Page 26 of Protector

Sure, he might be able to shift back, but it’s not like his wolf can help us break out. Fallon and Lucas will figure out we’re missing, and knowing that we would never be together unless we had to, Fal will immediately jump to something being wrong.

Does that mean she can break us out of here? Claws crossed.

Since he can’t shift, I figure misery is company and I stay in my skin. It’s better this way, too, because we can actually communicate with words. My type of wolf can understand another shifter no matter what shape I’m in, but that’s a guardian thing. If I go to my fur, I won’t be able to talk to Tristan.

Not that we’ve done much talking other than discussing the trouble that we’re in. Talking about what happened at the creek earlier—either today, or the first day we met—is a no-go… mainly because anytime Tristan tries to bring it up, I shut that shit down real quick.

Sensing his emotions before… that wasn’t a fluke, either. I’m actually the one doing my best putting up some kind of boundaries between us. I don’t block him off, but my aura makes it very clear: don’t push me on this.

For the most part, he gets the message. He does apologize for leaving me in a situation where I had to pick him up and carry him to safety, but I nip that shit in the bud, too.

“I’m a protector,” I tell him in that flat voice I use when I’m trying not to lose my temper.

He knows that, too. “For the Luna. On her orders. But you’re my mate?—”

That’s not the first time he’s called me that. That he’s acknowledged what I’ve known for months. I ignore it before just like I ignore it now.

Besides, I can’t change the truth. I am his mate. Until one of us rejects the other—and I’ve made my stance clear from the beginning that it was never gonna be me—our bond exists. It’s back now, too, so I can sense he’s telling the truth every time he says it even without using the Luna’s power to compel him to.

So all I say is, “All the more reason for me to protect you, too.”

Tristan’s quiet after that. It’s not a bad quiet, either. It’s thoughtful.

He’s obviously thinking about something. So am I.

We have no idea how long we’re going to be trapped in this cave. Minutes? Hours? Days? He can’t shift. I won’t until I’m sure he can. You know where that leaves us? Stuck in the dark, no food, no water, in the damp, in the chill—and, fuck it, we’re both naked.

I can pinpoint the exact moment Tristan starts to notice. Unlike catching a glimpse of a fellow packmate after a shift, this is different. There’s a sexual attraction that’s never been in doubt, and with our bond open? It’s doubled.

Lust thickens the air. Not gonna lie, a good chunk of it is mine. I’ve never bothered hiding my attraction to Tristan. The Beta’s gorgeous, and when he’s not growling at me, Fallon insists he has an easy-going personality.

I’ve wanted to get to know that Tristan, but he never gave me the chance. Stuck together in this cave… maybe it’s time. Even from across the cave, I can feel his stare heating up my skin, sense the need welling up inside of him.

He’s still a little sore that I would’ve given my lift for him. He makes that clear almost immediately. Though I discover he wasn’t faking his injuries from Gabriel’s hit, it was hearing me goad Claude into coming at me that gave him the strength to go for the witch’s cock and balls.

To a shifter, that bloodthirsty and protective of a gesture is almost like a Luna damn proposal. In fact, the only thing that would make it more obvious that he considered me his mate would be if he fed me…

…or, you know, actually mating.

We can’t do anything about that first part. It’s an empty cave. We’re shit out of luck when it comes to some stray prey animal wandering inside, prepared to be a meal to a pair of wolf shifters. Now that we’re trapped? I don’t even know if the blood ward is keyed just to us, or if nothing can get in or out.

No food.

No help.

No hope…

Well, I don’t have any. Tristan does, and I’m just so happy that he’s feeling better, I let him try his best to convince me that everything will be okay.

The Beta figures that out pretty quickly. That, or he’s learned enough about me in the last three months to know that it really wouldn’t take much to get me to touch him. Considering the way I basically jumped him when we were first met, I’m no shy virgin.

But I’m also not about to put out only to have him reject me again…

So when he suggests we try to get some rest, then has the nerve to sprawl out on the hard ground before patting the space in front of him, I so want to say ‘yes, please’ and take him up on his offer.

If only. But I’ve been burned before. Not just by Tristan, either.

His expression is hidden in the shadows of the cave. I only know that he’s lying on his side because the shape of the darker shadow has moved. His hand rapping against the ground echoes around the space so that was pretty obvious, too.

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