They’re going to kill me,she said, so quietly he almost missed it.
The certainty in her voice—the absolute conviction that she was driving toward her own execution—nearly broke him.
No.The word came out harsher than intended, loaded with days of frustration and unwanted protectiveness.I won’t let that happen.
Her laugh was harsh.You won’t let it happen?You’re one man, Conall.What are you going to do against an entire pack that wants me dead?
Everything, he thought fiercely.Whatever it takes.
His inner wolf perked up, ready to respond to the threat against their mate with scarcely restrained violence.
The pack doesn’t want you dead,he said instead.They don’t even know you exist.Not the real you.
Oh, shit.Right.The impostor.Nadine’s fingers had stopped drumming, clenched around the steering wheel now.
They turned onto the main street, and the new packhouse came into view.Lights blazed in every window despite the early hour.
Someone had sounded the alarm.
Quinton.
As he thought his twin’s name, their connection—muted for hours—suddenly flared to life, carrying Quinton’s relief and worry and rage in equal measure.
Where the hell have you been?
The familiar mental voice made Conall’s chest tighten with guilt.
He’d left without explanation, followed his mate into danger, and put both himself and the pack at risk.
Everything they’d sworn never to do.
It’s complicated, he sent back.
It’s about to get more complicated.Malcolm called an emergency meeting.Everyone’s looking for you.
Of course they were.He was a pack enforcer who’d disappeared in the middle of a security crisis.His absence would have been noticed within hours.
They know you’re missing,Nadine observed, as if reading his thoughts.Her body had gone rigid, every muscle coiled for fight or flight.
They’re going to ask questions,she continued, her voice tight with burgeoning panic as she slowly pulled the Jeep toward the building.She swallowed hard.About where you’ve been.What happened to you.And when they see me, they’ll think I’m the woman who accused you of murder.They’ll assume I’m her.
I’ll explain—
Will you?She brought the vehicle to a stop, parking almost a block away, but kept the engine running, her hands still gripping the steering wheel like a lifeline.
When she turned to face him fully, the fear in her eyes nearly undid him.Will you tell them about the mate bond?About how you tracked me down against orders?About how you chose to protect a woman who thinks your pack killed her father?
She was right—he couldn’t explain his actions without revealing the bond that tied them together.And revealing that bond would raise questions he wasn’t ready to answer.
Questions about loyalty.About where his true allegiance lay when he was forced to choose between pack and mate.
This was a mistake.Her hand moved toward the door handle, but she didn’t shift the Jeep into park.I should have trusted my instincts.I should have run when I had the chance.
Don’t.Please.His words—soft, vulnerable—seemed to surprise them both.
She finally turned off the engine.
Stay close to me,he said, gentling his voice.These people don’t know you.They’ll see an intruder, a threat.The only reason they won’t attack on sight is because you’re with me.