Page 42 of Out of Peril

“You really don't mind?”

“Not at all. The triplets will be like cousins to them and they'll have lots of friends. Several of my Delta brothers have kids now. They'll fit right in.”

He must have sensed me pulling away because he trapped me in his embrace and dropped another quick kiss on my lips.

“You'll fit right in too.”

I shook my head. “You can't ask that of me. No Pack will accept a beast like me. I'm a monster. That's all they'll ever see, Walker.”

“Let me prove you wrong on that. At least give me a chance.”

I adamantly shook my head now.

“No.”

Before he could try to sweet talk me into agreeing with him, I escaped in a flash, grabbing my clothes in the process.

This was too much. I knew everything was going too smoothly. There was always a catch. Couldn't he at least try to understand that there was no way for me to conform to a Pack ever again?

My time with the Raglan hadn't been easy. I'd been put through unspeakable torture in the search for perfection or some sort of miracle drug, I didn't even know for sure. Every person there spun a different tale, trying to make it sound like what they did to us was somehow okay.

They destroyed my life, and I hated every last one of them. If I ever crossed paths with one of them again, I would rip their throats out and not lose a wink of sleep over it. They would deserve it.

I had the perfect man willing to accept me and the pups I'd decided to pick up and call my own along the way. He was everything, but I couldn't be what he needed me to be because of them.

“Lindsey, are you okay?” Maya asked.

She had always been attuned to my emotions.

“I'm fine,” I said, but there was no way she hadn’t seen me wipe the tears from my eyes. “I need to run to the store and pick up a few more things for dinner tonight. Stay here, okay?”

“Okay.”

I made sure I was presentable for public, knowing I needed to just blend in, and then I stomped back down the stairs.

Walker was still standing there in confusion, though he'd taken the time to at least put his clothes back on.

“You're leaving?”

I glared at him. “No. I'm just running to the store. I'll be back in a bit. You're supposed to stay upstairs,” I snapped, because being angry at him for no reason still hurt less than anything else.

“Don't . . .”

“You don't,” I snapped back and left, slamming the door behind me.

“Is Lindsey okay?” Dante asked Walker.

Thanks to my stupid enhanced bat ears, I could still hear them clearly.

“She's fine. She's just scared and needs a bit of space and time.”

I really hated that he already knew me that well.

Distracted and trying to process everything that happened, I didn't pay attention to my surroundings as I wandered through the store. It was a rookie mistake.

“Lindsey?”

My head shot up and my eyes widened. “Leo?”

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