Page 34 of Locke

Switch huffed, “Bet I can.”

“Doubt it, but if you can, I’ll teach you how to be more stealthy in the forest. Because you are terrible,” she giggled.

Switch kicked the dirt and pouted. “I’ll show you.”

Emm ruffled his hair. “Anyway, no, you can’t know what is on my computer.”

“So, you do have something to hide?” he challenged.

My mate frowned. “Are you going to give me every secret of the Iron Fang?”

Switch shook his head.

“Then, you don’t need to know mine. Now, what do you need to tell Tajah to keep her off my back for twelve hours, before I have a talk with her?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Switch said. “She’s out of town. I don’t know when she will be back.”

My mate nodded. “Fine, gives me time to prepare for my little meeting, then.” She grinned. “Now, go on home, and I’ll take care of everything else. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Switch’s body relaxed. “Thanks, I—owe you.”

Emm waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

Switch turned to leave and the knife she’d been holding all along went flying. The hair on my back stood straight up and my claws dug into the dirt, ready to protect my idiot member, but it sailed past his head and into the tree next to him. He jumped with a squeal and stared at the knife just inches from his head.

“Hey, Switch. Don’t come back here unannounced, okay?” My mate smirked at Switch and he nodded his head shakily.

“Y-yes, Lu—I mean Emm.”

Shit, I think I’m in love.

Emm waited until she no longer heard his footsteps. It didn’t take Switch long to leave the woods and step on the road. I could hear him start up his bike and rev it several times before speeding off.

I must have been in too deep of a sleep to even hear his bike. Emm wouldn’t have been able to hear it with her human ears, but since I’ve become stronger, I should have noticed.

My mate woke me. She was the one that brought the intruder to my attention. It was the first time I slept where I did not have nightmares of my past, my wolf running aimlessly through the forest thirsting for hunger.

It was because of her, she was helping my body rest but I could not rest like that again. Not when she had—for the second time— an intruder in our territory. She needed to be protected, even though she was quite strong for a human.

There were other things lurking. Magic, shifters, hunters, hell, even myself.

Emm let out a long sigh and walked up to the tree, pulling the blade from the splintered wood. She flicked it back and forth, running her thumb across it.

“What happened to my protector, huh? Are you getting lazy now because I’m giving you free steaks?”

I said nothing, my ears drooping with guilt. She was right. I had been careless, but when you sleep beside, well, on top of a beautiful woman’s breasts, why would you want to wake?

She let out a happy huff and rubbed her hand across my maw. She took her thumb and went over one of my scars several times. “You’ve been through the wringer, haven’t you, Fenrir? Just like me?” She said the last part so quietly, I don’t even think it was meant for me to hear, but of course I did.

My mate walked past me, took slow steps up the RV and opened the door. I stayed sitting, ready to take my punishment. I was supposed to protect her—warn her, and I didn’t. I deserved to stay out in the darkness and let it swallow me alive.

Yet, she stayed at the door, rapping her fingers against the metal of her home. “Come on, you can make it up to me by keeping me warm. I have to admit I was sleeping pretty hard, too.”

My ears perked up and again she tapped the side of the RV.

I’m a selfish bastard and would not say no. I bolted inside before she could change her mind, and her laughter filled the inside. My nails clicked on the hard surface of the floor and I jumped on her bed, rounding the soft blankets several times and waited until she arrived in the bedroom. She leaned on the door frame and shook her head.

“For a wild animal, you know how to make yourself comfortable.” I huffed out a breath and pawed the covers for her to come over. She smiled, put her knife on the bedside table and curled up under the covers. I took the chance to curl around her and she didn’t push me away, she didn’t show she was afraid and didn’t tell me to get down.

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