Even so, it wasn’t long enough to combat months of living with her father. She winced as the full effects of sleep deprivation seemed to strike all at once. She felt dizzy. Her throat ached. Her head throbbed, and the bottom of her chin stung as she swiped the hair from her face and tried to focus.
Think!
“No, I’m not going to calm down,” Officer McGoven shouted, derailing her fragile train of thought. His increasing agitation triggered a tendril of alarm that ran down her spine. His voice was too deep—more guttural than her father’s at his most furious. “Get the damn pack to take her in, then. Isn’t that what you do? Protect your own? Invite the outcasts into your loving,welcomingfamily? She needs more than sentiments and meaningless platitudes, Sonia. She needs help! Oh fuck, come here and see for yourself, then! Well,dosomething.”
Loren lurched to her feet, swaying to find her balance. Confused, she eyed her trembling legs as if they didn’t belong to her. In this moment…they didn’t seem to. It was like they moved on autopilot, driven by two words.Do something. In fact, every nerve in her body prickled as if waiting for another command.His.
But why?
“I didn’t ask for this,” he said a fraction softer, and some of the uncanny tension in her muscles eased up. “She’s not my damn problem. She’s not some burden to unload like baggage. You have a duty to her, the same as I do. Oh, of course, you must beg your precious Alpha first. Call me back with his decision, then. Fuck!”
Presumably, he hung up the phone, but heavy footsteps alluded to him pacing.With every passing second,his anger only seemed to increase, smoldering like wildfire. Loren suspected at least some of it was directed her way.
Though, she didn’t plan to stick around long enough to find out. The front door was visible from here, but her knees buckled as she staggered toward it, suddenly too weak to support her own weight. It seemed to take ages to reach the front door, but the second she did, the back of her neck prickled with awareness.
“Wait.”
Just like that, she froze as if rooted to the spot. Heavy footsteps advanced from behind her, preceded by a scent that puzzled her the second she breathed it in—pine?
“I’ll drive you home,” McGoven continued, sounding paces behind her now. “I need to speak to your father, anyway.”
Loren’s blood ran cold. Helpless, she turned to find him standing in the kitchen doorway. He had shed his jacket, revealing a black T-shirt with short sleeves that bared his forearms. She swallowed hard at the sight. He had more muscle than anyone she’d ever seen in person.
“You brought me here,” she croaked. Though it might have been far worse if he carried her home and her father witnessed. Still, she couldn’t fathom why he hadn’t. “Why? I’ll be late. I need to get back.”
He raised an eyebrow as if surprised by her line of questioning. “You seemed exhausted. I hope you don’t mind, but I thought you might prefer somewhere warmer than the barn.” The explanation seemed rehearsed, disguising his real reason for bringing her here.
Though she could have been paranoid. Rather than gratitude, a helpless jumble of words spilled from her throat the second she opened her mouth. “I can’t…I…why did you let me sleep? Why didn’t you wake me up? God, he’s going to—” She had enough sense to break off before finishing that sentence. “I have to go home.”
A task easier said than done—she couldn’t move, not even as terror welled like bile in her throat. Her own body wouldn’t obey the frantic commands her mind issued.
“I have to go home,” she croaked as if saying it out loud would somehow make her limbs move.
“I know.” McGoven’s expression didn’t betray a hint of emotion. “You don’t need to be afraid. I will drive you home.”
“No!” Frantically, Loren shook her head. “Please. I need to gonow.”
A strange note colored her voice. Like she was asking permission, but in a sense, it felt like she was. Something inside her seemed hung on his every word—compelled by them.
She couldn’t move unless he told her it was okay.
“It’s storming out,” he replied in an even tone. Gone was the volatile anger he displayed on the phone call. “You’ll catch your death if you walk home, and I’m not going to allow that to happen. You can wait for me out in the car. Go.”
Finally, she could move again, and she practically ran from the front door. The porch steps were already slick, but she descended them swiftly—but that was as far as her autonomy extended. She fully intended to run past the driveway and make a break for the woods, but she approached the squad car instead. A persistent mantra dominated her thoughts, impossible to ignore. Wait for him in the car.But why?
The further she ventured from the house, and the man inside it, the more confusing her obedience seemed.
What’s wrong with me?
It wasn’t like she wanted to listen. Maybe there was just something broken inside of her thatlikedbeing at someone else’s whim?
No, she thought as her hand reached for the passenger-side door. Without Officer McGoven in sight, the thought seemed stronger than before, resonating in her mind.
No.She couldn’t stay. Her father would kill her.
Wait for him. Wait for him in the car.
“NO!”Stumbling, Loren took another step—only this time toward the looming fields she could barely make out in the dark.No,she thought frantically as she took another step. And then, another. And another.