Page 29 of Found Objects

I lifted my head and was myself again, or at least in the human form I’d come to think of as myself over the centuries. I was about to head up the stairs and go inside when Tuss and eight others came running down with Cole and other Swann Pack members chasing after them. Clearly, the Haviland heir had not understood that when you attacked people in their homes and threatened their families, they would fight to the death. It didn’t hurt that Cole, not Abel, was leading the pack members. His strength fortified them, whether they were aware of that fact or not.

Seeing the two men dead on the grass jolted them all, I saw it on their faces, but I gave no one a moment to think. Feigning fear, I bolted toward the trees after the children. Tuss and the others followed me. They had no choice; I alone had killed two of their brethren, so I had to pay with my life.

I flew over ground I knew well, keeping them close instead of using my normal speed. I needed them to be able to see me. It wasn’t a long run, or I never would have told the kids to make it without me. We were off the land that belonged to the Swann Pack and onto mine in minutes. It was funny, but I saw the female black bear and her two cubs that lived on my land, and I could have sworn she shot me a look, as if wondering what I was doing out so late tearing around like a lunatic. She much preferred me in my true form. I was quiet then.

I turned after seeing her, and found, as expected, nine men lying face down in the long grass. Moving quickly, I took all their weapons from them, then waited for the pack to join me.

“Mere!” I heard Cole call out. Funny that he shortened my name just as most people who knew me well did.

My heart gave a lurch that wasn’t at all normal for me, and I worried about it for a moment before he came into view. He was bloody and bruised, shirt torn, with slash marks that I knew he could heal but were still hard to see.

“Are you all right?” he rasped when he reached me, cupping my face and checking me over, the concern clear in his voice.

“I’m fine.” I knew then and there that I was going to need to explain to him precisely what I was, because if I didn’t, it would feel like lying. “Are you?”

“I’m a wolf, I can heal this.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt,” I said, gently putting my hand on his cheek.

He leaned into my palm a moment, then stepped forward into my space and buried his face in my shoulder, arms around me, clutching tight. I hugged him back, letting him feel my strength so he knew I could care for him.

I had the overwhelming urge to tell him everything about myself right that second. Normally, I justified not showing people what I was as a concern for the sanity of mortals, because not everyone could take that kind of shocking reveal and not have a mental breakdown. But Cole was a wolf, something that also was normally kept hidden, so not trusting him to handle something he dealt with every day was irrational. But to show him right then didn’t seem like I’d be doing him any favors either. One surprise at a time seemed kinder.

“Mere,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

But I didn’t want to stare into his face and see uncertainty there, or maybe even fear. If he wasn’t sure of me, he couldn’t very well trust me.

“Mere,” he whispered again.

I looked up and saw his smile.

“You protected all the kids. You were amazing.”

I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until I saw the warmth in the depths of his eyes. And all of it was for me.

“When this is over, we’re going to have a talk, you and I.”

It was the worst idea ever.

“Say yes to me.”

But absolutely no good could come from this flirtation, and⁠—

His hand was around my throat so fast I gasped. Not from fear, but excitement.

“I’ve never felt like this before, so I need to figure out what—” His voice cracked, and he took a deep breath through his nose. “—this is.”

I took a couple steps back from him, out of his reach. “It’s just the adrenaline,” I assured him. “The others are close, so⁠—”

“It’s not that at all, and you know it.”

But I didn’t have time to say another word before the rest of the pack crossed onto my land, joining us to stand over the fallen men. Their expressions said it all—they had murder on their minds.

“Wait,” I warned them, but it was too late. Several of them suddenly dropped to the ground beside their attackers.

It made no difference to the boundary I’d drawn whether a death was warranted or not, necessary or not. Violence was violence, be it due to hunting or revenge for the death of innocents.

I felt terrible that I was causing these men and women any additional pain as I turned to look at Cole…who was smiling.