CHAPTER NINE
A few days later, Gwen stood at the reception desk, writing down all the cancellations she’d made—it seemed smart not to have innocent people around if the Moores were going to cause more shit. Concentrating on what she was doing would have been a lot easier if she hadn’t had a hard body curled around her from behind while Zander nuzzled her neck.
A hand snaked under her shirt and settled on her stomach, warm and possessive, and she sighed. “What are you doing?”
Zander traced a circle on her skin with his thumb. “Touching you.”
She jerked a little as he nipped her nape. “Well, you can’t.”
“Already did,” he rumbled. “Touched you. Tasted you. Fucked you. Multiple times. And I’m gonna do it again.”
“I meant, you can’t do it right here. Don’t growl at me, Devlin.” But she was chuckling. “The new guests should be arriving any minute now.” They would be their last guests until after the hearing. “I don’t look very professional with you caging me against the desk.”
“But it’s fun.”
She snorted, turning to face him as he stepped back. “Fun? You didn’t have a hard cock trying to jam itself between your ass cheeks.”
“It was one way to stop you ignoring me. Were my questions really bothering you?”
“Bothering me?” Gwen waved a hand. “No. I stopped listening a while ago.”
A throaty chuckle was followed by the appearance of Bracken, who strolled out of the kitchen and leaned against the desk. “I like that you don’t make things easy for him. He’s too used to having his own way.” Zander flipped him off, but Bracken just grinned and added, “On another subject, Gwen, have you heard anything from Andie?”
“Not yet. Hopefully we will soon.” She sighed. “I’ve decided to go with her and check out the shelter. Then, if she doesn’t like it, I can bring her back home. If she knows she has that option and has someone with her who she trusts, she’s more likely to be open to the idea of staying there.” As Zander clenched his jaw, Gwen cocked her head. “You don’t want me going to the shelter, do you?”
Zander hooked his finger in the belt loop of her shorts and tugged her to him. “I intended to stay here with you while Bracken took her.”
“Why? Do the people at the shelter have something against humans?”
“Anti-shifter humans, yes. People like you, no.”
“Then what’s the issue?” But she could guess. “You said your pack is closely allied with Makenna’s. If she sees the mark you left on my neck, she’ll tell your other pack mates, won’t she? You don’t want them to know about it.”
Bracken grinned at Zander. “Must be hard dealing with a female who can read you like a book.”
Zander ignored him. “No, I don’t want them to know about the bite. Not because you’re a dirty secret or something. It’s because my Alpha, Nick, might not like that I’m involved with someone I’m protecting.”
“He’ll worry that you’ll ignore his orders for me.” Gwen understood. “I’ll cover the bite with makeup . . . What’s with the growling? It’s a perfect solution.”
Still grinning, Bracken explained, “He wants you to wear his mark with pride, not hide it. It’s a shifter thing.”
It was a pride thing, in Gwen’s opinion.
Bracken’s head tipped to one side. “A car’s coming.” He stalked to the door and opened it wide, looking all intimidating as he filled the doorway. “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
Gwen tensed despite the note of amusement in Bracken’s voice. “What? What is it?” But Bracken loped outside.
Zander crossed to the door. His jaw hardened as a familiar vehicle pulled up outside. “Whose name is the next reservation in?”
“Derren Hudson. Why?” He cursed, and Gwen added, “I take it you know him.”
“Oh yeah, we know him.” And there would be no way that Zander could hide his involvement with Gwen from the couple currently exiting their SUV. Not when Gwen’s mark was clear to see and her scent was all over him.
Gwen stayed behind the desk as Bracken entered with a dark-haired couple behind him. More shifters, she sensed as they exchanged greetings with Zander, who then turned to her.
“Gwen, this is Ally and Derren. They’re the Betas of my pack.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Gwen.” Ally moved to the desk, emerald eyes gleaming. “So, is your B&B haunted?”
Zander sighed. “Of course it’s not.” Even if the place was sometimes chilly and eerie, and even if sometimes things happened that he couldn’t explain.
Gwen blinked at him. “You don’t think it is? Huh.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean, huh?”
