Hers (Snowy Mountain Wolves) (8 page)

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16
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Kate

My heart took off. The tone of his voice, the flash in his eyes, the set of his features told me he knew, not everything, but something.

I deadpanned.

“You said ‘
like him’
twice. I also happen to know of one man who overheard an interesting conversation, yet he won’t talk. He did say you were running. Now who are you running from, Kate?”

Crap, crap, crap.

I looked around. The only exit was the stairs and Ellie had just tightened her grip on my hand. It was do or die time. Either I trusted them with the truth, or- I sighed. I knew they wouldn’t let me out of telling them.

“Talk to us, Kate.” Ellie squeezed my fingers.

“We can’t help you if you don’t open up.” Jerry watched me closely. I knew he saw every minute movement on my part.

I studied them in return. My heart seemed to crack at the edges as my lungs constricted. I’d already involved more people than I wanted. I hated that Billy and Jared were drawn into my messy web.

Looking at Jerry and Ellie, I couldn’t put my finger on it. They could clearly defend themselves, but I felt the need to protect them both from Donovan, from the unnecessary. Despite being upset with Ellie still, I couldn’t do this to them; I couldn’t bring Donovan upon them.

“Why are you shaking your head ‘no’?” Jerry asked.

Was I?

Ellie’s f
eatures turned down. Concern wrinkled her brows. Beyond that though, I sensed her hurt.

Dang it.
It seemed she would get hurt either way.

I looked to Jerry. He was so strong, a true tough guy, but I’d caught glimpses of the teddy bear. He cared. He rescued me, he protected me; he was the reason I stuck around and worked through things with Ellie. He’d already done so much for me; I couldn’t ask for more, demand for more. Telling them about Donovan would do just that: prompt them for more.

This time, I consciously shook my head negatively. I withdrew my hand from Ellie’s grip, wrapping my arms around myself.
Dang it, Donovan. I hope you rot in hell.

Jerry caught me off guard. He cupped my face, his eyes boring into mine. “We can’t help you unless you tell us.” The vein in his neck danced.

My flesh tingled beneath his hands. He was so earnest. I gave him a small smile as I secured his wrists to my palms. “I know.” I pulled on his wrists, but they didn’t budge.

A snarl echoed beside me. “Let go of her!”

Jerry ground his teeth. His eyes glowed pure golden honey as he roared, “No, dammit!”

His body began to shake. I knew my
expression unveiled my disquiet as I watched him fight for control.

Ellie shoved at him, but he didn’t move.

He growled. “Why aren’t you worried? She’s
your
fucking mate?”

My heart began to pick up its pace. If they fought, there would be nothing I could do to stop them.

Ellie invaded his space, as much as she could. “Because as long as she’s with me, I’ll protect her with my life. No one’s going to get to her as long as I’m alive.”

“And when you’re not? When you’re at work or on a run?” he pressed angrily.

His insistence had me squirming. I didn’t know if Ellie’s lack of concern or Jerry’s raging distress was more unsettling.

I frowned, watching blindly as the scene continued to unfold. Ellie had no idea who she was dealing with. Jerry didn’t either…but, in this moment, I realized something troubling. While I didn’t doubt that Ellie would protect me, I felt safer with Jerry.
He reacted exactly as Billy did.

The differences between Jerry and Ellie were
becoming more and more clear to me.

Growls bounced off the walls as my pulse caught up with my heavily thumping heart. “Stop.” I was more confused than ever,
lost as to the best answer, the best solution to all of this right now, and their pissing contest wasn’t helping me think. It didn’t matter who was right or wrong, only what was. Donovan existed. Donovan was a threat, whether they knew it or not...

“Stop!”
I cracked.

Two pairs of glowing eyes glared at me.

“You…you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

“Because you won’t tell us,” Jerry said.

Ellie cut her eyes at him. “Because it doesn’t matter.” Her statement made no sense from a police officer’s perspective. Knowing was half the battle. Knowing helped. Dang it. Knowing would help them.

“But it does.” My voice was weak, weary, much like the rest of me when it came to Donovan.

“I told you.” Jerry snarled.

“When the fuck are you going to stop telling me what to do with
my
mate?”

Jerry’s eyes
sizzled with fire as he pulled me into his arms, securing me against him. My body melted around him as fresh tears stung my eyes. I buried my face in his chest. For one brief moment, I felt impenetrable.

Until he said the one thing that would change everything
…

“Never, El. I will never stop telling you what is best for Kate. Because if you opened your fucking eyes for one
goddam minute, just long enough to stop being so damned sadistic, selfish and fucking self-righteous, you’d realize that she’s my mate too!”

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Dear Reader,

Let me start by saying I hate cliffhangers.
(Sorry! Hypocritical, I know.) Trust me, I fought this one; I argued with the characters (mentally) for a while and then I proceeded to battle the words on the screen, trying to morph them into the bow-tied ending I always crave in a book or series, but, alas, it just wouldn’t work. The characters were right. This story had to be broken up for optimum relay. That last line wouldn’t have had quite the same effect if there was a man and woman on the cover and the title was
Theirs
rather than
Hers
. And Jerry deserved such a rise.

As for why, he’s being more than generous with his point of view in the next book. I hope you’ll stick around for the next title. Jerry would like you to.
It’s already in the process of being written. Barring all characters cooperate, the book should be released in October 2013.

Until then…
~
Christin

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