Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
E mery
I believe you’re one too.
This man…wolf…shifter.
Whatever he is, has obviously lost his mind. What he said to me in that diner bathroom makes absolutely no sense.
I would know if I were a wolf shifter, I think.
Yet, when I turn to him from the passenger seat of his truck to tell him as much, the words don’t come out. My attempt to tell him he’s mistaken, fails just like my previous five tries.
Clearly, it wouldn’t make any sense to tell him that I believe he’s completely and utterly wrong about who and what I am, when I did agree to get in his truck and leave with him.
Apparently, he’s not from Florida. He and his pack…he belongs to a pack!
They live in New Mexico.
I would’ve caught that if I simply looked at the license plate of his truck.
I swallow as I remember what he said that somehow convinced me to agree to go with him.
I won’t hurt you, Emery. I swear it on my life. But you’re not safe here. I believe whoever had something to do with your sister’s disappearance, sent those two wolves after you as well.
My sister’s disappearance.
The words bring tears to my eyes. Could those two wolves have known something about Ashley?
A chill runs down my spine and without thought, I glance over my shoulder toward the bed of Chance’s truck.
“He can’t hurt you.” Chance’s deep words startle me.
It takes a beat for me to realize he’s referring to the injured wolf he tied up and put in the bed of his truck. I’m not the only person Chance is taking back to his pack.
He said he needed more time to question this wolf once it shifts back to its human form. Yet, the dark look in his eyes when he said this had me wondering the exact manner of questioning he planned for this guy.
“What?” I push out before shaking my head. “Oh no. I wasn’t thinking that.”
I pivot my body so that I’m facing Chance fully, with my back slightly pressed against the passenger seat door.
“Do you think they did something to my sister?” I wave my hand vaguely in the direction of his truck bed.
Chance remains silent for too long. He glances at me and blinks.
“Do you?” I repeat.
The skin on his forehead wrinkles. “Do I what?”
It’s as if he didn’t even hear me. He must be concentrating intently on getting back to New Mexico.
I ask the question again.
His lips pinch. I don’t know this man well enough, having met him slightly less than twenty-four hours ago.
However, I get the sense that when he compresses his lips in that way, he’s either withholding something or preparing himself to tell me something he would prefer not to.
My heart sinks.
“We don’t know anything yet.” There’s a heaviness in his words, but it feels as if he’s trying to be encouraging.
I study his profile. Again, taking in his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and bulging biceps that the T-shirt he’s now wearing does very little to mask. When my gaze drops to his forearm, I gasp.
“You’re hurt,” I say. How did I miss the large gash on his right arm?
That’s when it hits me that he actually was in a fight with two wolves.
Protecting me.
For the second time in less than a day, he’s risked injury to himself to protect me.
You can trust him.
Ms. Cynthia’s words come back to me again. Was she right? Wait, was she a wolf shifter too?
I shake my head and focus on his injured arm.
It’s not bleeding profusely or anything but it looks like it hurts. And there is some bleeding.
I look around in search of something. I pull open the glove compartment, but there’s nothing in there but the truck’s manual.
I reach in the back and grab for my suitcase. I pull out the package of tissues I always keep in there.
Chance flinches and looks over at me when I press one of the tissues to the side of his wound.
“I’m sorry,” I say but continue to wipe the wound clean. “I don’t have any wound ointment or antiseptic to put on this. Maybe we should stop at a pharmacy.”
“I’m fine,” he replies before pulling his arm away.
“You’re not fine. That looks like a nasty gash.”
“We heal quickly,” he says.
I want to ask him what that means, but then it strikes me. Ashley used to love to read fantasy stories, and shifter romances when we were teens. She still does. I remember from what she used to tell me about those stories that shifters are supposed to have quick healing abilities.
“We should still wrap this up,” I tell him. The truth is I’m feeling helpless and in need of something to do. Some way I can be a benefit to someone, at the moment.
Though there’s not much that can be done. The questions in my head continue to mount. A reminder that the answers I came to Florida seeking, have not only not been answered, but I’m leaving this state with more questions than I can put into words.
Most importantly, I don’t have the slightest idea of where my sister is.
That thought prompts me to grab on to Chance’s shoulder firmly.
He peers over at me with a questioning furrow in his brow.
“You have to help me find my sister,” I say with urgency. “I agreed to go with you to New Mexico because you said I wasn’t safe. I-I trust you…” I trail off as emotion clogs my throat.
“I don’t know what’s going on, or how to make sense of what I saw back at that diner, but there’s something inside of me that wants to believe you. Something that needs to believe in you.”
I swallow.
“Just please, help me find Ashley.” Though I try to fight it, a tear manages to slip down my cheek.
I inhale sharply when Chance abruptly stops the truck in the middle of the lane on the very long stretch of road. For a second I think about the cars that must be behind us, but that concern quickly passes. There’s no one but us on this backwoods road.
Among the sea of racing thoughts and unanswered questions, a warmth that I’ve never known until recently envelops me.
It’s Chance.
His massive hands cup my face.
He doesn’t pull me to him, or hug me. He just stares down at me, his eyes scanning my face. One of his rough thumbs runs across the top of my cheek, wiping another tear away.
Another chill runs through my body.
An odd sensation takes place in the bit of my stomach. It’s more than mere physical attraction. The butterflies that come with that type of attraction are there as well, yes.
But this is different. It feels like there’s something that’s starting to unfurl within the core of my belly.
“I will help you find your sister,” Chance finally says. His gaze locks on mine, preventing me from looking away.
I let out a long, steadying breath.
At this point, I don’t even find it surprising that I believe him.
If Chance says he’ll help me find my sister, then that’s what he’ll do.
Instead of responding verbally, I do something extremely out of character. I tilt my head into one of his palms and run my cheek against it.
A humming sound penetrates the inside of the truck and I blink open my eyes, realizing that the murmuring is coming from me.
I pull away from Chance’s hold before nodding.
“Thank you.” The words come out hoarse as I force myself to look straight ahead at the road.
Seconds later, we’re moving again. But to where and to what, I’m not sure.