The drive stretched out ahead of them into the afternoon, and the truck remained mostly quiet except for the occasional barrage of questions from Francine. Jada rested her head on the back of the seat and stared out the window, searching for any signs of wolves or trucks keeping pace with them as the landscape turned from rolling hills to mostly flat farmland.

When Francine finally wedged herself into a comfortable position in the narrow back seat and started to snore, Cooper tapped the seat next to Jada and kept his voice down. “Why would the wolves chase us that far out of the mountains?”

“I’m not sure.” Jada had been wondering the same thing, but she’d been so sheltered in the compound that she never heard any of the discussions about the wolves and what they wanted. All she’d been taught was that the wolves hated them and wanted their territory, and would pick the leopards off one by one if the bears weren’t there to help.

Cooper frowned, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel, and glanced over at her. “Are they after you, maybe?”

The thought sent shivers through her. Jada tried to cover the fear by sliding a sideways look at him. “It could be you, you know.”

“I’m a little big for bride-napping,” he said, straight-faced. “Although I’m quite charming, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted me for my personality and not my figure.”

She laughed, trying to imagine the alpha wolf seducing Cooper. He was really kind of a clown, under the fierce exterior. Jada pulled her legs under her on the seat, facing him more than the windshield. “Too bad we didn’t keep my wedding dress. You would have looked lovely.”

Cooper snorted, cracking a smile through the beard. He reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m sure I wouldn’t have been half as lovely as you were. Particularly since I don’t shave my legs, and it would have looked like a couple of tumbleweeds holding up a bunch of fabric.”

She smiled, and didn’t pull away. The mental image of the giant bear in any kind of a dress brought the giggles out, and she had to chew her lip almost ragged to keep from waking Francine up. But the seriousness of the situation sneaked back in, and Jada took a deep breath to consider the possibilities.

“I don’t know why they’d want me or come chasing after me. I guess if they wanted to rupture the alliance, they could still kidnap me and tell the leopards that they’d stolen me. But I think the clan wouldn’t care—they gave me to the bears, and if the bears couldn’t keep me, then that’s the bears’ problem.”

Cooper shook his head. “I’m glad we’re not there anymore, Jada.”

She was too. More than he could ever know. She was glad to have the compound in the rearview mirror. Although part of her feared that it was just a temporary taste of freedom, and it would be cruelly snatched away so that her captivity would be even more soul-crushing. Jada took a shaky breath, gripping the sides of her jeans as she tried to banish the thought. “What would…why would they follow you? Does it have to be me they’re after?”

“I don’t know if they’d be following me,” Cooper said. “I haven’t been back there in thirty or so years. Unless they’re pissed at the bears in general and just want to make us bleed, that is. I doubt my father would give a shit whether the wolves tore me apart. He didn’t care when they killed Ace, and he actually loved my brother. Elton would celebrate if he heard I died.”

Jada winced. She remembered the chaos when Ace died and his body disappeared, and the terrible sounds that came from the bear compound for weeks afterward, as the family mourned his loss and fell into uncontrolled shifts as they rampaged through the forest to search for the guilty parties. They never found anyone, and the leopards claimed not to have seen or heard anything. Jada still didn’t know if that was true, since no one told her anything. After seeing Cooper hold off half a dozen wolves without really trying, she didn’t know how many must have been present to take down Ace.

“I remember Ace,” she said slowly, not wanting to anger him or send him into paroxysms of grief. Jada didn’t know his boundaries yet. Most of the bears had a hair-trigger on their tempers anyway, and adding in a deceased clan member was a recipe for disaster. “He was always kind to me. I was very sad to hear about what happened.”

“Thank you.” Cooper squeezed the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened, then he sighed and relaxed. “He was a good kid. I tried to get him out of there, but he wouldn’t leave the family.”

Jada nodded, leaning her head on the seat once more so she could watch him. “I don’t want to bring the wolves back to where you live.”

“We won’t. We’ll end it well before then.” Cooper patted her leg to reassure her, but it didn’t work as much as she hoped.

What if the wolves did follow them back to his home? How much would Cooper put up with before he sent her away? She worried away at the possibilities, imagining some of the worst cases where she ended up alone or back in the compound. They were not comfortable thoughts, and though Cooper encouraged her to sleep, she couldn’t relax enough to close her eyes. If she saw the wolves coming, maybe Cooper could fight them off and then everything would be okay.

They stopped for gas and a meal just after noon, and Jada stepped out to drag Francine into the grimy gas station bathroom and to stretch their legs. She debated making Franny run laps around the store to burn off some of the energy the girl always had, but Cooper shook his head. They weren’t far enough from the wolves yet. So they walked around the truck as Cooper pumped gas, shaking his head as Franny hopped and skipped and whirled in circles until Jada grew dizzy.

They stopped at a drive-through to get lunch, though Cooper rubbed his jaw and shook his head. “We’ll be able to stop for a much better meal in a couple of days, when we know we don’t have any wolves following us, but for now, how are burgers and fries?”

Francine practically climbed into the front seat in her excitement, gazing at the large menu as Cooper started ordering. Jada asked for a few things, though it was a blur in the long spiel of everything else he got. She blinked and then he’d paid and started handing bags of food and enormous drink cups into the truck. She didn’t know who he thought he was feeding, but maybe Cooper wanted to leave burgers in the road to distract the wolves from following them.

Cooper pulled back onto the highway and dug a burger out of one of the half dozen bags. “Everybody eat. I got some extra.”

