Chapter Seven #2
It was getting harder to push the words out when all she wanted to do was crawl into his arms and recapture the peace she’d found there.
Being with him had awakened instincts and emotions she’d never experienced before.
They’d simply have to go dormant once again.
She couldn’t afford to care about anyone but herself.
Not if she wanted to stay free and alive.
“Not without me,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “You hired me to do a job. I’m going to see it done.”
“You turned me down.”
“I’ve reconsidered.”
God, the man was stubborn. “I’m rescinding the offer. I won’t pay you a dime.”
He brushed a lock of hair away from her face, his touch gentle despite the fierce expression on his face. “I don’t want your money.”
“Then what do you want?”
Cyrus cleared his throat, reminding her of their rapt audience. “Let’s discuss this over breakfast.”
Eli shook his head. “She goes, I go. Nothing to discuss.”
“All in favor of helping Kinley?” Levi asked raising his hand. Zach looked from her to Eli and back again and put up his hand.
“I’m in.” Silas rapped his knuckles on the table. “You in, Noah?”
An enormous platter piled high with bacon and toast was set on the table. “I’m in. Let’s get this done. Breakfast is getting cold.” He went back to the kitchen for a bowl of scrambled eggs and another filled with hash browns.
“There’s no money in it,” Josiah began, “but I’m in.”
“Cyrus?” Eli stared at his brother. “What’s it going to be?”
Kinley held her breath, torn between doing the right thing by leaving and praying she could stay. The brothers might believe they all had an equal vote, but she wasn’t buying it. Cyrus was the oldest, for all intents and purposes the alpha, the one they turned to. In the end, the final say was his.
Cyrus kicked back in his chair, his hands clasped on his stomach.
Like the rest of them, he was dressed in jeans, boots, and a plain t-shirt.
He appeared relaxed, but she knew better.
As the oldest, he’d probably started their business to support his family.
Now she was threatening all he’d built. Yeah, he had every right to be pissed with her.
“You’d leave over a woman you just met?”
She couldn’t allow Eli to lose his family. “I’ll go. I don’t want to make problems.”
“You’re not the problem,” Eli stated, implying that his brother was.
“Stop it.” Ignoring the others, she took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.
Her bold audacity surprised her, but the desire to protect Eli and his brothers was strong.
Maybe because they’d been kinder to her than anyone ever had, other than her daddy.
“Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have a family who loves you, who want you safe?”
“With our job we’re never safe.”
She lightly shook his head from side to side, trying to shake some sense into him.
“Now you’re being difficult. Your brother wants to protect you.
” She scanned the room, taking in all of them.
So big, so strong, so much alike. They might call themselves the Seven Deadly Sins, but they were the most admirable men she’d ever met.
“Cyrus wants to protect all of you. You’ve kept yourselves isolated from the packs for a reason.” Whatever the motive, it had to be powerful. “If I stay here, there’ll be no avoiding bloodshed.” She licked her dry lips. “I won’t be the cause of that.”
Seven sets of eyes were filled with a range of emotions from pity and indifference all the way to respect. Eli was being torn between love of family and some sense of misplaced loyalty to her.
“Kinley.”
She pressed her fingers against Eli’s lips. “You know I’m right. I’ll forever be grateful for all you’ve done for me, but you have to let me go.” It would have been easier if she’d managed to escape last night, except then she wouldn’t have spent the night in his arms, something she’d never regret.
“I don’t want your gratitude.”
It was going to kill her to do this, but it was the right thing. “Then how about this, I don’t want you with me. It will be easier to disappear on my own.”
All expression vanished from his eyes, as if it had never existed.
She’d not only cut the connection between them, she’d ripped it out by the roots.
The pain was so bad she almost doubled over.
How had he come to mean so much to her in such a short time?
Was it because he was the only male wolf, besides her daddy, who’d ever genuinely cared about her?
Clinging to the edge of the table for support, she stood and nodded at Cyrus.
“Thank you for your hospitality.” The front entrance seemed miles away, each step harder than the last. Her wolf howled in pain, not wanting to leave the man who’d made her feel safe and wanted.
It was because she cared that she had to go.
The fine hairs on her body rose as silence enveloped her. None of them called out or tried to stop her. And why should they? She was a stranger who’d dropped into their lives bringing nothing but chaos and potential violence. They’d be happy to see the last of her.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away. It didn’t matter since they couldn’t see it and weren’t witness to her damn weakness. Hand on the handle, she tugged the door open, or tried to. It wouldn’t budge.
She closed her eyes and prayed for strength. Lost in her misery, she hadn’t heard him following, but Eli stood behind her with his hand on the door keeping it shut. He leaned down until his lips grazed her ear. “I told you, you’re not leaving without me,” he whispered.
“You can’t do this.” She rested her forehead against the wooden panel.
“I can.” He wasn’t touching her, but his body curved protectively around hers.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” It didn’t make any sense. “You don’t know me. Not really.”
“I know you’re willing to walk away, to go on the run on your own, and possibly sign your own death warrant rather than come between me and my brothers or risk their lives.”
He was making her out to be some kind of hero. Something she wasn’t. She was scared to the marrow of her bones, but that wasn’t the point. “This isn’t their fight. It’s not yours either. It’s mine.” It was selfish of her to involve them in her battle.
“It became mine when you walked into the bar. I noticed you, even though I was in the middle of the fight. Got sucker punched for that momentary lapse.”
She winced, remembering the hard blow he’d taken. That it was her fault was something else to feel guilty about. It could have been worse, would be worse if her former pack got involved. He wasn’t fighting a human this time, but predatory wolves.
“That’s physical attraction, pure and simple.
” It had to be. If it was more, she’d never be able to leave.
She was tired of being alone. Even when her daddy had been alive, he’d been gone more than he’d been home.
And she’d never been confident if he’d take her side or that of the pack.
It felt disloyal to think it, but it was the truth, and it hurt.
“It is.” His ready agreement made her heart ache.
“Then you know I’m right.” Why weren’t his brothers dragging him away?
“But it’s more than that. Holding you in my arms last night, watching you sleep, it filled a void in me I hadn’t realized existed. It was as if I was finally fulfilling the reason I was put here on this earth.”
Another tear rolled down her cheek and dripped off her chin. The beauty of his confession left her speechless.
Kinley sensed someone walking toward them. It didn’t take her heightened senses to know it was Cyrus. Not about to hide from him, she swiped her cheek against the shoulder of her borrowed shirt and turned to meet his gaze. Big and brash and none too happy, he pointed at her.
“I’m not about to lose a brother over this. You’re staying and that’s it.” Having said what he came to say, he sauntered back to the table. “Let’s eat.”
“You heard the man,” Eli wrapped his arm around her waist. “Let’s eat.”