She shrugged. “I just didn’t think you were the kind of guy who blinded himself to the obvious. It’s okay. Lots of people only see what they want to see.”
Zander’s frown deepened. “I don’t blind myself to anything.”
“So nothing at all has happened here that’s spooked you?” He didn’t answer, and Gwen smiled. “Thought as much.” She turned back to the Beta pair only to realize that they were both staring at the mark on her neck. Busted. Before they could comment on it, she checked them in and slid their key across the desk.
“What floor are they on?” Zander asked.
“Same floor as you.”
“I’ll show them the way.”
Gwen was totally fine with that. “Okay.” She cast the Betas another smile. “There’s a Welcome Hamper and leaflets with all you need to know in your room—Zander will fill you in. Hope you enjoy your stay.”
Ally’s mouth curled. “Thanks.”
Derren looked at Gwen, eyes narrowed, jaw hard. But at Ally’s urging, he followed Zander and Bracken up the stairs.
Blowing out a breath, Gwen turned back to the desk.
As the four of them gathered in Ally and Derren’s room, Zander folded his arms. “So, why are you here?” He sincerely doubted that Nick sent them as backup, given things had so far been uneventful.
“A couple of reasons,” said Derren. “Someone made an anonymous call to the police to say that Harley sells drugs at the club to humans. Even though it’s a club exclusive to shifters and all shifter territory is beyond their jurisdiction, the police turned up anyway. Nothing came of it, but it was a pain in the ass. Our guess is that the anonymous caller was Rory.”
His brother was such a fucking asshole. “You could have told me this on the phone. What’s your other reason for coming here?”
“Nick wanted us to check on you.”
Zander slid a brief look at Ally, who was sitting on the bed, looking awkward. “You mean he wanted Ally to get a read on Gwen.”
Derren’s brow arched. “I’d be surprised by how much that seems to piss you off if her scent wasn’t all over you, and I hadn’t seen that brand on her neck. At what point were you going to mention that you’re involved with the human?”
At no point, really. “There’s no need. It’s my personal business. It doesn’t affect the pack.”
Derren sighed. “Look, I appreciate what the human is doing for the cougar. I respect it. And, yeah, where you choose to dip your dick is your own business. But there are things you don’t know.”
It wasn’t just Derren’s words that made his hackles rise. There was something in the Beta’s tone that told Zander he really wasn’t going to like this. “What does that mean?”
“I asked Donovan to do some checking on Gwen. If you and Bracken were going to spend time out of your lives protecting her, I wanted to be sure she was on the level. Has she ever spoken to you about her parents?”
“I know her stepfather is a drunk who abused her mother.”
“Fucker,” muttered Bracken, who was leaning against the wall.
“He is a fucker,” agreed Derren. “And apparently the woman’s a glutton for punishment because they’re still together, and he still beats her ass. She’s a stripper. The strip bar is owned by Kenny Cogman, a seedy bastard who’s a drug dealer and a big sponsor of the extremists.”
Yeah, Zander had heard of him.
“Cogman likes to sample his employees. Zander, he’s Gwen’s fucking father.”
Everything in Zander stilled. “You’re sure of that?”
“His name’s not on her birth certificate—the father’s name came up blank. But it’s pretty much common knowledge down there that he’s her father. He has the same big Prussian-blue eyes that your human down there has.”
Gut clenching, Zander silently cursed. Should he feel betrayed that she’d kept it from him? Probably not. He wasn’t an open book either, and it wasn’t likely to be something she was proud to share—especially with a shifter. Still, that sense of betrayal beat at him.
Bracken spoke. “It’s not a point against Gwen, Derren. She doesn’t use his name. She clearly doesn’t think like him or she wouldn’t be helping the cougar.”
The Beta shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Are she and Cogman in contact with one another?” Bracken asked.
“From what Donovan gathered, no,” replied Derren. “But she’s in contact with Cogman’s other daughter. If you’ve heard of him, you’ll have heard of Geena.”
Zander had heard of her. Heard that she was stone fucking cold and even more ruthless than her father.
