Page 17 of Under the Moonlight

He rubbed his hand over her back, murmuring low and soothingly. “It’s okay. I’m not going to let anything else happen to you or Jill. You have my word.”

Finally, she got a hold of herself. She smoothed her hand over the wet spots on his chest where her tears had soaked his t-shirt. “Sorry for losing my shit all over you.”

His hand came up and he trailed his fingers down her cheek. She tipped her head back to meet his gaze, his electric blue eyes boring into hers.

“You needed it and I’ll be here any time you do. Anything to get you in my arms.”

It was a line. Under normal circumstances, she would have called him out for being cheesy, but she just smiled as she laid her cheek against his chest. The steady thump of his heart kicked up and she wondered if it was because of her proximity. Did she really get to him the way he did her?

“Is it crazy that I just want to stay here with you and push all the bad stuff away?” she asked.

“Not at all. If it was up to me, I’d keep you here with me forever.”

To her surprise, the word forever coming from Xander didn’t send her into a blind panic.

Still, she’d had her melt down and now it was time to pull up her big girl panties and deal with the crazy that had come barreling into her life.

She leaned back slowly, but he didn’t release her. “As much as I’d love that, we have some serious problems and I need to know where we go from here. Do we call the police?”

Xander’s grip on her tightened. “No. No cops, of any kind.”

“But isn’t

there a branch of paranormal law enforcement that can catch them.”

“I don’t want them caught.”

Greer pulled away as his meaning sunk in. “You want to kill them too.”

“They deserve it, Greer. You don’t know what all they did.”

Her palm cupped his cheek. “Tell me. Make me understand.”

Xander’s expression clouded and he gingerly took her hand, moving it away from his skin.

“I can’t.”

12

Xander stood outside his bedroom, listening to Greer’s breathing as she slept. After he’d denied her the details of his family’s murder, she’d pulled away, wanting to get some rest. He’d let her take his bed, and offered to bunk on the couch. He couldn’t blame her for being pissed at him. Although she’d only known him a few days, he’d done nothing but lie to her. Now, when she begged him to open up and let her in, to make her understand his world and his reasoning, he’d told her no.

He wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to see him again.

But it was too late for that. She needed him now and he had to protect her. To keep her safe. Once Pax and Dakota were dead, he would do whatever she needed, even if that meant walking away from her.

Until that moment though, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

He went downstairs and dialed Clyde. He needed a safe place for Jill while she adjusted to being a shifter, someone who could show her how to live.

“Hey, there’s my boy! How’s the weather up there?”

“Storms a brewing, actually.”

“Uh oh, what kind of trouble have you gotten into now?”

That was just one of the things that Xander loved about Clyde. He didn’t pussy foot around a topic, he jumped right into it.

“Pax and Dakota have started targeting the locals to get to me. I need to finish this now, before more people die, but there’s a…complication.”

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