But we could hire her as a second hand, give her the apartment with the rest of the human women we protected, but I would have to stay away like the rest of the shifters had to with the humans.
I’d seen how Hawke looked at the one girl, that longing. I didn’t want the hope. I wanted Journey. It took enough pushing from my wolf to see it. I wasn’t about to give her up. I wouldn’t let her leave me, leave the umbrella of my safety. I needed her and she needed me.
My wolf stepped forward, slow and steady. He inched into the window of my mind, that small window where he could take over. For the first time in fifteen years, I let him peer outside, giving him the reins on our body.
He opened our mouth and let out a thunderous roar.
Chapter Six
Journey
Grimclungtomewith determination and such possessiveness.
The members of the club looked anxiously at each other while Grim’s muscular arms wrapped around me. He took his calloused hand and rubbed my cheek, coaxing it to rest on his chest. The smell of his old vest filled my nose. The wild musky smell made me breathe effortlessly as he shuffled around, kicking the chair behind us while having us stand on the once carpeted floor.
The chair broke against the wall. There was no mistaking it. The splinters of wood hit the back of his leather pants. His thick boots thumped as he came closer to the table, and his body leaned over it with me in his arms.
This room was strange to begin with. It reminded me of my days attending a religious preparatory school and being sent to the office to be reprimanded.
I wasn’t the best-behaved child because of my ADHD, but I wasn’t the worst either. I was a mover, a child that couldn’t concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes at a time. It got to where my parents didn’t know what to do with me, and any sort of drug was out of the question. The devil or some demon possessed me. What could they do with a child with problems?
Ship me off when I was fifteen, that’s what.
Grim’s breathing grew thick. A wild, woodsy scent poured from his pores. It was intoxicating, almost like an aphrodisiac of calmness dripping all over me. I melted into his body, feeling safer than I had ever felt in my entire life.
I had been so scared most of my life. Men wanted nothing but to use women, but Grim had not touched me in any vile way. He held a possessive and protecting nature I never saw in other men who declared they were there to help. I’d only known Grim for less than twelve hours, but my subconscious continued to whisper to trust him. He was gentle to me at least, kinder than anyone I’d ever known.
He was a gentle soul—to me at least.
I breathed in relief thanks to this unfamiliar smell. My wariness of being in danger was long gone, while the beating of Grim’s heart filled me with warmth. A feeling I had never experienced.
And in some crazy way, I wanted to revel in it.
“He scented her,” Sizzle whispered.
His eyes were as wide as the rest of them as they opened their mouths in shock. Collective gasps and chairs screeching across the floor as they backed away sounded in the silence. I tried to move my head, but he gripped me tighter, rumbling deep inside his chest.
Fear. That is what I should have felt, but the constant smell of wood, forest, and pine all intermingled with one another. I rubbed my face against his chest again, feeling an inexpressible feeling of safety.
“Easy now,” Locke soothed.
Grim didn’t falter, his stance firm.
“Journey, can you reassure him we won’t do anything he doesn’t like? We are just here to help you.”
My breath hitched. The idea that Grim felt the need to protect me made me stiffen.
“We promise, Journey. Please help us out,” Locke pleaded.
I couldn’t move my head. Grim held me so tight I couldn’t if I wanted to.
Wait, does that mean I didn’t want to move?
“Okay.” I breathed in his scent again. “Grim?”
He growled.
Holy shit, he freaking growled. He was a beast.