“Geena plays a major role in the family business,” Derren added, upper lip curling.
“That doesn’t mean Gwen plays any part in it,” said Zander.
Derren sighed, impatient. “Zander, Geena Cogman is not someone who’d give a shit about a half sister and be sure to stay in contact with her for any warm, fuzzy reasons. If they’re in contact, it’s for business reasons only.”
Face hard, Bracken asked, “How often are they in contact?”
“On a monthly basis.” Derren turned back to Zander. “Nick sent us here to get a feel for her. He’s worried that your feelings about what happened to Shelby are coloring your reading of Gwen. Given that you’ve marked her, he was obviously right that something’s coloring it.”
Bristling at that, Zander took a step toward Derren. In a flash, Ally was between them.
“Now hang on a minute.” Planting a hand on Derren’s chest, she said, “I picked up no disgust or prejudice from Gwen. She was a little nervous, but that’s it. I didn’t get any bad vibes from her, and my wolf didn’t pick up anything either. As such, I think we can safely say she’s not anti-shifter.” Ally turned to Zander. “I realize that Derren’s coming across as an asshole right now. Admittedly, he does that a lot. The point he’s trying to make is that you don’t know Gwen, so we should be careful here.”
By his own admission, Zander was a jaded bastard with serious trust issues. Although he couldn’t deny that he didn’t know her well, everything he did know about Gwen Miller told him that she was nothing like her father or half sister. Of course, that distrustful part of him wondered if he was wrong, wondered if the reason his wolf was wary of her was that he’d sensed a prejudice that Zander himself had failed to see. But his gut instantly dismissed that theory.
“I’m not saying she’s anti-shifter,” said Derren. “I’m saying that there’s a very strong possibility that she’s into illegal shit, and I have a lot of reservations about you getting involved with her. When it comes to my pack, I don’t take chances. Hearing you’re involved with the daughter of Kenny Cogman . . . I don’t like it.”
“With all due respect, Derren, you don’t have to like it.”
Derren arched a brow. “So that’s the way it is? Now, see, that’s what I was afraid of.”
Zander’s jaw clenched. “Not going to argue with you about this, Derren. Leave it alone. When I want your approval about who I have in my bed, I’ll let you know.”
The Beta snorted. “Don’t be an ass, Zander. I had a point. I made it. You want to ignore it? That’s your call—you’re a grown fucking man. But it’s not like you to give people the benefit of the doubt, which makes me think that either you’re in deep with this human or you have a blind spot here because you’re mixing Shelby’s situation with this one. Whatever it is, be careful . . . because both those scenarios could bite you on the ass.”
Gwen hadn’t heard him coming. Even as she sat on the wooden swing hanging from the tree, surrounded by only the evening quiet of the marsh, she hadn’t heard him stride down the boardwalk. It was truly eerie.
Still, she sensed she wasn’t alone and opened her eyes to see him standing beside the swing. His face was in shadow, but she somehow got the feeling that he was frowning.
She hadn’t seen him since she’d checked his pack mates into their room earlier that day. From what she could tell, he’d spent the entire day with them—exploring the marsh, showing them the borders of the land, going on a pack run.
He’d then gone to a local restaurant with them for dinner—something she’d discovered from Marlon, since Zander hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye. Marlon was unhappy with Zander for not inviting her to join them. As she’d already planned to go with Yvonne to Julie’s house, Gwen would have declined anyway. Still, Marlon felt his behavior was rude. For Gwen, ducking her was rude.
She refused to acknowledge that she’d actually missed him a little—apparently, she’d gotten too used to him being around her all the time. Gwen raised a brow. “So . . . are you done pettily avoiding me for a reason you haven’t cared to share with the class?”
Zander’s jaw hardened. Had he been avoiding her? Yeah. He’d needed time to think shit through and to work it all out in his head. So many things made no sense, and the only person who could really make him understand was Gwen. “You ever seen your birth certificate?”
Stilling the swing with her foot, Gwen blinked. He could be so damn random at times, and she didn’t see where he was going with this. “Of course. I have a copy.”
