Page 6 of The Scarred Heart

“Mates touch.”

She looked skyward and closed her eyes with a sigh. “You say that now, but in the light of day you’ll change your mind. Save us both some aggravation and just let me go.”

He blinked slowly and inhaled deeply, his chest expanding against her side. The slide of his hot flesh next to hers seared her, made her never want the moment to end—even as a small part of her, the frightened, beaten child part, was screaming at her to get away before he destroyed her completely.

He didn’t say anything as he began moving again, and he didn’t put her down, either. He paused every few feet and scented the air, changing his path as he walked with long, sure strides. She stared at the side of his face and neck. With her enhanced sight, she could see faint scars. They were old, like hers, and jagged as though his flesh had been torn by claws. Chewing her lip, she wondered what he’d been through. How strange would it be if he had been abused, too? It was one thing to consider eventually finding a male who wasn’t repulsed by her scars, or who would let her stay covered for the rest of her life. It was an entirely different scenario to think that her mate might have scars like hers.

Row stopped moving suddenly and began to growl, so loudly that his whole body vibrated. Kammie could feel the rage in the sound. Under normal circumstances, when she wasn’t naked in the arms of the male making the sound, she might have been terrified. Surprisingly, she was anythingbutterrified. She couldn’t really explain how she knew with absolute certainty that Row wouldn’t hurt her, but she did.

Row set Kammie on her feet gently and tucked her behind his back. “Let my sister go.”

Kammie peeked around his broad shoulder and saw her friend and fellow packmate, Adam, holding a petite blonde in his arms. They were a few yards away, but Kammie could scent the passion in the air and hear their panting breaths.

“Go away, Row,” the blonde said.

“Dani,” Row snarled, “come to me. We have a journey ahead of us.”

Adam growled darkly, his grip tightening on Row’s sister. “Mine.”

Kammie felt Row’s body bulk slightly, and his skin prickled under her hands as he began to let his bear loose. She liked Adam and she didn’t want him to be hurt, but she wasn’t sure how to defuse the situation.

Pressing her lips to his back, she gripped his waist gently and said, “Please don’t hurt my friend.”

Row’s growl cut off abruptly and he straightened from his aggressive stance. “You’re my responsibility. I promised our mother that I would take you to your people.”

“What if we get out of the woods and talk?” Dani suggested, sounding hopeful. “Adam isn’t going to let me go, Row. No more than you’re going to let that female behind you go. My name is Dancer, by the way, but everyone calls me Dani.”

Kammie giggled inwardly at meeting a reindeer named Dancer, and leaned around Row’s side again to smile at her. “I’m Kammie. I’m not sure where we are exactly, but maybe Adam’s house is close?”

“My house is about a half mile that way,” Adam said, jerking his head to the right.

“You might’ve mentioned your house was so close, instead of letting me molest you in the woods,” Dani said, chuckling.

“I had no blood left in my brain,” Adam said.

Row made a disgusted sound. “She’s my sister, man.”

“Sorry,” Adam said, not sounding one bit sorry. He swung Dani into his arms and Row immediately did the same to Kammie, falling into step behind the couple as they moved through the woods.

Row looked down at Kammie. “You didn’t run.”

Damn it.“I guess I didn’t.”

“Then you accept that we’re mates?”

Not remotely.“We’ll talk later. When I have clothes on and so do you.”

“Why are you so worried about clothing?”

“Because I am.”

Less than ten minutes later, Adam had opened the front door to his house and let Row and Kammie inside. Adam left them in the living room as he immediately carried Dani back to a bedroom.

Row’s hands tightened on Kammie slightly, and she stared up at him. “You can put me down now.”

“Are you going to run?”

“No.”

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