Page 119 of Spark

“You should let me drive on the way back,” she added.

“I don’t think so. You’d probably lead us right off the side of the mountain.”

She glared back at me, the cuteness of her anger not lost on me.

“Don’t tempt me,” she threatened, her eyes narrowed as she moved off the snowmobile, the playfulness in her voice was not lost on me.

“Come here,” I said with a low chuckle, holding my arm out for her to huddle to my side, the weight of her warm embrace enough to satisfy me. When she settled, she looked down the mountain to gaze upon the best view of Alaska. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene while I took in the simple beauty of her.

“Wow,” she beamed. “This is… amazing.”

“Agreed,” I murmured, my eyes still lingering over her.

After a moment, a stick cracked in the distance of the trees, causing Jaden’s head to whip to the source of the sound, her breath hitching in a gasp. I didn’t fight the smirk that followed.

“Don’t worry, princess,” I said, sitting down on the snowmobile and pulling Jaden onto my lap. “No wolves out here. I made sure of it.”

She scoffed but nodded. I watched as her facial expression softened into something uncertain as she seemed to withdraw into herself. I squeezed her hand, hoping to encourage her to give voice to her thoughts, but she looked away back toward the world below. My eyes followed suit.

She sat there with me for a few moments, just admiring the scene around us until she finally said something I thought I would never hear.

“I never thanked you,” she muttered quietly, her eyes lost in thought. I knew where she was going, but I never got what I truly wanted unless I pushed her for more.

“For what?”

Jaden released a deep breath before answering, as if thanking me was the most painful thing for her to do.

“For killing the wolves.”

“You mean for saving your life,” I corrected, anger rising in my voice at the thought of even having to save her from a situation she had caused in the first place. The thought of her in danger had my blood boiling in seconds.

Jaden’s warm amber eyes met mine, fire licking through her irises as she glared at me. She didn’t want to admit that I had rescued her from a fatality she could not have escaped from by herself. My warrior princess didn’t want me to be her hero; it would contradict her image of me being the villain, and wasn’t that something to smile about?

Jaden wanted to be her own hero, her own knight in shining armor, but I was diminishing her independence by forcing her to rely on others for her safety. I had no doubt that if Jaden had been armed, she could have handled the wolf pack herself, but it was too soon to trust her with anything even closely deemed as a potential weapon. She might be smart enough to refrain from killing me, but I made no threats for killing others, and someday, it just might come down to that, but until then, she needed to learn to respect the people I put in place to protect her.

“Sure, let’s call it that,” she mumbled.

Jaden’s lips formed a tight line before she finally looked away back toward the sky, but I wasn’t done scolding her for her blatant disregard for her own safety.

“You’re welcome,” I said harshly, still waiting for the actual thank you that would burn her tongue.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes still on the sky while the words disappeared into the cold air like ghosts.

“Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I saw that wolf attack you?”

She didn’t even look at me when she responded. “I imagine it compares little to the amount of terror I feel on a daily basis.”

“Look at me,” I ordered, taking her face in my hand and prying her eyes back to me. “The terror you feel is in place for a reason. If there is no fear of me or the consequences of your actions, you will never adapt to your place. It is your own fault that I have to be so strict with you all the time.”

A ghost of a smirk appeared on her lips as I released her face to allow her to speak. “You call threatening and killing my family strict? What about everyone else you’ve killed because of me?”

“Necessary. If that is what I have to do to keep you in line and ensure that you are safe, I will do it without conscience.”

She stared at me for a long time, her chest heaving heavy breaths, while her jaw clenched and her brows furrowed in confusion. After a moment, she seemed to relax.

“Why me?” she asked softly.

I sighed, knowing this question was coming. It was a valid question. Why her? Why was she the focus of my obsession? Why was I so hell-bent on making her mine? I had rationalized it in my head so often that all the explanations simply blurred together.

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