Page 43 of Mine to Protect

“No,” she huffed, like I wasn’t smart enough to keep up with the flow of the conversation. “The other guy. But we caught him, poaching jerk.”

Okay, maybe I was starting to catch on.

Reaching up, I tugged off her hat and held her tear-streaked cheeks between my calloused hands. So tiny, so frail tucked between the hands of a trained killer.

“Poor Darla,” she cried and slammed her eyes shut. “She was so beautiful.”

And I was lost again.

“Darla?”

Slick cheeks slid against my palm as Alta nodded.

Yep. Very, very lost.

“How do you live with it? Taking a life?” Once again, those eyes fluttered open to search mine.

Leaning closer, I unzipped her thick coat. “You’re asking the wrong person, Lady. I’m perfectly okay with taking a life.”

One long blink, then another, and I swore she read through the lie. Through that lie and every lie I’d ever told to keep from allowing anyone in. If no one mattered to you, then no one could disappoint or hurt you. That was the one truth I held on to and believed wholeheartedly since I could remember. But one ferocious, scared, stunning Lady saw straight through it all, she saw me.

Unnerved by the way she cut through my bullshit, I stood from the floor and reached into the shower. After turning the faucet all the way hot, I spun toward the door.

“Cas?” Hand on the doorknob, I peered over my shoulder to where she now stood, nervously fumbling with the zipper of her coat. “Thank you.”

My brows furrowed, not understanding. “For what?”

“For being you.”

* * *

Benny’scoarse fur tickled my palm as I ran my fingers along his head. The denseness of the early morning air made the quiet night deafening. Through a puff of smoke, I watched out into the trees to the spot where I’d stood waiting an hour or so ago. Something felt off. The way Benny sat on high alert told me he felt it too. Almost like someone was watching.

Benny’s head pulled from my hand to whip toward the door before padding over and sitting on the front mat. The door swung open, allowing a freshly bathed Alta to tiptoe out. Cutting my gaze to her, I sucked in a deep breath. Fuck, she was even more beautiful with her hair down. Visions of my fingers tangling in its depth, holding her exactly where I wanted, filled my mind before I could blink.

“I thought you left,” she said while rubbing her arms.

In response, I held up the nearly gone cigarette between my fingers.

“Right,” she breathed with a sigh of relief. “I’ll be inside when you’re done. But you’re coming back in, right?”

My brows furrowed together, not understanding. Did she think I would leave?

“It’s just that—” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m not good at all this, and I don’t know if you’re leaving because I’m a mess or if you’re going to stay.”

“Do you want me to stay?” I asked after the last drag of the cigarette.

Her head cocked to the side. “Only if you want to.”

Fuck this bullshit talk.

“Lady, it’s a yes or no answer.”

“Yes,” she said quickly. “Of course I do. I feel… I can be me when you’re around.”

After pinching off the cherry of the cigarette, I hooked an arm around her shoulders and urged her inside. Benny’s long claws clicked along the worn wooden floors toward his bed before he fell into it with a loud huff.

Alta settled on the couch, tucking a random pillow under her arms and crossing her legs in front of her like a pretzel.

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