Page 7 of Defeated

“Zoe?” he says, nodding once as he lowers his hand from his jaw. “Right? It’s Zoe.”

I forget about pouncing, almost retreating in surprise. But I stop myself in time. Any retreat would be a sign of weakness—of fear—and I have no intention of letting this shifter, or any shifter, know I’m afraid of anything.

Not again. I’m tired of running. Tired of always being afraid.

I peel my lips back from my teeth to show him exactly what I think of him. He might be smiling faintly, acting like he’s no threat to me. That doesn’t mean I will ever trust him.

He hasn’t moved since I slunk into the room, his only action to place the book he was holding into a box beside the coffee table and scratch his jaw.

I hadn’t been expecting to find him emptying a bookcase.

What burglar skips over the flatscreen TV and the expensive sound system and starts with the books?

And he knows my name.

“I’m no threat, Zoe,” he says, again proving I didn’t mishear him.

How do you know my name?

The shifters chasing me hadn’t known it. I guess they hadn’t really cared. A lone female ripe for grabbing was all they gave a damn about.

Colton knew my name because he was one of the first male shifters who actually cared enough to ask it. Did this guy and his friends torture information about me out of Colton?

Makes sense, Zoe. He tortured Colton, killed him, and now he’s here to rob him.

Despite his calmness, his nice smile, and the open way he’s standing with his arms relaxed by his side, I never let my guard down. I calculate the distance between us and how big of a leap I’ll need to make to latch my teeth around his neck and take him down.

The thought of biting into his throat doesn’t make me feel good, especially with the way he’s calmly smiling at me, as if he truly is no threat to me.

He’s a thief, and he killed Colton. Never forget that.

So I cling to my anger as I prepare my leap.

If I kill him, it’s all he deserves. If he somehow gets the upper hand, then… well, I’ll be dying to protect the home of a man who died protecting me.

“Colton is on his way here.”

He must see that I’m getting ready to attack, yet he does nothing to defend himself. He just stands with his arms by his side, waiting for me to kill him.

Is he stupid? Or is there another threat in this room I’ve missed?

“That’s if he’s not busy with the cake competition he and his mate stopped to enter,” he says, like he doesn’t notice the way I’m measuring the distance between us.

One bite to the jugular will be enough to end him. And then, I can?—

Wait.

Cake competition?

Mate?

What the hell is he talking about?

He’s trying to distract you. Don’t let him.

I reach for the courage to fight for someone who fought for me. Courage to know I might not be strong enough to survive this encounter, and I?—

“Give me a second,” Chris says, and he does something no shifter would ever do.

---