She nodded.
“As for the Daonain culture… Shifters, especially cats, are curious. Wolves stick their noses into anything having to do with pack members. In comparison, humans hide their bodies and emotions. Perhaps because of our animals, Daonain show more and worry about it less.”
“That’s…the most coherent explanation I’ve heard.”
He grinned. “When I went to live in Seattle, human behavior surprised me every day. After being there for a decade, now I can find it bumpy to be among shifters. So I do understand some of what you and the other hostages are experiencing.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Did the alpha figure that into his calculations when he assigned me to you?”
Smart females were so fucking appealing. “Shay weighs things out before he acts.”
“I bet you two are a lot alike.” Her shoulders straightened—and, aye, being a healthy male, he enjoyed the wobble of her full breasts. He could almost feel the weight of them in his palms.
No, mentor.
Pulling in a determined breath, she touched her ankle. “To answer your question, my ankle was broken soon after they let us out of the basement laboratories. We were weeding one of the vegetable gardens. Barbara—my friend—had never gardened. After a guard backhanded her for pulling a broccoli seedling, she was too scared to move. I got caught whispering to her, and the guard started hitting me with his cane. When I begged for him to stop, another guard joined in.”
A decade ago. Meggie couldn’t have been much older than thirteen. Tynan’s lingering guilt over killing Scythe guards disappeared. “The second guard broke your ankle?”
“I’m not sure which of them did.” Her hand tightened on her leg. “Darcy yelled at them. Shoved them away. They beat her—horribly—and came back to me. I guess I was an example to the others. By the time they finished, I had a lot of broken bones.”
Unable to speak past the growl in his throat, he watched as she unconsciously touched the long scar on her face, her arms, her ribs, her legs.
“The uniforms locked me and Darcy up for days. Left us. I’m still surprised we survived.”
“I’m glad you did.” Uniforms? A sick taste fouled Tynan’s mouth. Was that what she thought when she looked at him when he was dressed as a deputy? That he could be the type to brutalize children and females?
Fuck him, but he wasn’t going to let her continue to think that way. Not about uniforms. Not about him.
“Come, Meggie. It’s getting late. Time to head back to town.”
A while later, Tynan watched the little female as she followed him through an unmelted patch of snow. Her gait had slowed. She held her left hind leg off the ground—obviously because it hurt.
Despite his order earlier, she hadn’t said anything about growing tired or hurting. Next time, he’d watch her more closely…and choose a shorter route.
At the clearing outside the Wild Hunt caves, he paused so she could get a good sniff and orient herself. She understood, and her tail wagged as she looked around. Next time, he’d make her prove she could find the lodge and the tavern portals again.
Once in the cave, he sniffed out their clothing. Donal had stuffed the bundles into one of the carved-out cubbies in the rock walls. Good brother.
Tynan trawsfurred and winced. Bare feet on an ice-cold cave floor.
After shifting to human, Meggie stood, keeping her weight on her good leg. Her smile was so bright she could have brought an early spring to the mountains. “That was wonderful. I learned so much. Thank you!”
He leaned against the cave wall as interest heated his blood. Not because she was a naked female—although, she really was lovely—but the way she took joy in the simplest things was incredibly appealing.
“I’m glad you enjoyed the run.” Smiling, he pointed out her clothing and started dressing. “Are you off tomorrow?”
“In the afternoon. Will that work for you?” She sat on a bench to pull on her jeans. Because her left leg probably wouldn’t hold her weight by itself.
Pity made his heart ache.
“Late afternoon will work well.” He set the rest of her clothing beside her so she wouldn’t have to stand again, then pulled on his jeans.
“Meggie, I can see you’re in pain.” He kept his voice soft. “Next time, tell me when your ankle begins to hurt. We should have stopped earlier.”
As he waited for her answer, he donned and buttoned his shirt.
“It’s not that bad. It’s that—” After looking up, she jumped to her feet and backed away. Her hands were in fists.
He turned and saw no predator in the cave. A sniff confirmed his visual check.
No, she was staring…at him. At his uniform shirt and badge. By Herne’s hooves and antlers. He’d hoped their time together would remove her fear of him.
But once again—because of his uniform—she acted like he was a Scythe guard. Perhaps he should be grateful he’d left his firearm and weapons belt locked in his vehicle.
“Meggie,” he said gently. “I wear this shirt and badge because I’ve sworn to protect people. The opposite of what the Scythe did.”
“Sure, sure. I know that.” She took another step away from him.
But her hands were fisted, her muscles tensed. She was as likely to punch him as to run.
He doubted she realized that. How much rage did she have stored inside? Oftentimes, a victim would blindly lash out, not at their abuser, but at another who’d triggered the response. If Meggie attacked someone in law enforcement, she’d get locked up—and being a shifter, might well die in a jail cell.
Even more terrifying, if she lost control and trawsfurred in front of humans, the Cosantir would have her killed for endangering the Daonain.
The world was filled with uniforms. She needed to get past this reaction and quickly.
He pointed to the bench. “Finish getting dressed, please, so we can leave.” Giving her space, he walked to the cave opening and waited with his back to her.
“I’m done.” She was standing by the bench. Still pale. “I’m…sorry.”
“We’ll talk about it another time. Let me show you how to access the doors in and out of the cave.” He climbed the stairs. The heavy door at the top opened into a closet. After showing her how to operate the locking mechanism from the other side, he took her through the sitting room. “The door from the hallway is always locked unless there’s a Gathering here.”
He demonstrated how to work the combination-lock and made sure she had the code memorized.
“Good.” Past the tiny kitchen, restrooms, and the stairs to the second floor Gathering rooms, the hallway opened into the main tavern.
It was late with only a few people remaining. Probably expecting Tynan’s report on the new pack member, Shay and Zeb were talking to Donal by the fireplace. Calum was behind the bar. Ryder was playing chess with Thorson. No humans were in the room.
Perfect. If needed, the alpha could help calm Meggie.
If Tynan pushed her too far.
His gut tensed a protest at what he was about to do.
“Donal’s here so we’ll give you a ride home.” Tynan stepped closer to Meggie.
“No.” As he’d expected, she jerked back. She stumbled on her sore ankle. “I’ll bike.”