“So, you know that your father’s name isn’t on it.” A muscle in his cheek ticked. “But you know who he is, don’t you?”
It wasn’t so much a question as it was a dare for Gwen to deny it, to lie to him. And if he thought she’d have reason to lie about it, he obviously knew the truth . . . which meant he’d done a thorough background check on her. She figured she should have expected that. There was no reason for him or his pack mates to trust her. Still, it stung. What hurt worse was his stiff behavior and curt voice. “Now you think that I, what, work with Kenny Cogman?” She’d tried to keep her tone even but failed by a mile.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was your father?”
The note of betrayal in his tone made her spine lock. “Oh, I’m sorry, have you told me everything about you?”
“I spoke to you about my family,” Zander pointed out. “I told you more than I’ve told most people.”
Okay, well, that sort of caught her off guard. “Kenny isn’t my family. I don’t even consider Hanna my family. I haven’t seen her since the social worker took me away when I was eight.” And Gwen had absolutely no issue with that. “Kenny’s sperm had fun with Hanna’s eggs—that’s the extent of his role in my life.”
Yeah, thought Zander, but Kenny wasn’t completely out of her life if she was linked to him through her half sister. “Do you consider Geena family?”
Gwen stiffened. She wasn’t touching that one. The subject of Geena was off-limits.
“We know you’re in contact with her.”
Then they’d certainly run an extensive search. “If by that you mean you had someone check my phone records, you and your pack are creepy motherfuckers because that is going way too far.”
“Given how different you are from Geena, given that you actually have a fucking conscience, I fail to understand why you’re in contact with her.”
Well, given he and his pack had invaded her privacy in such a way, Gwen failed to understand why he thought she’d tell him shit. “Look, if I wanted your opinion on everything, I’d have married you, okay.” She held up her hand when he went to speak. “Climb back out of my ass, Zander. My business is exactly that—mine.”
His fists clenched. “She’s as bad as Kenny. Worse in some ways. Why would you have anything to do with someone like that? Make me understand, Gwen, because I don’t fucking get it.”
“I don’t need you to get it.” Gwen rose from the swing. “And I don’t have to explain or justify myself to you—and definitely not to your nosy-ass pack. I’ve got an idea. If you have such a problem with me and what I do with my life, get the fuck out of it and go back to California.”
“Is that what you want?” he clipped. “For me to leave?”
No, she didn’t. Nonetheless . . . “Tell me something, Zander. If I did a background search on you that totally invaded every inch of your life and then I expected you to explain your choices, would you actually care to do that?”
He sighed. “Gwen—”
“Would you want me around, knowing I have so little respect for your privacy?”
“I wasn’t the one who ordered the background search, Gwen. No one did it to hurt you—my pack’s intention was to be sure that Bracken and I knew everything we needed to know. They did it out of concern for our safety.”
“But you didn’t need to know all of that, Zander. And I sure as hell don’t need to defend any of it. You don’t like that? Go Yahoo, Who gives a rat’s ass? I can promise you won’t find my name.” She turned to march down the boardwalk, but a hand pulled her up short.
“We’re not fucking done,” he growled.
She pulled her arm free. “Don’t fucking curse at me, Devlin, I’m not in the goddamn mood for this fucking shit. And we’re so done.” Hearing the front door slam shut, Gwen looked to see Ally rushing off the porch.
“Ally, wait!” Derren called out, hot on her heels with Bracken right behind him.
Zander prowled toward them, abruptly alert, as their footsteps thundered along the boardwalk. “What’s going on?”
“Get her in the house!” Ally shouted, urgency in every syllable. “She’s not—”
The breath left Gwen’s lungs as something heavy crashed into her back, knocking her down. Fire blazed along her shoulder blades as razor-sharp knives stabbed and tore through her skin like butter. Not knives, she numbly realized as a short, shrill shriek split the air. Talons.
Even with pain beating at her back, she tried to get up. However, she only managed to roll onto her side as, in a mad rustle of wings, a flock of large birds descended on her. Glaring at her through deep red eyes, they shrieked and bit and raked their talons, leaving trails of white-hot pain in their wake. She kicked her legs and swiped out at them, but they were too damn heavy to move. It all happened within seconds.
