Willow
She paced back and forth in the upstairs hallway, the curtains wide open, giving her a full view of the driveway. Once her father had told her that Aiden was going out with them that night on a delivery, Willow had instantly known she wasn’t going to sleep until he returned.
It wasn’t that she was expecting trouble for any specific reason. The deliveries always seemed to go smoothly, and she rarely heard of any issues. The government, as big and ungainly as they might be, seemed to always handle its business with her father’s company smoothly and efficiently. What Willow didn’t understand was why it all had to be so clandestine. Why couldn’t they operate during the daytime? She hated all this sneaking around bullshit!
Tonight was even worse, however. With Aiden out on a delivery—with Flint of all people!—she was even more anxious. In her gut she could just feel that something was going to happen. Thankfully the house was empty, which meant nobody was there to see her little freakout.
Movement on the driveway caught her attention like a dog who knows the word “walk.” Willow was practically perched on the windowsill as a vehicle came up to the house. It was a white pickup, which unfortunately didn’t tell her much. All of the vehicles stored at the pack house were white pickups, besides the van they used to get to and from the facility daily. She had to wait until it pulled up and two figures emerged.
When neither of them seemed to be moving with obvious hurry or injury, Willow allowed herself to breathe her first sigh of relief. Perhaps everything had gone according to plan. They headed inside and she went to greet them.
“What the FUCK happened back there?” Flint shouted as the door opened.
“Like I’ve told you twice before, Flint. I don’t know who they were. I was patrolling the forest, like you asked me to. I smelled three humans. I went to check them out, and they were armed with guns. They weren’t novices at wilderness movement either. They stopped, I jumped up on a fallen tree, and they were right there. I had no choice.”
“You didn’t know if they were friendly or not!” Flint raged.
Even Willow, taken aback by the anger, could figure out the bullshit in that logic. Aiden didn’t need her help, though. He snorted.
“If they were friendlies, then you didn’t do your damn job properly, in which case everything is your fault. I did exactly what I should have done, Flint, and you know it. You’re just pissed that someone was following whoever those guys you were meeting with, and almost got the drop on us.”
Flint stared daggers at Aiden, and for a moment Willow thought the two of them were going to go at it. But eventually the pack Second just snarled and walked away. The pair of them stood where they were, watching as Flint headed up the stairs and to his bedroom. The door slammed a moment later, confirming his location.
Willow exhaled. “Well, that was fun.”
“Oh, barrels of it,” Aiden said dryly, rolling his eyes so hard it had to have hurt. “You only got the tail end of it. I had to listen to it all the way back here.” He shook his head. “You know, Willow, I think Flint might have some anger issues.”
She snickered. “You don’t say.”
His brown eyes latched on to her, filling with warmth and amusement. “I would never say!”
They stood like that for a second, staring at each other, neither speaking, nor making a move. Then, like a dam that had finally broke, they rushed forward into each other’s arms. Aiden lifted her up, twirling her around in the air like she was as light as a feather. She rested her hands on his wrists just in case, but it wasn’t necessary. Aiden had her, completely and securely.
The muscles on his arms bulged slightly as he lowered her until she could kiss him. It was interesting to experience being the taller one, and also quite a lot of fun. She wrapped her arms around his neck, cupping his face and tilting it upward so she could kiss it properly. Aiden stopped his spin once their lips touched, standing in the middle of the hallway without moving, not a tremble in his arms as he held her aloft. Willow had never felt so safe before.
“Are you okay?” she asked, running her hands up and down the side of his head, staring intently into his face, looking for any signs he must be holding something back from her.
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “It was dark, and we were in a forest. They didn’t stand a chance.”
“You killed them?” Willow wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She knew they’d been attacking him, but still, to have killed…
“What? No!” he said, shaking his head. “Hurt, yes. But nothing they won’t heal from. Just enough to incapacitate them, prevent them from following, that sort of thing, you know?”
She nodded, the motion a little jerky but confident enough.
“I don’t kill indiscriminately,” Aiden said, glancing up the stairs after Flint. “And certainly not humans. There’s just no point. I have killed,” he admitted. “And if that’s going to be a problem, speak up now.”
She frowned. Most humans, knowing they were developing feelings for a killer would be a deal breaker. But she knew that shifters were different, and what Aiden had likely done was not murder the way a human would see it. Their world was different. For instance, she knew her father had killed before, and she didn’t let it affect the way she loved him. So why should Aiden be any different?
“Humans?” she asked quietly, the word coming out before she knew she wanted to ask it.
“No. I’ve hurt some badly, but only to ensure myself or others could escape a situation. But never a mortal wound, no.”
“Did the others deserve it?”
Aiden hesitated. “All but one,” he admitted. “One, in hindsight, probably could have been saved, and I regret it all the time. But it was either me or him, and at the time, I didn’t see another way.”
Willow nodded. “I understand.”
He started to let her down, but Willow fought it off by clamping down harder around his neck. Eventually he picked up on her resistance and adjusted his grip so he could hold her aloft still. Now though she was cradled into his arms, one around her legs, one around her back as he held her to his chest.
“Aiden?” she said, kissing his neck with an increasing urgency. Something that had been kept restrained was building within her now, and Willow needed to let it out.
“Yes?”
“I think you should take me upstairs now.”