Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
ANGEL
Iwake to the marvelous sensation of being warm, truly warm, for the first time in…
damn, I don’t know how long it’s been. The humans never gave me clothes or even a blanket, which wasn’t a problem during the summer and fall, but it’s been an unusually cold October.
Maintaining my core temperature has drained my wolf more than the lack of food or exercise has.
My hand flies to my neck, feeling for the collar.
Gone. Shock and relief flood me as the memories of Garrett return.
I still can’t believe the collar’s gone, that I’m free.
All thanks to Garrett, the shifter who never gave up on me, even during a blizzard…
even when I snapped at him, scared that he’d die in these woods because of me.
Slowly, I take in my surroundings. Low light from a fire, cool air, a too-firm mattress beneath me, soft wool blankets… and an arm I don’t recognize draped over me. Large muscles, hair. Male.
I jump from the bed too fast and promptly lose my balance. But I never fall as strong hands wrap around my waist.
Instinctively, I fight the hold. In my panic, my breathing turns short and irregular, but a scent I’ve come to know and rely on breaches my defenses. Pine, clove, and a touch of nutmeg… Garrett. My sweet shifter.
“I’m sorry,” I cry as I lean into him.
He strokes my hair in a way that’s utterly perfect. I don’t want him to stop, but I’m also realizing I’m naked… as is he.
When I start to pull from his embrace, his brows furrow, but he doesn’t stop me.
“You’re safe, Angel. No one’s touched you, including me. We’re in a cabin, miles from the WSSO. They won’t find us here, but you need time to regain your strength before I take you home to your pack.”
“I have no pack,” I blurt out, burying my head against his chest.
This time, he doesn’t stroke my hair. He holds me, sharing his warmth, his strength. “You’ll be okay, Angel,” he whispers. “I’m sure your pack will welcome you back. We’ll explain to them why you’ve been gone, what the WSSO did to you. They’ll understand.”
He doesn’t understand. I force myself to look at him. “I’m not a lone wolf. Rather, I wasn’t when the WSSO captured me. They attacked my pack.” A wail escapes my lips. “No one’s left. They killed them all.”
He lowers me to the bed, wraps two blankets around me, then one around his waist before crouching at the fire and poking at the burning logs. I can imagine all the thoughts going through his head. This male has risked his life to save me, only to learn I’m a lone wolf.
But maybe he is too now? When I first saw him, he had his pack along. He returned for me… alone.
Maybe I struck a nerve and that’s why he’s withdrawing. I’ve had months to accept I have no pack to return to. He’s still adjusting.
“Will you… will you go with me?” I ask.
He pokes at the fire, sending embers into the chimney. “I have a pack. They’ll be expecting me back.”
I’m relieved… for him. “I’m glad to hear that. I thought… I mean, you rescued me by yourself...”
“My alpha and I had a disagreement.”
I don’t dare ask if I can come with him, especially if he’s fallen out of favor. Packs don’t take in lone wolves, not without good reason. And I’m a liability, given what I’ve done.
“I… understand. After the storm, I’ll find my way to a town.”
His head snaps up. “To live with humans? No.”
“No pack will take me. We both know that.”
“Mine will.”
“Yours?”
He feeds more kindling to the dying fire. “My alpha will give you a fair shot.”
“But you just said you fell out of favor with him.”
“I said disagreement. That’s not the same as falling out of favor. Damien can be hard-headed, but he’s fair enough. He’s taken in lone wolves before.”
“How very unusual. I doubt he’ll extend me the same courtesy given my… association with the WSSO.”
“There was no association.” He growls the last word. “You were their prisoner.”
“A prisoner, yes, but I’ve been baiting male shifters for the WSSO.”
A piece of kindling snaps in his hand. “That wasn’t your choice.”
“That doesn’t change that I did it.”
“Under duress, Angel.”
How do I tell him I’d given up resisting after only three weeks? That I broke so easily and did whatever the guards said, no matter how many wolves I lured into their traps?
Garrett kneels before me, that sweet, forgiving expression on his face.
“Hey…” He runs his hand down the length of my arm until he’s giving my hand a friendly squeeze.
“You have a lot to unpack. It’s going to take time.
You need to be someplace safe until you decide what to do long term. My pack won’t turn you away.”
What if the alpha doesn’t agree with his assessment of me? Or tries to turn him against me? Then I’ll truly have no one.
I shake my head. “I won’t harm your standing with your alpha.”
“Let me worry about that.”
My head snaps up. “Why, because I’m female and can’t fight like a male?”
His arm drops to his side. “I never said that. Wasn’t even thinking it.”
“I don’t belong to you, just like I didn’t belong to the humans who took me. We barely know each other. You don’t even know my last name, do you?” I’m not sure why I’m going on the attack. Maybe because I haven’t been able to do anything to help myself all these months.
I hate how he shakes his head, dumbstruck, as if he’s afraid whatever he says will be wrong. It will be, because I’m too messed up to let anything be right. Not with him, this situation… not with myself.
Looking away to wipe the tears before he sees them does little to calm me. “I’m a fucking coward,” I whisper, not sure if Garrett can hear me, or even if I want him to.
A purr echoes through the room, and I look up, to see his wolf standing in front of me. I guess it was easier for him to retreat into his wolf than deal with me. I can’t blame him.
I’d do the same if it wasn’t so damn hard to shift. And we still have days ahead of us in these mountains. This might be the last chance we really have to rest, which is why I need to shut my trap and do just that.
I throw myself onto the bed, turning my back on Garrett’s wolf.
He circles the cabin twice, sniffing at the door and windows before settling beside the fire.
He’s still protecting me, despite how cruel I’m being.
That makes me cry again, only this time, I do so in silence.
I don’t want to be any more of a burden to him than I already am.