Page 83 of Love for a Lifetime

He brushed a hand over her hair and kissed her head. “You’re safe. I promise.” Maybe if he said the words enough she’d believe him. He’d protect her until the last beat of his heart.

She inhaled a deep, shuddering breath. “I think I’m okay now.”

“Are you sure?” He didn’t want to beg, but he’d hoped to hold her longer.

Lifting her head, she brushed back the hairs that had come loose from her ponytail. “Yeah. I’m okay. Thanks to you, I guess.”

“If you’d like to call me your hero, my alter-ego is known as Prince Charming. Please don’t tell anyone. I don’t enjoy taking photographs with strangers.”

She laughed again, and his true superpower was at work. That sound had every atom in his body humming to life. It was as if she called to him at the most basic level.

Dawson glanced out the window, and his vision adjusted to the low light. The wolf was still out there, and he had friends.

“Looks like the pack wants to wait us out,” Dawson said as he let his hands brush down her arms. He held onto one of her wrists, not ready to let go.

“Great. We’re sitting ducks.”

“Don’t give up just yet.” He lifted his hips in a cramped backseat and pulled his phone from his back pocket. “Let’s call the others and tell them to be on guard.”

“Don’t ask them to come out here!” Olivia cried.

“No. I don’t want anyone walking around in the dark. I’ll just let them know where we are.”

He pressed the button to call Lucas, but nothing happened. His phone was in emergency mode. “Shoot. I forgot there’s no cell service out here.”

Olivia pulled her phone out of her coat pocket. “None for me either.” She let the phone fall to her lap. “Are we stuck here?”

Dawson brushed his hand up and down her arm. “Don’t panic. I promise we’ll be fine.”

The tension in her shoulders slipped out of her. “I know. I trust you. If it wasn’t for you, a wolf would be flossing his teeth with my tendons right now.”

Dawson tried not to react to that disturbing visual. “Can we not talk about that?”

She picked up the flashlight from where it had fallen onto the floorboard. Pointing it straight up, it lit the cab, casting shadows all around. “Why aren’t the cab lights on?”

He’d been asking himself that question, and he was not excited to know the answer. Mostly because he knew the reason, and he didn’t like it. He reached up and pressed the interior light. Nothing.

“Don’t tell me,” Olivia whispered, staring up at the light as if she could will it to illuminate with her mind.

“Okay. I won’t tell you.”

“Dawson!” she whisper-screamed.

“You said you didn’t want to know,” he reminded her.

She huffed and shoved his shoulder. “Is the battery dead?”

“‘Fraid so, my queen.” He looked around the cab and located her purse. “Found it.”

She took the purse and rummaged inside. A few seconds later, she pulled out a pill bottle and shook one out into her hand.

Dawson handed her a bottle of water from a six-pack he kept as an emergency stash in the truck. “Mission accomplished.”

Olivia swallowed the pill and tightened the cap back on. “Now what? You think we can honk the horn and scare them off?”

“The battery is dead,” Dawson reminded her.

She threw her head back and groaned. “Ugh. I forgot. Looks like we’re not going anywhere.”

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