“I do not,” she murmured as she went back to drawing pictures on the water. Hearts this time. “Not if it’s for good reason.”
“Vengeance is good reason?”
“When it has to do with you, yes.” When she lifted those emerald green eyes to his, the smile had disappeared from her face. There was no humor in her face at all when she said, “I would do awful things to keep you safe.”
“So would I,” he said low.
“I know.”
“No…you don’t. And hopefully you never have to find out how far I would go to keep you safe. Hopefully, I don’t ever get pushed into defending you. No one would survive.”
He brushed his fingertips across the gooseflesh that had risen on her arm. His touch trailed water, and the drops raced down her arm and dripped back into the bath. “Does that scare you?”
“No.”
“Then why the chills?”
She intertwined her fingers in his and sighed, and there it was. There was that heart-stopping smile again. “Because all my life I thought I would never find someone like you.”
Kade drew her knuckles to his lips and lingered there for a few moments. “You’ll never be alone now.”
Never again. He would make sure of it.
Chapter Eighteen
Kade woke up in the dark to his shoulder throbbing. He’d had trouble sleeping all night, trying to find a comfortable position. Trina didn’t want to leave his side, so it was both of them in a full-sized bed and him trying not to wake her with his movements. He’d taken a pain killer Rike had put on the night stand. He didn’t even want to know what pharmacy he probably robbed to get it. It was a brand-new bottle of the good stuff. Knowing Rike, he’d probably enjoyed stealing this. Or maybe he just had an extra bottle of it lying around from a backache. But probably not. The Blackwood crows were and always would be outlaws. Secretly, he fucking loved them.
Kade stared up at the ceiling in the early morning light that filtered through the window. When he looked over at Trina, he was stunned all over again. Not a stitch of make-up on, and she still stole his breath away. Blond hair fanned out across his pillow, lips slightly parted, tiny frown furrowing her perfectly arched eyebrows. Dark eyelashes that rested on her cheeks, and the cutest little pixie nose.
God, he loved her. Everything about her. She was so different from anyone he’d ever known. He still couldn’t believe she’d picked him. He was the luckiest sonofabitch on the whole planet.
His shoulder had a heartbeat. The pain meds had probably worn off. He gritted his teeth and sat up gingerly. No new blood on the bandages so that was good. One-handed, Kade scrubbed his hand down his face. Two more days. He needed to rush this healing so he could be there for the Wulfe Clan war. No way in hell was he going to let Trina and his brothers fight without him.
Thankfully, being a monster had its benefits. Like he healed faster than any other shifter he knew. And shifters already healed fast. He shrugged his arm up and down, testing it. No broken bones that he could tell. He was a little black and blue, but he’d be all right. No pain meds necessary anymore. He didn’t like the way they made him feel. They dulled his senses.
And he needed all pistons firing to keep his ears on the wolves that were watching the house from the woods. He heard two of them all night, sniffing around. Wulfe Clan spies probably, but why did they need eyes on the house? The date and time had been set for the fight. Something was happening, and the thing about wolves was this—they didn’t hunt like other predators. They came at prey unexpectedly and from all sides. Trying to guess what a wolf would do was pointless. He didn’t like the wolves in the woods, but he was in no shape to go hunt those dick-wads down.
His phone was across the room on a charger, but Trina’s was right there on the little table beside his bed. She probably had an alarm set for work today. He would be going with her just to make sure she was safe. He picked it up and checked the time. Five fifteen in the morning. Damn, it was early. An image flashed across the screen, but he wasn’t about looking at his girl’s messages so he set the phone down and stood. And then he frowned at the wall because that flash of image was burned into his mind now. It was a man in a blindfold. A familiar man.
A sick feeling drifted through him like poisonous fog. He sat on the edge of the bed and lifted the phone, opened the image, and muttered a curse.
It was Cooper, Trina’s dad, hog tied, blindfolded, and gagged.
There was a long-ass text message from Darius.
I told you, bitch. You don’t know who the fuck you’re talking to. You’ll bring Kade to me in exchange for your father. There will be no war, just an even trade. He’s a wolf in my territory, with no permission from my Clan to even exist here. And now he’s bested my Second. I own him. Noon at the Wulfe Clubhouse. One minute late, and Cooper dies. If you show anyone this message, Cooper dies. If you bring anyone with you other than that fuckin’ wolf, Cooper dies. Involve the police, Cooper dies. You a daddy’s girl, Trina? I had a step-daughter once. Treacherous little beasts, you are. But I think you have a heart for this one. I won’t make it pretty. His death will be with a blade, and it’ll be slow. And either way, I’ll get my wolf. Do the right thing. See you soon.
Clenching his teeth, Kade set the phone back down as gently as he could because, right now, he felt like chucking it against the wall just to hear the satisfying shatter.
Barely in control of his breathing, Kade glanced at Trina. She stretched her legs in her sleep, restless, probably because he was filling the room up with his rage. You a daddy’s girl, Trina? Fuck Darius for threatening the only family she had left. Trina was Kade’s to protect, and her people fell under his umbrella of protection, too. He’d seen Cooper’s black eye. Seen the rage twisting his face behind the blindfold.
Fuck!
Kade stood, made his way to the chair in the corner, and grabbed his darkest jeans and a black T-shirt that would hide any blood from his shoulder. He scribbled a quick note to Trina on a piece of computer paper, folded it, and left it on the bedside table. And then made his way out the door. He checked Trina just before he closed it. Sleeping soundly again. Angel.
He needed to do this quickly before she woke up. Yeah, they were a team, but things were different when family was at risk. Kade had an awful flashback of his dad hurt on the couch after that bad fight, and how every fiber of his being had wanted to help him no matter what. Trina wouldn’t think straight in a fight like this.
He had to fix it, and fast.
The house was dark except the kitchen where Ethan was making a bowl of oatmeal. “Where are you going?” he asked without turning around.
“None of your business.”
His back to Kade, Ethan poured honey into his breakfast and stirred it around. He was already dressed for the day.
“Everyone still asleep?” Kade asked nonchalantly as he pulled his boots on by the door.
“The girls are.”
He glared at his back suspiciously. He was wearing black jeans and a black Harley shirt. Outside, it was still dark. “Why are you dressed?”
Ethan turned and brought two bowls straight for Kade and handed him one.
“What’s this?”
“Breakfast. Momma Crow brought some medicine that’s supposed to speed your healing. It’s for shifters only. Black market stuff. You’re welcome.”
Kade sniffed the bowl of oatmeal. “Smells like shrimp shit.”
“Bon appétit.” Ethan clinked spoons with Kade’s. Annoying.
“I’m not eating this. It’ll put me to sleep.”
Ethan rolled his eyes before he took a big spoonful of Kade’s breakfast and then shoved it in his maw. He pulled a face as he chewed it. “It’s not a sleeping potion, ya dunce. It’s to help you fight today.”
Kade narrowed his eyes. “The war isn’t for another two days,” he said carefully.
Ethan snorted. “You’re a Blackwood—”