“You got half a cow extra,” Jada said, dubiously unwrapping a burger and checking to make sure Francine hadn’t eaten the wrappers in her excitement to get the fast food. But they both waited until Cooper bit into his burger. The alpha always ate first, and with the leopards, at least, the males always ate first, too.

He only grinned and pulled out a huge cup of fries, eating all of them in just a couple of bites. “I’m sure we’ll be able to polish it off.”

And then she felt ridiculous, because of course he wanted more food—he’d shifted and fought a wolf pack just that morning, and expended a great deal of energy keeping her and Francine safe. So Jada focused on prepping the burgers for him, unwrapping them and making sure he had enough napkins, but after three or four burgers, Cooper handed one back to her. “Eat more. I’m stuffed.”

She didn’t believe him, of course, but after the night before and Cooper’s habit of piling food on her plate, she figured he meant what he said.

And Francine mowed through a whole bag of burgers and looked wistfully at some of the fries until Jada handed her a couple handfuls. They went back to driving through the flat country, and most of the food disappeared into the backseat until Francine groaned and collapsed in a meat coma. Cooper glanced back at her, then looked at Jada, more than a little impressed. “That kid has hollow legs, I swear. There’s nowhere else she could put all that food.”

Jada smiled, reaching to retrieve some of the trash so Francine didn’t end up covered in mayo and ketchup and random tomato slices. “It’s probably the first time she’s been able to eat as much as she wanted, to be honest.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Cooper gripped the steering wheel a little harder. “Seriously?”

“Well...” Jada cleared her throat, suddenly nervous. “Children eat last. The males eat first and get as much as they want, then the pregnant women eat, then the adult women, then the kids. That’s just kind of how it works. The adult women can feed their own kids, but someone like Francine, who’s an orphan, doesn’t have anyone to look out for her. She works in the kitchen and gets whatever is left over.”

A growl started in his chest, a low warning rumble, and Jada went still and silent. After a long time, Cooper took a deep breath and offered a tight smile when he looked at Jada. His eyes still flashed gold, so she didn’t dare move. “I’m sorry to hear that. Where I’m from, women and children eat first, and as much as they want. So we’ll talk about that when she wakes up. You don’t have to worry about going without, Jada. Either of you.”

She wished she believed him. It might take time, and finally getting away from the wolves forever. She was still mulling it over a few hours later when Cooper pulled off the highway outside a small city, near an airport. Jada frowned as she looked around. It was still light outside, with at least an hour more of driving. “We’re stopping?”

“Yeah.” Cooper parked the truck near the front door of a hotel, right under the security lights. “I want to make sure we can get a good room, and that it’s still light out so they can’t sneak up on us when we get out. This place is fancy enough they’ll have security cameras and at least a night clerk, so the wolves won’t be able to walk in and get to the room.”

Jada blinked, impressed. “You’re very security-conscious. Are you sure it isn’t too expensive? We’re costing you a lot of money on this trip, and it’s only the first day.”

“Only the best for my baby,” he said, and leaned over to kiss the tip of her nose.

Her brain shorted out and all the blood rushed to her face, and she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Cooper laughed, digging a cell phone out of the console before leaning over to search the parking lot for any sign of the wolves. “I have a lot of money, Jada. Don’t even think about it.”

She couldn’t not think about it. She’d been poor her whole life, and he’d spent more on their lunch than she could remember spending on anything except the ruined paints. She’d saved up for over a year to scrimp together enough change for those. And with that fancy hotel, he’d end up spending four times that just for a single night. But Cooper didn’t seem to notice, and only told her to lock the doors behind him and shoot anyone who tried to get in while he was gone.

He strode into the hotel, fitting in perfectly based on confidence if not his battered jeans and work shirt, and Jada watched him disappear through the sliding glass doors. She held her breath, scanning the parking lot so they wouldn’t be taken by surprise, though she jumped when Francine shot upright in the backseat.

Her cousin’s eyes shone as she beamed at Jada. “This is the best day ever.”

Jada couldn’t conceal a smile. “It’s pretty awesome so far, yeah.”

“He’s the best,” Francine whispered, like she feared Cooper might overhear from inside the hotel. “He’s still a little scary, but I think he likes us. He hasn’t been mean to us yet.”

“You’re right. He hasn’t been mean to me at all.” Jada checked and re-checked the lock on her door, her stomach starting to shiver with nerves the longer Cooper remained out of sight. “And now we get to stay in a fancy-pants hotel, don’t we?”

“It’s like a dream,” Franny sighed and draped herself across the front seat, sliding into the driver’s side. “I really hope I don’t wake up back in the compound. That would be really sad.”

Jada squeezed her hand. “I know. I don’t think it’s a dream. When you wake up, we’ll still be in a hotel and still on our way west to meet Cooper’s friends.”

The doors opened and Cooper walked out, frowning at his phone and juggling a few papers.

Franny bounced on the seat. “I’m too excited. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep again ever.”

Jada couldn’t look away from Cooper, mesmerized by how good-looking and strong and capable he was. He was so confident it helped her feel braver, just from being near him. And even with ample opportunity to get frustrated or irritated or just plain pissed off, he never yelled at her or even snapped. He saved his rage for the wolves.

He glanced up and caught her watching him, and a slow smile spread across his face, like molasses on a cold day. She flushed, flustered by the light in his eyes, and agreed with Francine. Jada knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink with Cooper around.