The object of the oath I made in blood. My freedom in exchange for his.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My head spins. What I need to do right now is lock her up someplace while I make a call to my pack.
What I want to do is break all the rules. All the rules that have allowed me to escape the life I was born to.
When I glance up, she’s staring at me, trembling. “You know him, don’t you?” she says. She looks scared, but defiant, and yet again, I’m in awe of her guts. She’s not a reporter or a busybody, but a young girl who loves her mom, and will do anything to help her. Even throw herself on the mercies of the mean streets of Perdue.
I weigh my words carefully.
“Was he caught up in something?”
She gives a quick nod. “His father was killed a few years ago. And ever since then, Demetrius has had this obsession with avenging his death.”
I suppress a groan. In other words, my pack killed his father. But I’m not about to tell her that.
“He’s got this whole pack loyalty thing going on—” She claps a hand over her mouth. “I mean, family loyalty.”
I frown. “You didn’t know I’m a werewolf, too?”
Her eyes get bigger as she looks me up and down. “Y-yeah, I guess I did,” she stutters.
She didn’t, obviously, and now she looks a little freaked out.
Shit.Her reaction is a stab of pain in my gut.
I want to tell her that shifters are as loyal as hell. That I’d protect her with my last breath. I’ll even protect her from herself, if necessary. Because she’s brave, but she’s also real innocent. And she needs taking care of.
It’s too soon for all that, though.
I need to show her instead, get her used to my ways.
Meanwhile, I’ll remember how she was looking at me before she knew I was a wolf—lips parted and pupils dilated. Lovely tits rising and falling in time with her elevated breaths.
She wanted me, and when I’ve gotten to the bottom of her screwed-up family situation, I’ll make sure she’s desperate for me to claim her. Begging for me to take her virginity with my werewolf cock.
My phone rings. I slide it out of my back pocket.
It’s Meredith.
“Yes?” I bark. Last thing I need is to have her chewing my ear off about Maya.
“Forge, someone just came in the bar looking for that girl of yours.”
Shit.I close my eyes. “You sure it was her?”
“Yup. He had a photo. No mistaking those eyes.”
I slide a glance at Maya. She’s right. They’re as blue as the bluest ocean, and twice as deep.
“He say anything else?”
Meredith sighs. “He told me some sob story about her being a runaway, but I wasn’t buying it. I sent him packing, of course.”
“And what did he look like?”
“Oh… tall, dark, wolfy. And as mean as a snake. Big dagger tattoo on his shoulder.”