Page 49 of Secret Wolf Baby

I glanced around, still making sure that the guy was gone for good. “That doesn’t mean it can’t disturb you, or that he can’t hurt you.”

“Really,” she said dismissively. “He was just a creep. That’s nowhere near the worst thing that’s happened to me.”

My head snapped around to her. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

She stiffened, her eyes widening as if she had said something she hadn’t meant to. “Oh, nothing,” she said, but without any conviction.

I let out a low snarl. “What are you keeping from me?”

Her jaw tightened. “It’s nothing you need to worry about,” she reassured me. Or, at least, she tried to. I didn’t buy it for a minute.

She must have picked up on that because she took a deep breath. “Can we not talk about this in the cold while we’re naked? I’d rather get home and change into some clothes I didn’t tear to shreds by shifting.”

“Oh,” I said. “Right.”

We shifted again and headed back. Once we did, Audrey dipped upstairs to her room, returning a few minutes later in sweatpants and a loose shirt. She somehow managed to make the baggy clothing look incredibly sexy. I pushed the thought from my head. I needed to focus on the more pressing matters.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

She nodded. “How did you know where I was, anyway?”

“It was late enough that I was starting to get worried about you. I came to find you and walk you home. I smelled your scent and the scent of that asshole and followed it,” I said. Then I gave her a knowing look. “You’re changing the subject, and you know it.”

Sighing, she closed her eyes and nodded. “I am,” she admitted.

“Out with it,” I growled.

She took a deep breath, tucking her hands in between her thighs as she looked down at the floor.

“Look, Reacher… wasn’t the nicest person,” she began.

I snorted. “Yeah, I kind of figured that out.”

She shook her head. “Look, please, just let me finish. Otherwise, I don’t think I’ll be able to say any of it.”

I stayed silent.

“And I’m not talking about what he just did to me,” she continued. “Which was bad enough. Plenty of verbal and mental abuse from both him and Dad. He was rough, too. The kind of guy that didn’t mind if he left bruises when he grabbed you. So you could guess he was an abusive asshole, but he would also challenge anyone who questioned him or his leadership to a fight to the death.” She swallowed hard. “He rigged the fightsso he would always win. And if he got so much as a whiff of discontentment, he would arrange accidents for anyone he thought a threat to his rule.” She gave a half-smirk. “I don’t think he knows I know all that. I would overhear him talking to Dad. But he’s much, much worse than just being an abusive asshole.”

I stared, my mouth dropping open in shock as the words sank in. “He did all that?” I asked, my voice strained as I tried to hold back all my rage.

“Yeah,” she admitted. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to add something else, then hesitated. She closed her mouth. “Maybe it’s best if you just leave it be,” she advised. “Leave Reacher alone and move on.”

After everything she had just told me? There was no way in hell I was going to leave him alone.

She must have read the look in my eyes because she shook her head emphatically. “Don’t, Jackson,” she said. “Listen to me on this one and just leave him be. It’ll be safer for you and all of us.”

I frowned as I studied her. Something told me that she still wasn’t telling me the whole truth, that she was keeping something from me. Except I knew that after everything she had just revealed, she was done telling me secrets for the evening. As much as I wanted to push, I didn’t. Declan had been right when he said I needed to let her take the initiative.

I reached out and took her hands gently, holding them in mine and rubbing my thumbs against the back of her hand. Her eyes lingered on our hands before lifting to meet mine. A mix of emotions swam behind them, and I couldn’t even begin to parse them out.

“I’m going to protect you and Claire,” I promised her. “No matter what. I’m not going to let Reacher or your father come anywhere near you ever again.”

She choked out a laugh as if we’d just shared a private joke. “You don’t know you can do that,” she said grimly.

“I swear,” I said, squeezing her hands. “You’re safe.”

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