Page 17 of Protected By the Wolven

“Do you know what was more fun than watching the nagas perform?” Okay, I admit, I didn’t need to lean quite so close to husk that into her ear.

“No, what?”

“Watching you watch the performance.”

Her eyebrows flash higher on her forehead. “Oh?”

“Mmhmm. At times you were like a young girl, entranced. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

She grants me a smile as I escort her down the bleacher steps. As we walk back to my apartment, she gushes about every nuance of the show. Is this the same quiet, terrified woman I met only days ago? Being in the Zone is good for her. And maybe I’m good for her, too.

“It’s safe here, right?”

“Absolute safety, Zoya. No one comes into the Zone without permission.” I stop, turn, and softly poke her pointed chin as I add, “Except you. Did you know I asked Courage and Fang to walk the fenced perimeter to fix any holes? We were allembarrassed to know a little slip of a thing like you managed to find your way inside.”

I was right when I assumed she had been asking in a roundabout way if Max could reach her here, because her shoulders relax when I tell her we repaired the fence.

“It’s quiet here.” Her words echo on the empty street. “Maybe…”

When she looks up at me, her expression an odd mixture of shyness and desire, it’s as though the air shimmers with unspoken expectation.

“I… don’t know how this is supposed to go, Lash. Max told me the K-1 visa meant we were supposed to…” She shrugs. “From the very first night.”

Her words affect me as profoundly as if she reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart. My hands fist at my sides, my claws extrude, cutting my palms, before I take a breath and consciously sheath them.

“How things are supposed to go, Zoya, is at the speed you’re comfortable with. You need to know two things. I’m very attracted to you, and I can wait forever for you to catch up. Or…” It’s going to kill me to say this next part, but it needs to be expressed. “Or never, if that’s not what you want.”

I’m over a head taller than her, so I’m not sure how she does it, but she grips my shoulders, jumps, and manages to give a flying peck to my cheek.

“It won’t be never, Lash. You’re too good and kind and handsome for me to say no to what you’re offering.”

Then she grips my hand and pulls us in the direction of Wolven Warriors HQ. She doesn’t need to pull too hard, though, because I’m floating on air.

Chapter Sixteen

Zoya

Although I was tired and ready for sleep, now that I’m in bed with Miska snuggled next to me, I’m wide awake. Instead of keeping her over the covers, I’ve tugged her underneath and we’re snuggled close. I take a deep inhale of her lamb-soft fur. She no longer smells like Max. Now she smells like the outdoors and the park, and best of all, she smells like Lash.

He had the most joyful smile on that fang-filled mouth as he ran and played with her in the park. Have I ever, even once in my life, been so carefree? I wonder what it would feel like to not have a worry in the world.

My mind wanders back to what I was looking for when I began searching for someone online. Someone from America who would bring me here for the K-1 visa. I had such high hopes.

I recall just what I dreamed of. Little things, like cooking breakfast with a man who loves me or going on little jaunts even if it was just to the farmers’ market. Nothing was fancy or expensive. Just doing things together as our eyes met and our hands brushed. I imagined laughter and gentle touches and two lives merging effortlessly as we became better as a team than we ever were when we were single.

Things didn’t work out, though. If anyone had asked me just three days ago what my fondest wish was. I would have said it was to escape Max and live safely in a women’s shelter before I was deported back to Ukraine. But now my desires have expanded to something so much more hopeful.

Could I be safe here? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? The back of my mind whispers something so soft I almost don’t hear it, and I definitely don’t acknowledge it. But it’s there all the same. It’s whispering, teasing really, that I might find love.

I touch my lips as I rewind and watch every moment of my one-second kiss as Lash and I walked home tonight. I clutch Miska closer and realize I’m developing feelings for him not because he rescued me, but because of the character he’s revealing to me inch by inch.

Snuggling closer to Miska, I let my thoughts rest as I ease into sleep.

I wake to the aroma of fresh coffee and the patter of Miska’s paws on the hardwood floor outside my door. Yawning, I stretch and pad out to the kitchen where I find Lash setting out butterand jelly on the table, with the aroma of something baking in the oven. Lash isbaking?

He grins when he sees me, fangs glinting. “Morning, sleepyhead. Miska and I have already taken our morning walk. Thought we’d take it easy today, so I grabbed some whomp biscuits at the store.”

“Whomp biscuits?”

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