There was a loud, guttural roar. Then something larger jumped into the fray. And something else. And something else. Shrieks of alarm and pain mingled with furious growls and snarls. Unable to move, Gwen stayed curled up in a protective ball as a fight literally went on around and above her.
Suddenly the birds were gone in another rustle of feathers, and she heard the click of claws as the wolves gave chase.
“Gwen?” said Ally, shakily, as she dropped to her knees at Gwen’s side.
She lifted her head, and there was a large wolf, his fur a mix of brown and gray. “Zander?” The wolf snarled, golden eyes hard and . . . distrustful. More pain tore through her, but it was emotional pain this time. The wolf raced off in the direction the other wolves had headed.
“Gwen,” Ally repeated, “can you stand? We need to get you inside.”
With Ally’s help, Gwen rose to her feet. For a long moment, she stood still—baffled, speechless. Then the blazing pain from her wounds really kicked in, and she snapped right out of her shocked state. Noticing two gray birds lying dead on the boardwalk, she blinked. “Shit, what the fuck?” She touched her throbbing cheek, felt something warm and wet.
“Inside,” said Ally, gently drawing Gwen along the boardwalk. Ally led her into the house and through to the living area. The lights flickered, and doors banged shut all over the house. Ally’s brows almost hit her hairline. “I don’t think the ghosts like that you’re hurt. I’d ask you to lie on your back, but I think it would hurt like a bitch. Just sit on the floor for me.”
Gwen did so. “What are you going to do?”
The Seer fell to her knees at her side. “Sorry if this hurts.” She rested her hands over a wound on Gwen’s back.
Gwen flinched, hissing in pain, but otherwise remained still. Soft, preternatural energy flowed through her like warm syrup, soothing and healing. If she wasn’t having her own personal crisis in her head, she’d have been utterly absorbed by what she was feeling. It was one thing to know that some shifters could heal, and a whole other thing to experience it.
At that moment, Marlon came rushing into the room. “I heard all the—” His eyes bulged. “What. The. Hell?”
“Marlon, get over here and hold Gwen’s hand.”
Marlon did so, demanding, “Will someone please tell me who the hell did this to you? Was it Brandt? I will seriously shoot the little bastard myself if—”
“It was a flock of birds,” said Gwen, tone flat. “Big birds with red eyes.” Initially, she’d been numb with shock, unable to properly process what happened. But the shock had given way to a controlled anger that left her able to think more clearly. “Shifters.”
“Shifters?” echoed Marlon, incredulous. “That’s—” Noticing that Gwen’s wounds were healing, Marlon said, “Wow.”
“Yes, shifters,” Ally said to Gwen with a sad sigh. “It’s shifters like those birds who give our kind a bad rep and make humans distrust us.” After a few moments, she sat back on her heels and puffed out a long breath. “You may feel a little drowsy, but I doubt you’ll lose consciousness.”
Yeah, “drowsy” was a good word. Gwen’s body felt limp and featherlight, like she could happily doze off. She probed the area where she’d had a long rake mark on her arm, surprised to find it wasn’t even tender.
Marlon frowned at Ally’s pasty face. “You don’t look too good yourself. Stay there, I’ll be right back.”
Gwen sat on the sofa, her movements sluggish. She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Thanks for healing me.”
“How do you feel?” Ally asked.
Gwen snorted. “Like I was attacked by a flock of birds. You came running outside as if you knew something was wrong. Did you?”
“I’m a Seer. I had a vision that you were attacked by goshawks.”
“Goshawks?” Gwen shook her head. “I’ve seen goshawks. They’re big, and some of them have red eyes, sure, but they’re not that big.”
“Shifters’ birds are often much bigger than their avian counterparts. Our pack had a run-in with harpy eagle shifters not so long ago. That was bad. One struck Zander hard from behind, barely missing the back of his neck—that move might well have killed him. Another actually tried to carry him off; it probably would have carried him high and then dropped him.”
