His gut fought the idea entirely and he refused to believe that he could feel so strongly about something and be off about it. The entire affair with Lora had been a whirlwind thus far, from the antsy feeling he’d gotten before he had even set eyes upon her, to the inability to let her go when Oliver had resurfaced. Tav had been around long enough to know that something was amiss, and he could not live with himself if he let Lora go when she was functioning at half capacity.
Shit, she still doesn’t even know she’s a wolf. She’s going to be out of her mind when she shifts on the next full moon.
Tav bit down on the insides of his cheeks so hard, he tasted blood. Eventually that truth would have to come out too, but he wasn’t sure how he could tell her. It was clear that Lora did not believe anything that was coming out of his mouth at that moment.
The problem was the full moon was in two days. Was that enough time to sort out the mess?
“We didn’t look into it well enough,” he insisted. “Lora, I’m asking you to trust me.”
“I don’t even know you!” she fired back furiously. Tav gritted his teeth, but he did not speak again until he was parked in front of the cabin. His breaths were unsteady, and he knew he needed to keep it together, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that no matter what he said, he was not going to get Lora to listen.
I’ll bring her back inside and regain her trust. I came on a little too strong, forcing her to come back here. I should have given her some time to process what I had to say.
He reminded himself that there hadn’t been any time. If he had waited any longer, Tav would have had to contend with Oliver, and he wasn’t ready to do that…yet.
Eventually, I’ll confront him, but not before I dig in more and learn who he really is and what he wants with Lora.
“Are we just going to sit out here all night?” Lora demanded angrily, and Tav noticed that he had slipped off in thought.
“Of course not,” he sighed. “Come inside. I’ll make you something to eat.”
“I already ate. With my brother.”
Another wave of irritation spiked through Tav, and despite his determination not to fight with Lora, he again barked at her.
“I keep telling you, that guy isn’t your brother!”
She frowned and moved to let herself out of the car, but before Tav could undo his seatbelt, Lora sprinted toward the road. For a moment, he could only watch her go in disbelief, blinking as she disappeared from view.
Is she out of her mind? Where does she think she’s going?
Even in the darkness, Tav knew the roads better than Lora could ever aspire to know them, and he would have laughed if the situation was not so dire.
After unbuckling his seatbelt, he hurried after her. Lora had already made it down the road as he strode toward her, his long legs barely breaking a run before he reached her side and grabbed hold of her arm, whirling her toward him.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he demanded, shaking his head. Dread colored her eyes as she peered up at him, her body quivering slightly.
“You can’t keep me here!” she sputtered, trying to sound tough, but there was a tremor in her words. Tav stifled a groan, turning his head away so that she couldn’t read the disappointment in his face.
“Where did you think you were going to go?” he snapped back at her. “There’s no one up here. It’s nighttime, and you’ll freeze before you orient yourself.”
She didn’t answer, but through his peripheral vision, Tav could see that his statement had some effect on her.
She’s trying to determine if fighting the elements is worse than fighting me. I can’t believe we’ve done such a one-eighty with each other in such a short time. I’ll have to make things right between us.
“Come on,” he growled, not wanting her to think that he was soft for her. A little bit of fear was healthy in this situation, even though Tav didn’t really want to scare her. He knew that, ultimately, the bit of nervousness he instilled in her was better than whatever waited for her in town.
“I’m begging you to let me go!” Lora pleaded as Tav marched them back to the cabin. “I won’t tell anyone about this.”
Tav grunted and pushed her inside the house, locking the door with a key from the inside. Lora noticed how he secured the house, and her face turned opaque.
“How long are you going to keep me here?” she cried, tears filling her eyes. “What do you want from me?”
Tav realized he was growing annoyed with her attitude.
“I think you should have a bath and calm down,” he told her flatly, nodding for her to head upstairs. “Come on. I’ll set you up.”
He noticed the glimmer of hope in her eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking.
She thinks she’s going to climb over the balcony and run off again. She didn’t notice that I could lock those doors with a key too.
In its own way, the cabin was a fortress. Half a millennium of war and living had taught Tav enough about life that he could never be caught off guard. His house was stylish, yes, but it was also made of bullet-proof and shatter-proof glass, a state-of-the-art alarm system and locks to keep out the NSA, FBI and CIA.
He had been around the pool enough.
Lora didn’t speak another word as he led her upstairs and into the guest room she had slept in the night before. He moved into the bathroom to run the jacuzzi tub as her eyes darted around the room for means of escape.
“Go ahead,” he told her. “I’ll see if I can dredge up another one of my tracksuits.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my clothes,” she muttered, but she closed the door to the bathroom, locking him out. Sighing, Tav moved to the sliding glass door and locked the deadbolt with the key on his ring before setting the external alarm. If she tried to pick the lock or smash the window, it would not only be futile, but it would also sound a trigger to his phone.
Guilt shot through him, but Tav shoved it aside and retreated into the house, trying to determine his next move. His hope was that he could have a proper conversation with Lora after she had relaxed some, but the notion might have been a dream. After all, he didn’t really know what he was protecting Lora from, and she seemed oblivious to what the shifters were. Telling her about himself and Oliver would only serve to alarm her more, he was sure. He wouldn’t even know where to start a conversation like that. It had been so long since he had to explain his existence to anyone. Shifters were commonplace now.
First I need to dig up all I can on Oliver Church, he thought grimly, heading back to the main floor for his laptop. Then I can decide what to tell Lora.
He truly wished that there had been a different way to go about all this, but Oliver had left him no choice.
He was going to have to figure out how to protect Lora on his own terms, whether she liked it or not.
10
She waited until she was sure that Tav had retreated into the house before turning off the taps in the tub and heading out into the adjoining bedroom. Lora exhaled in relief when she saw he was gone.
Her heart had not stopped hammering from the moment he had confronted her in the hotel room, and even then, as she sank onto the foot of the bed, her pulse would not slow.