiful home to look after, a family to dote on.

“Well, good news then. Lots of food here to cook and I haven’t run the vacuum in a couple weeks. Glad I can make all your dreams come true, babe,” he jokes.

I laugh. “I’m actually very excited to clean this house.”

“Oh yeah?” he looks at me like I’m an alien but he’s also smiling.

“And bake. And… beyond cooking and cleaning, I don’t know what else I like to do because I haven’t had the opportunity to figure it out.”

“Well, you’ve got time now, Blossom.”

“I do like reading. Movies. I’ve always wanted to try to grow vegetables and flowers, but our land wasn’t very…fertile. Learn to play an instrument, maybe learn to sew clothes. ”

“My sister runs the library. You two will hit it off even faster since you like books. She runs four or five book clubs. You’ll undoubtedly fit into at least one of them. Pack has movie nights at the town hall nearly every weekend, too. And the land here is very fertile if you wanna grab a gardening book from the library and try and see if your thumbs are green. Mom has a sewing machine, and she can make just about anything. You ask her to teach you how to sew; I’m sure she’ll be over the moon about it.”

I stare in surprise. I have no idea how my luck changed like this. A pack that has a restaurant. Book clubs. Movie nights. A library! This is the packweshould be.

Wyatt is a threat to this. He could hurt Greyson and take this all away. And many of the Silver Hills people deserve so much more than what they have.

The idea of Wyatt threatening the way of life here bothers me a lot. But the idea that my pack could have a life like this? This is beyond my wildest imaginings. I need to try and give this to them. I just don’t know how I’m going to do that. I know Wyatt can’t be given the ability to take over this pack and this territory. He wouldn’t give all this to us so we could flourish, finally. No, he’d ruin it, turn it to charred rubble.

By now, Jimmy has undoubtedly been in touch to tell him I haven’t come back. If anyone is poking around near the perimeter of this village, maybe they’re catching Tyson Savage’s scent here. And mine.

The biggest questions and concerns are… what would Wy have done if I’d murdered Tyson Savage? And what’ll he do once he knows I haven’t?

***

Greyson puts food away while I distractedly cook cheddar cheese omelets and bacon for us.

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