Gwen’s chest tightened. She was pissed at him, but that didn’t mean she was okay with hearing he could have been seriously hurt or killed.
Marlon reappeared and handed both Gwen and Ally a bottle of water and a granola bar. “Here. Now, tell me exactly what happened.”
Gwen gave him a nod of thanks and unscrewed the lid of the bottle. “They just came out of nowhere. Zander, Derren, and Bracken shifted and attacked them while I pretty much lay there, unable to do a fucking thing. Ally thinks they were goshawks.”
Marlon swore. “The Moores will be behind this.”
“I should have expected Ezra to hire shifters to hurt me.” Gwen sipped her water. “No one would suspect him of that.”
“Bastard,” Marlon spat. He shot Ally a weak but grateful smile. “Thank God you were here.”
Gwen sighed down at her ruined, bloody clothes. “I really liked this shirt. Yvonne bought it for me. I’m so glad she decided to stay at Julie’s for the night. This would have sent her in a blind panic.”
Frantic footsteps were quickly followed by the door bursting open and Andie dashing into the room, breathing hard. “I saw the wolves running around like their asses were on fire.” She noticed the blood on Gwen’s torn clothes, and her eyes flashed cat.
“I’m okay. Ally healed me.”
Andie carefully eyed the she-wolf, who was munching on her granola bar.
“I’m no threat to you,” said Ally. “I’m one of Zander and Bracken’s pack mates.”
Looking a little mollified, Andie shifted her focus back to Gwen. “Did Brandt come back? Was it one of the Moores?”
“In a sense.” Gwen explained what had happened, leaving Andie gaping at her.
“God, I really hate that family.” Andie nostrils flared. “I think I smell fire.”
Marlon cleared his throat. “That happens sometimes. We’ll smell things like perfume or smoke or aftershave. Blame the ghosts.”
Looking fascinated, Ally went to speak. But then her head tilted. “Sounds like the boys are back.”
Silently, Derren entered first, scratches on his face. “They got away,” he bit out. “We followed them as far as we could, but . . . well, we can’t fucking fly.”
“At least we killed two of them before the others flew off,” said Bracken. “We dumped the bodies in the river.”
Zander stalked inside and made a beeline for Gwen, neck corded, nostrils flaring. Fury was stamped into every line of his face. A frisson of fear trailed down her spine.
“She’s fully healed,” Ally reassured him.
Zander sank onto the sofa and drew Gwen onto his lap, holding her tight against him. He breathed her in, using her scent to calm him. But the scent of her blood was still strong in the air, thanks to the stains on her clothes and skin, and it was hard to regain his composure.
He wanted to punch and bite and claw and mangle and kill, but most of the bastards had gotten away. He needed to see them pay, needed to tear them apart, needed the smell of their blood to replace the smell of Gwen’s.
He ground his teeth until his jaw ached. There was a tightness in his chest—unfamiliar and insidious, leaving him with a thick ache in his throat. He could see that she was trying to relax against him, but she couldn’t stop the delicate tremble that ran through her limbs. Couldn’t erase that her face was pale or that her eyes were wide and glassy.
Adrenaline still coursed through him, making it even harder for him to cool his anger. If she was close, if he could scent and feel her, just maybe he’d get through the night without losing his mind.
Gwen squirmed. “You can let go. I’m fine and—”
A growl rattled his chest. “Shut up and let me hold you.”
She pinched him, but the big bastard didn’t even flinch. “I don’t need your attitude right now, Devlin.” But she didn’t push him away, because she sensed he was on edge. She was still pissed at him for earlier. In fact, she was pissed at the other three wolves in the room too—they had no right to invade her privacy. But since one had healed her and the others had just risked themselves to hunt a flock of bird shifters who’d attacked her, she couldn’t really complain right then.
“Why can I smell burning?” asked Bracken.
Marlon quickly explained, only to receive skeptical looks from Bracken and Derren.
“The birds were goshawks, weren’t they?” said Ally.
“Big-ass goshawks,” said Derren. “Most flocks of their species are available for hire.” The light flickered, and he tensed as he glanced up at it. “There aren’t many of the flocks around these parts. We’ll find out which one it was, and they’ll pay one way or another.”
