Page 66 of Wild Wolf
Her mouth twitched in the merest smile. “You swore. You broke your rules aboutswearing.”
“Screw my rules,” he said fiercely. “Why didn’t you tellme?”
She refused to meet his gaze. “I would have driven an even bigger wedge between you and Bryce, and your father as well. You were the alpha’s heir, his pride and joy. And maybe, just maybe, I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me,either.”
The last sentence grieved him. He put a finger on her chin, lifting her face up. “I wish you’d had more faith in me, Jordan. I would have believed you. What happened to you after you left? Did you gethelp?”
Jordan shrugged. “Nothing interested me. I couldn’t eat. Sleep. I couldn’t stand the sound of my thoughts. Or being near people, Skins or Lupines. Stayed in the forest, Tristan, he helped. He came to me in the form of a wolf, cooked me game, otherwise I would havedied.”
He made a mental note to personally thank the Silver Wizard. “Jordan, there are no words. No words can make up for what my father did to you. Yeah, my brother, too, but more than that, my father. Craig should have stood up for you instead of dismissingyou.”
“Pack first, then family.” She scrubbed at her face. “Last comes me, the orphan dumped here by Tristan. Your family was forced to adoptme.”
“My father was responsible for your safety and welfare. Good alphas watch out for the pack’s young. My father took away your sense of fairness, your innocent outlook onlife.”
Nolan’s throat tightened. “Your safety and belief that the alpha would protectyou,
“I had big plans for us.” Another small, humorless laugh. “Bryce knew that you and I would get married and I’d have a higher ranking than him. That’s why he wanted to degrade me, humiliate me, show his power overme.”
“Bryce feared you. You gotaway.”
She shrugged. “Got away, but for six years, I’ve been trying to get my lifeback.”
“That’s why you didn’t want to have sex the traditional way,” he realized. “It reminded you of that night, what my bastard brother tried to do toyou.”
A huge intake of breath. “Yeah. It kind of ruined the mood for making our marriage and our matingpermanent.”
He’d deal with that later. Right now he was more focused on justice. “Who were the women? I need to know, need to make them pay for the crime theycommitted.”
Jordan shuffled her feet. “They sounded like Erica and Shirl, but I couldn’t becertain.”
Nolan growled deep in his throat. “I’ll question them. Myway.”
“I honestly can’t be certain. Go easy onthem.”
Cracking his knuckles, he nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll be easy as I need tobe.”
“Down, bigboy.”
He stroked a thumb along her tear-stained cheek. “It makes sense now, why you don’t like Shirl or Erica. I wish you could have confided in mesooner.”
“It’s done. Bryce is gone and so is yourfather.”
“But I’m here.” He took her into his arms, his insides knotted. “I promise you, pixie, I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again. No matter what. If another man even looks at your cross-eyed or dares to lay a hand on you, I’ll claw himapart.”
“Thanks for going all alpha on me, hon.” Jordan gave a lopsided grin. “Made me get my lady bonerback.”
Laughing, he looked down, staring at her mouth. “You willing to put that to the test, pixie? Want me to help you erase those painful memories and make new, betterones?”
Jordan nodded, her expression tightening a little. “Please.”
He kissed her, putting all his feelings into the act. Nolan kept kissing her, backing her toward the wall. Then he tore his mouthaway.
“I love you so much it hurts.” He stared into her eyes. “I’ll love you until my last dying day, Jordan. I’ve always loved you. Been no one else but you. The day you left, pieces of my heart shattered like glass. I tucked them away, figuring I’d never loveagain.”
She tunneled her trembling fingers through his thick hair. “The day I left here, it took everything to not turn around and run back to you. I was so afraid for you. Afraid Bryce would hurt you more than he hurt me. Afraid you would end up killing him if you knew what he did, and then your father would disown you. And you’d be lost, like me. I always dreamed of your love, of us being together. Times at night I’d lie beneath the stars and think of you, sharing the sky with me. It gave me a little comfort, push back the edge ofloneliness.”
“We were both lost,” he said solemnly. “But not anymore. We found each otheragain.”
