Page 137 of Watch Me Burn
His eyes hold mine. “Yours. Every part of me is yours. The dark and the light.”
The words echo in my chest, finding resonance in places I didn’t know existed until he awakened them. Places where the veterinarian, who dedicates her life to healing, meets the woman who welcomed a masked killer into her bed. Places where compassion tangles with desire and where moral absolutes blur into shades of gray.
“I need time, Damien.” I repeat what I told him earlier. “To figure out who I am now. I’m not the same woman who almost shot you on her porch three months ago.”
He nods. Once. Sharp. But his face tells a different story.
Maren comes down the stairs with Shadow at her side, her expression still wary but less hostile. “I think the gabapentin is wearing off. I’m going to give him a little more before I take a look at that wound again. He’s still a bit agitated.”
“Thank you.”
He comes to me, and I crouch to hug him, rubbing my hand down his side, careful of his bandage. He rubs his head against my shoulder, his fur warm and soft, and tears well in my eyes. He saved me from Caleb tonight. Both he and Damien, but my wolf threw himself between me and an oncoming bullet, leaving me with an impossible feeling and gratitude.
I lift my eyes to look at Damien, and I know with absolute certainty that my other wolf would have done the same.
My attention shifts to Maren, who’s drilling holes in Damien with her stare.
“Thank you for this, Mar.”
She runs a hand through her curls. “When we’re done here, we’re breaking open that bottle of Fireball Ethan gave you at Christmas. We both need a drink, and you look like hell.”
“Thanks. You’re always so good for my ego.”
“That’s what friends are for.” She squeezes my arm, then turns and makes an “I’m watching you” gesture toward Damien several times, two fingers pointed at him, then at herself, before heading toward the door.
“Come on, Shadow.” She calls to him, and I stand up, urging him to go to her. On his way, he stops in front of Damien. He looks up, and when Damien offers his hand, Shadow lowers his head before bumping and licking his palm. A sign of trust between wolves and deference to an alpha.
Damien is no doubt an alpha, and Shadow always deferred to him, trusting him with me. Right from the start.
Maren and Shadow walk out the door, giving Cade a wide berth as they leave, but their eyes lock.
I nod toward them. “It seems I’m not the only one with questionable taste in older men.”
Damien follows my gaze, observing the charged interaction. “Cade is only fifty-five. The gray just makes him look older. You should see when he lets his beard grow in. But don’t let it fool you. He’s still quite capable.”
“Oh, I’ve seen what he’s capable of.”
As Maren walks away, Cade tracks her movement again. She glances back, catching him watching her. Her eyes narrow to dangerous slits, and her lip curls into a snarl, just enough to communicate exactly what she thinks of his interest. Cade meets her hostility without blinking, and his lips pull into a smile, subtle but unmistakable. The kind of expression that says he’s just found something interesting to hunt.
“Cade is going to get himself slapped.”
“Or something else entirely.”
“Is that a Wolfe Group hiring requirement?” I’m unable to keep the edge out of my voice. “Attraction to stubborn, troublesome women?”
Damien’s eyes soften as he looks at me. “Not troublesome. Extraordinary.”
The word catches me off guard, warming places inside me that I’ve been trying to keep cold and rational. I can’t afford to melt now, not when I need clarity more than ever.
Karen walks in, and Cade follows.
“Forensics is done for tonight. They may come back in the morning to do one last sweep, but what they found so far matches your version of events.” She looks at Damien, then Cade. “I would recommend staying local in case I have any more questions.
“I’m not leaving Luna’s side.”
I know he means it, but I have to get him out of here. I can’t deal with his hovering tonight.
As Karen walks out the door, Damien follows, moving to stand on the porch.