Gwen twisted as much as Zander’s grip would allow so she could look at Andie. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you could be next. If you’re not going to go to the shelter, at least move in here. You’d be safe inside the walls.”
Andie bit her lip. “About the shelter . . . I was thinking that maybe it might not be such a bad idea to check it out. I’m just a little worried that it’s not even real. It’s hard to believe a place like that exists.”
“It exists,” Ally assured her. “I think it would be a good place for you.”
“I could go with you to see it,” Gwen offered. “If you don’t like it or you feel it won’t work for you, we’ll come right back here.”
Zander didn’t argue. It would be good for Gwen to get away from Oregon, even if only for a day. He was no longer concerned about trying to hide his involvement with her from his pack, beyond caring whether they would approve of it. Human or not, Kenny Cogman’s daughter or not, she was his. Since Ally and Derren already knew, it was likely that they’d told Nick anyway, so it made no difference if Gwen stayed behind.
“We can take you there as soon as tomorrow,” Bracken told the cougar. “In my opinion, the sooner you leave, the better.”
Andie took a long breath. “I’ll go and check it out tomorrow, but I want Gwen to come.”
“That’s fine,” said Bracken. “We’ll leave in the morning. I really think you should stay here tonight, just to be on the safe side.”
After a long moment, Andie nodded. “I’ll go pack my stuff in the morning, just in case I decide to stay at the shelter.”
Relieved, Gwen smiled. “The only guests we have at the moment are Ally and Derren. There are plenty of free rooms—take your pick.”
“Marlon can help her find a room.” Zander stood, cradling Gwen against him. “You need rest.”
“I’m just a little drowsy—Ally said it’s normal.”
Ignoring that, Zander carried her out of the room and up the stairs. He heard Donnie enter the house, but he kept walking. The others would reassure Donnie that Gwen was fine and explain what happened. She needed peace and quiet and rest. And he needed to be alone with her.
Zander never resorted to panic. He was always the practical voice of reason in a dangerous situation. But as they’d stood on that boardwalk and he’d seen those birds descend on her and he’d smelled her blood, he’d sure as fuck panicked. That panic hadn’t yet left him; it still slithered through him, tormenting him. She was really the only thing keeping him from losing his shit, and he doubted she even knew it.
Inside her room, Gwen squirmed. “Put me down. I can walk on my own steam.”
“Don’t, Gwen,” he clipped. “Just let me have my way right now.”
Gwen sighed inwardly, not really sure what to do with him. She’d never seen him this way before—edgy, vibrating with suppressed anger. So Gwen didn’t say a word as he took her into the en suite bathroom, where he gently set her down and stripped off their clothes. She didn’t say a word as he opened the frosted glass door of the shower stall and ushered her inside. Still silent, she shampooed her hair as he soaped her down, careful to wash away every bit of dried blood from her skin, utterly focused on his task.
When they stepped out of the shower and he wrapped a lush towel around her, she said, “Your wolf doesn’t like me, huh?”
He blinked in surprise. “He didn’t like seeing you bleeding and in pain. The smell of your blood made him crazy.”
She snorted. “He snarled at me, Zander. He doesn’t trust me. I could see it in his eyes.”
Patting her dry, Zander explained, “My wolf is a tough fucker. Nothing fazes him. Something about you makes him wary, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out what. He doesn’t dislike you; he’s just on his guard.”
She didn’t like to think that his wolf felt that way about her. “Suspecting I’ll do what?”
“I don’t know. He’s gotten better as the days have gone on. He doesn’t mind you being around; he’s not uncomfortable with you. In fact, he enjoys your company and wants you around. He’s also protective of you. But he’s still on his guard.” Now that she was dry, he used another towel to dry himself off. “You shouldn’t take his negative behavior personally. My wolf generally doesn’t like female attention.”
She paused in pulling a brush through her hair. “Why?”
“It’s just the way he is.”
“Maybe he gets aggravated by it because the only attention he wants is that of his true mate,” she suggested.
