Page 33 of Protector

“Nabbed by the witches,” I remind him.

Tristan growls under his breath.

Luna, that shouldn’t be as sexy as it is. Not right now, at least.

I shake my head. “And washing your scent off of me? What about that?”

“If Lucas knew a wolf shifter was in Winter Creek, he’d insist on taking you under his protection.” He slaps his chest with the flat of his palm. “I wanted to protect you, Jeannie. You’re my mate.”

I blink. My tongue darts out, swiping at the corner of my mouth. Fuck. I’ve never been so turned-on in my life, and there’s only one way I can think to bring up in order to throw a bucket of cold water on my hormones.

“This is about Fallon and Lucas, isn’t it?”

“No,” Tristan says quickly. He pauses for a moment, then changes his mind. “Yes. I don’t know. Maybe a little.”

I snort. “Figures.”

Tristan drops to his knees, taking my hands in his. “No. Wait. Jeannie… it’s not what I mean. When Fallon came to Winter Creek, she was the spitting image of Jolie. I never knew Lucas’s first mate. He kept her away from the pack and she died so soon after that. But he had her photograph. I knew that Fallon was his Jolie come back to him… the female who would help break the curse… but there was something about her. She called to me?—”

Another snort. “Trust me. Fallon has that effect on everybody.”

“But I’m a wolf shifter. She’s Luc’s fated mate. I should’ve felt that draw. And then… I met you. Compared to the magnetic pull I had toward you… I was wrong. Wooing Fallon… that was just another mistake in a long line of them. But I know why now. The Luna told me. I didn’t want Fallon because of her. I felt that connection because, deep down, she was the first tie I ever had to my true fated mate.” He squeezes my hands. “To you.”

“Wait a second… are you saying that the Luna spoke to you?”

Before or after she went quiet?

“She whispered your name to me. After I ran from you… from us. When I didn’t know what was going on because, remember, I know shit when it comes to females and mates. Jean Louise Lipton… she told me we were meant for each other.” He pauses again, and I can hear his grin. “And I was an idiot the other day for not realizing that the Luna was the second soul who could use your full name. But I hold to what I said. I’ll be the third.”

The last time he said that, I threatened to carve Jeannie in his chest. Now? I just mull over everything he said.

He obviously spoke to her before she went quiet. If that’s the case, though, then?—

“Why didn’t she tell me? I’m her avatar on Earth. I’ve spent my whole life serving her as her guardian.”

And I’m also the one who refused to listen anytime she offered to whisper the name of my fated mate to me. She knew me. Basically raised me and Lorelei after she decided it was time we moved on from our parents’ den. She had to know that the bad twin wouldn’t just accept her mate without a struggle.

Sex, sure. I’ve fucked other males for less. But someone I could love and trust and share my life like I do my twin?

That would be a little bit harder.

I tug my hands out of his. The pang of my rejecting him skitters down our bond. At the same time, my arms prickle, then ache as that old familiar pain hits me.

What the…

Hold on. When he said you wanted me to stay away…

“I never wanted you to leave me alone,” I argue. “The opposite, Tristan. You’re the one who blocked our bond.”

He’s on his knees. Barely a feet separates us, but even if he was on the other side of the cave, I couldn’t miss the meaningful look on his face as he meets my gaze and says, “It wasn’t me.”

“Of course it was you. Because if you didn’t cut off our bond, then that means?—”

That means…

That means I did.

I’m a shit liar, but I guess I really can lie to myself. Because all this time, I was sure he was the one who was rejecting me. Did I… did take his initial rejection and turn it around on him so that he couldn’t hurt me again?

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