Aaron drew back like he’d been slapped. “Where are you living?”
Wyatt handed Harper a sweater and told him, “We moved to the cabin at the top of the hill. The one against the cliffs.”
Aaron settled his confused frown on Alana and pulled her tightly against his side. Then he murmured to Harper, “But you love ten-ten.”
“And I always will, but Weston thinks there is good mojo in here.”
“Harper—”
“If Alana is to find sanctuary here, it’ll be in ten-ten,” Weston said from behind them. He was buttoning up a pair of jeans, and when he looked up, his eyes were black as pitch instead of the bright green she’d seen in them earlier. “Aaron, you didn’t grow up in Damon’s Mountains, and you didn’t see what that old trailer did for the mates. You think the original ten-ten gained fame because of ghost stories, but there was something about it. Something beyond this world that kept people safe. I knew these mountains were special the second I saw those numbers on the door. Your mate’s neck has the bite of a vampire, and from what I’m guessing, things could’ve gone very differently tonight. If there’s any chance of putting any good vibes on Alana, ten-ten is my vote.”
Aaron’s voice softened as he murmured, “I thought you were against me pairing up.”
Weston huffed a hollow sound. “I wasn’t scared of you pairing up, Aaron. You’ve picked someone fragile, though, and I don’t want you losing her.”
Weston turned to leave, but that last comment pissed Alana off. “I’m not fragile,” she said, steel in her voice.
Weston shook his head, but didn’t turn around as he said, “Not for long.”
“What does that mean?” Alana asked.
Aaron’s eyes were a frosty blue as he watched Weston disappear into the night. “Nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing. Suddenly none of the shifters in 1010 would meet her gaze anymore, and there was something big and unspoken hanging in the air between them. Something that festered and grew heavier with every moment she waited for an explanation they refused to share.
After all she’d been through tonight, she deserved the whole story, and once again, she was being shut down. Fine. She wasn’t going to stand in here like a bump on a log waiting for answers that wouldn’t come. “Where’s the bathroom,” she gritted out. Damn her voice as it shook, but she was angry.
“Through there,” Harper said, gesturing to a bedroom. “There’s a first aid kit under the sink.”
“Thank you.” Alana yanked the strap of her tote bag from Aaron’s shoulder and made her way out of the living room.
“I’ll help,” Aaron murmured, but Alana shut the bathroom door before he reached her.
If he was going to shut her down, she wouldn’t share this part with him. This was hers to privately endure so she could wrap her head around all that had happened tonight. Alana slid her back down the cabinets and squeezed her eyes closed as her face fell. She prided herself on being a tough, independent woman, but tonight she’d gone through hell. Tonight everything had changed. Tonight had taken her on the highest highs, the lowest lows, and everywhere in between, and nothing but a good cry would make her feel better.
And if Aaron’s answers to her questions were riddled with “nothings,” then he wasn’t allowed to see her vulnerable side.
****
Aaron paced outside the bathroom, ran his hand through his hair, and then strode to the door, determined to escape. He couldn’t. Couldn’t move another step away from her, couldn’t lose himself to Bear right now. Not when that soft sniffle sounded through the door. It ripped him apart. She wasn’t the type of woman he would be able to protect by hiding the truth, and he’d been an idiot to forget that.
What the hell was he doing?
He’d been on autopilot since he’d heard her scream his name, scream for help. The sound of terror in Alana’s voice would never leave his memory as long as he walked this earth. It would replay in his nightmares over and over because he’d thought he was going to be too late. Aric had gotten too damn close to her. The rules for vampires were the same as for shifters. Legally, they could Turn one person, but only with consent, and only when choosing a mate. Alana would’ve been legally bound to Aric if he would’ve Turned her. All he had to do was convince Alana and the court that his draining her and raising her from the dead had been consensual. And he could’ve done it! Aric possessed the power of mind control.
“Fuck,” Aaron muttered, clenching his shaking hands. The constant snarl in his chest was unavoidable now.
What was he supposed to do? Alana was crying, and he was teetering on the edge of his control. All he wanted was to hold her, but she’d shut him out, and he had no fucking clue how to make his woman happy.
He was the oldest of the Bloodrunners, in his thirties, and when the mating bond hadn’t happened with any of the girls he’d dated through his twenties, he’d assumed he wasn’t meant to be paired up. It happened to lots of shifters, so he’d just accepted it. Accepted that he would watch his friends find mates and be a good uncle to their kids instead of getting to raise his own. And then Alana had come along, and the pull of the bond had been instant—like slamming into a brick wall at full speed. There had been no slowing down or avoiding it. It was almost as if she’d been there all along, arms open wide, just waiting for him to crash into her.