Zander frowned thoughtfully. He hadn’t considered that before. “Maybe.” Right then, it didn’t matter. He cupped her jaw, letting his gaze roam over her face. “Such big eyes.”
She swallowed at the possessiveness in his voice. “Aren’t you supposed to be pissed at me for not pouring out my life story?”
“You’re not going to cause an argument, baby, if that’s your game.”
“I don’t have a game. I have a problem with people thinking I have to justify myself to them. There’s a good reason why I don’t tell people shit about my past—there’s nothing good to share from before I went into foster care.”
“Gwen—”
“When people learn that my mom’s a stripper, my stepdad’s a drunk, and my dad’s a drug dealer, they look at me differently. I’m the same Gwen you impaled on your cock last night. But because you discovered my biological father is a drug-dealing equivalent of a Nazi, you were looking at me like you’d never seen me before.” And that hurt, even as she wished it didn’t. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”
He crowded her, shaking his head. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
Her brows snapped together. “What?”
“You’re pouncing on this as an excuse to push me away.” He could literally see her bolstering her defenses. “Let’s get a few things perfectly straight. You’re right; you don’t have to justify yourself to me. I was mostly mad because I didn’t like learning something so significant about you from my Betas. I would rather have heard it from you. It hurt, so, yeah, I overreacted a little.
“I understand your privacy is important to you. Neither me nor my pack meant to hit any hot buttons. But I’d do the same search on any stranger that hung around you . . . because you matter, and I’d put your safety before another person’s right to privacy. I won’t apologize for that, so I can’t expect my pack to apologize for putting my safety first either. Also, I don’t believe you’re anything like Cogman. I’d have already sensed it if you were.”
“Maybe I’m a good actress.”
“And maybe you’re someone who’s trying to atone for the sins of her father—that’s not something you need to do.”
Gwen perched her hands on her hips. “I’m not trying to atone for Kenny’s fucked-up mistakes. No amount of good deeds from me would manage that.” The guy was plain cruel. “This isn’t about me or anything I went through. It’s about Andie. I’m helping her because I want to, because she deserves justice, and because Brandt needs to pay. That’s it. My childhood . . . it’s not relevant here. None of it matters anyway. It’s in the past.”
Oh, it matters, thought Zander. If it hadn’t, she’d have looked her cool and casual self. Right then, she looked like someone who’d been jammed in an elevator too long. He’d have expected defensiveness or anger, but not the panic he could scent. And then he understood.
Zander framed her face with his hands. “It’s not just that you’re highly private, is it, baby? It’s not even that your natural instinct is to keep things to yourself. You avoid talking of your childhood because you never feel far enough away from it.” Her eyes flickered, and he knew he’d hit the nail on the head. “I didn’t see that before. Should have. I blame your legs. They’re too damn distracting. Your eyes too. And your mouth.”
He kissed said mouth, indulging in a long, thorough taste of her. His cock, already hard at just the sight of her naked, throbbed painfully. But she needed to rest, not to get fucked into the mattress. So he settled them both in bed, curving himself around her. “Sleep, Gwen.”
Gwen licked her lips. She should probably tell him to go after the shit he’d pulled earlier. But, well, she didn’t want to be alone right then. She was still a little shaken from the attack, and he made her feel safe. Still . . . “I’m not sure I can sleep.”
“It’s not complex, baby. Close your eyes. Relax. Don’t think.” He almost smiled at her long-suffering sigh. Within minutes, her breathing evened out, and she sagged into the bed. Only then did he close his eyes, but sleep didn’t come to him. It probably wouldn’t come for a while.
His anger was still too hot, his need for vengeance still too strong. He was also mad at himself for pushing her buttons earlier, for being too wrapped up in his own hurt to truly consider both sides of the situation. It was all part of empathy not being his strong point. Still, he’d been an asshole, and he knew it.
Zander wouldn’t allow her to push him away, though. He wouldn’t let them go back to square one. He definitely wouldn’t pack his shit and leave. She was stubborn as hell, but he could be very persuasive when he wanted something. He’d use those powers of persuasion tomorrow.