Page 22 of Defeated

I couldn’t let that happen.

But I didn’t sleep a wink.

I thought about how Zoe had hovered behind me as I changed the bedsheets for her. She’d complained it wasn’t necessary. I’d pretended not to hear her as I finished making up the bed, then pointed out the bathroom across the hall. There was a smaller restroom downstairs, so she didn’t have to worry about me coming up to use it. The entire first floor was hers to use. I’d stay away.

She’d nodded, retreated a little as I turned to leave the bedroom, but she hadn’t believed me.

All night, I kept waiting for the soft snick of the door unlocking and for Zoe to slip out into the night. It’s not the only reason I didn’t get a wink of sleep, but it’s the biggest.

The other is what she told me.

She has a mate. Somewhere there’s a mate.

What man would let her struggle like I get the sense she’s spent years struggling and not bend over backwards to give her everything she needs?

And her big brown eyes and long dark blonde lashes. I’ve done a lot of thinking about those pretty eyes.

Shifters in this city have done their best to terrify the woman upstairs. Again, I battle back the urge to walk out of this house, let my wolf burst out of me, and spend what little remains of this night hunting them.

But the need to hunt takes a backseat to watching over Zoe. If nothing else, I can give her one night free of terror. A place of safety. Nothing will get to her tonight.

I wish all my thoughts have been so pure.

They haven’t been. And it has left me… unsteady.

I’ve gotten used to thinking about Gracie. Or trying not to think of her, of hurting when I do, of hurting more when I don’t. I’d gotten to the place where no other woman existed for me. Nothing existed but pain and guilt.

But those big brown eyes and Zoe’s tiny retreats she thinks I don’t see.

Why can’t I stop thinking about her and wanting to kill anything that would dare put their hands on her?

Upstairs, a mattress squeaks and the floorboards creak.

I lift my eyes from the sun rising in the distance to the white ceiling.

Zoe is awake.

When the floorboards don’t creak again, I angle my head toward the open living room door. She’s quiet. I’d spot her if she crept down the stairs and out the front door. It’s why I left the door open.

The silence stretches out for another long moment. Then another floorboard creaks, and footsteps, hesitant but growing more purposeful, followed by a slow creak of a door opening, and then, seconds later, another closing.

Zoe in the bathroom.

I stop listening so hard now I know she isn’t slipping out. Instead, I cross the room toward the couch and pick up my cell phone from the coffee table. The remains of our pizza and sides need to go in the trash. There weren’t many, despite Zoe’s wide-eyed look of amazement when I’d walked into the lounge cradling an armload of food. The delivery driver had assumed we were having a party. He hadn’t been able to hide his surprise when I told him it was just a couple of us eating.

I learned that as long as the TV was on while we ate, and I sat on the armchair, leaving the couch for Zoe, she could relax enough to focus on eating her fill instead of whatever it was she believed I would do to her.

I don’t know what it is about Zoe, whether it's her beauty, her fear, or my wolf’s unprecedented need to want to protect her, but I need to always be doing something for her.

The thought of her being alone in the world, struggling for even a second, makes me want to find this mate—wherever the hell he is—and punch him in the throat.

My wolf would prefer to do something more permanent.

Water starts up as I do a quick search on my cell phone and order food from a local store. Not takeout this time. Groceries. Ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just enough food to last the couple of days it’ll take to pack up Colton’s apartment.

Last night, I feigned exhaustion and subtly encouraged Zoe to go to bed. As I take the empty boxes and other pieces of trash into the kitchen, I consider how I can win her trust.

Colton lives in the center of town, so the delivery takes minutes.

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