Page 53 of Mated Exile

"We'll pull it off together."

"Together."

Stepping forward, he brushes his fingers against my cheek, and I tilt my chin up, eyes searching his. A thousand thoughts flit through my mind, chief among them Cat's reminder from the other day that there are things two people can do thataren't,technically, sex. Before I can suggest we find the time to do one of them, a familiar car pulls down the road, and Finn parks his fancy sedan next to Kieran's beat-up truck.

Jumping out of the driver's side, he throws a grin over at both of us. "Time to hunt some bloodsucking assholes!"

"That it is," Kieran says, taking a step back from me and shooting me a wry look. "I can't wait to chew a few of those fuckers' heads off. Soon as I see one, I'm going for the throat."

"That's an improvement," Finn quips, stalking over to Kieran and patting him on the back—hard enough that Kieran grimaces. "I'll be watching you, buddy, to make sure you don't slip up and let one ofthemgo foryourthroat instead."

An annoyed look crosses Kieran's face, but it soon smooths, and he punches Finn in the shoulder in a friendly way that makes the other man stumble back a half step. "I appreciate you looking out for me, Bud."

"It's what I'm here for, Bro."

The excessive nicknames and overenthusiastic back pats aside, at least, I tell myself, they're getting along. Hopefully we can all make it to the Summit without anyone winding up dead in a ditch or tangled up in a testosterone-fueled fight.

We've got enough problems going around, after all.

Lance and Roarke arrive shortly after Finn. I feel a strange, stomach-tightening sensation when I look at Lance, so I only glance at him quickly, then away. The words he said to me on the front porch keep looping in my mind. Even though he keeps acting the same, and hasn't said anything to me since, I can't stop wondering what kind of man lurks beneath his cool and self-assured exterior.

"Alright, we should probably split up into a couple of groups to comb the woods," Roarke says, naturally taking over the leadership position. "I say we go in pairs—Delilah, do you think Bastian could come?"

Glancing over my shoulder to the house, I shake my head slowly. "Maybe eventually. But not tonight. He deserves a little more time to rest and recuperate before we throw him into something."

Also, since I tried to read him and found nothing but a blank wall, I can't help but feel a little wary around him. He's still the same puppy-like Bastian, with no awareness of his size or hint of deception to him, but the wall lurks in the back of my mind. If it's just a quirk of my powers, or something to do with his lone wolf nature, I want to be sure before I send him off to watch one of the guys' backs.

I haven't told them what I felt, though. I'm not going to until I know more. They already view him as an outsider, and I want to be sure before I throw him to the literal and metaphorical wolves.

"Alright, so there's five of us," Roarke says, glancing over our group. "We should go in two sets—one of three, one of two. Finn, you were recently injured, so you should be in the set of three."

Sighing, Finn agrees, "My leg is still bothering me a little when I shift."

"And Kieran... you'll go with Finn and someone else," Roarke adds.

Kieran doesn't make a word of complaint, just throws his shoulders back and nods sharply, quietly accepting the assignment, even though I'm sure he doesn't love the fact that he's viewed as a weak link.

"The third person to go with you two..."

Roarke's bright blue eyes land on me, then Lance, and I can tell he's wondering who he should send with the recently-sober addict and the injured Finn. He stares at me for a long moment. I swallow, a tiny bit of me leaking out to feel at the edges of his awareness, and shiver a little at what I feel.

When he looks at me, he feels an all-consuming, almost overwhelming hunger. No, not hunger—desire.He wants to claim, to get as close to me as possible and keep me for himself.

I want him to do it, and that scares me a little, because I'm not sure what will happen when he finally gives in to the hungry wolf inside himself and takes me as his mate.

"I'll go with Kieran and Finn," Roarke says after a long moment, surprising me. His eyes flick to Lance, and he frowns a little as he tells him, "You go with Delilah. Make sure she stays safe, and help her if she has any trouble shifting."

"Of course. Happy hunting, everyone."

Lance straightens, turns to me, and paces over with a long, rolling stride that covers the ground between us until he's standing right in front of me.

"So, Delilah," he says in a low voice, "it'll be just you and me."

I swallow.

Twenty-Three

Delilah

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