Authors: Katie Reus
form he didn’t like her resting on the uncomfortable table.
He wanted to place her on cushions.
Afraid to touch her, he reached out, his hand hovering
over her forepaw.
“It’s okay. She needs your touch.” He turned at the sound
of Dr. Shahi’s voice.
Gabriela’s parents stood in the doorway behind the
doctor, Gabriela’s petite mother glaring at him. Knowing
what an ass he was being by barging in before them, he
stood and motioned for them to enter. His throat was too
tight to speak so he just stepped back and watched as her
parents rushed to her side. Patricia, her mother, wept silent
tears as she stroked a hand down Gabriela’s forepaw. Her
father stood next to Patricia and stroked a hand down his
wife’s back.
Owen felt as if he was intruding on a private moment, but
he couldn’t force himself to leave. Gabriela’s brothers and
Skyler quietly entered the room. His sister strode toward
him and wrapped an arm around his waist, laying her head
on his shoulder. “She’s going to be okay,” Skyler said
softly, a soothing note in her voice.
“I know,” he rasped out. It didn’t take away from the horror
at the thought of losing her. His claws and canines ached to
be unsheathed. He wanted to kil those bastards al over
again with a violent intensity that rocked him to his core.
“When can we take her home?” Patricia asked.
Owen hadn’t even realized he’d growled until everyone in
the room turned to look at him. He cleared his throat. “It
would be better if she came home with me.” Yeah, he was
definitely being a territorial ass but he didn’t care. Gabriela
belonged with him and he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
“She almost died because of you,” Patricia snapped,
eyes ful of accusation and mistrust.
“It’s not his fault,” Israel said quietly, surprising Owen. “It’s
no one’s fault except the jaguar that did this to her. Owen
saved her.”
Patricia stil glared at him with dark eyes similar to
Gabriela’s. Owen knew where she got that angry stare from
now. “She’s stil not going home with you,” Patricia said, her
voice a deep growl.
Owen clenched his jaw, biting back his annoyance. It
wouldn’t do any good to argue with Gabriela’s parents,
especial y since he planned to ask her to mate with him as
soon as she was healed.
Skyler took a step forward and dropped her arm from
Owen’s waist. “Patricia, I think it might be a better option if
Gabriela goes home with Owen. There are no humans on
pack land and there’s less risk of anyone seeing us
carrying a jaguar inside Owen’s house. It’l be pretty hard to
hide her in the state she’s in now…” As Skyler’s voice
trailed off she made a soft moaning sound as if she was in
pain and clutched her stomach.
Before Owen or anyone could move, Patricia hurried
forward and looped her arm around Skyler’s shoulders.
“Honey, don’t let this stress you out. We’l let your brother
take Gabriela, but we’l be going over there with them.”
Patricia shot him a death glare, but Skyler winked at him
over her shoulder.
Owen blinked in surprise at his sister. She was devious.
God help Skyler if she had a little girl just like her. As Owen
moved to Gabriela’s stil form, he focused on the doctor.
“When can we move her?”
“Now, as long as you’re careful. I have a couple
prescriptions to give you and I’d like to talk to you in
private.” She motioned that they should step into the waiting
room and though he was loathe to leave Gabriela for even
a second, he knew she was safe. And that was al that
mattered.
Gabriela opened her eyes to the smel of food.
Hamburgers? Her stomach growled at the scent of cooking
meat. She threw the covers off and inhaled deeply. Before
going in search of the source of the smel , she stripped off
her clothes and hurried to Owen’s guest bathroom.
Ever since she’d woken up about a week ago,
completely healed from her injuries, she’d been sleeping in
Owen’s guest room. She didn’t remember being taken to
Dr. Shahi’s or directly afterward, but he’d told her that
they’d brought her back to his house so she could heal
without worrying about any humans seeing her.
In al that time Owen hadn’t touched her intimately, much
less kissed her. He’d been perfectly kind and overly
watchful, like a mother hen, but it was al so clinical and
distant. It was as if he felt guilty about what had happened
to her. That thought was worse than anything. He was
watching after her because of
guilt
. Absently she rubbed
the middle of her chest, embarrassed she’d stayed so long
at his house when she wasn’t sure he wanted her anymore.
Part of her wondered if he saw her as an obligation now.
Ethan had been scarce and Skyler was living with Israel
now—though the she-wolf had cal ed Gabriela every day
this week. So had her parents, who were insisting she
move back home immediately. Wel , her mom was
insisting. Her father had a surprisingly different opinion.
She was pretty sure she’d outstayed her welcome with
Owen and after dinner tonight, it was time to return to her
parents’ house. Though it was embarrassing to admit it
even to herself, she’d been hanging around Owen’s house
hoping against hope that things between them might turn
physical again. After that night in the cave, she knew she
didn’t want just one night with him. She wanted a heck of a
lot more. But he’d been impossibly distant and so freaking
polite it grated on her nerves. Strangers were polite to each
other and they were anything but that. But maybe he wanted
to pretend that night had never happened. Normal y she’d
have no problem going after what she wanted. But the
thought of facing his rejection had her locked down in fear.
Even if things between them never progressed any
further, she was staying in Bear Mountain. She’d quit her
job a few days ago—her bosses were
not
surprised and
they’d offered her glowing letters of recommendation—and
she’d already talked to Sharon, who told her that the
detective’s job was hers if she wanted it. Gabriela would
stil have to go to the police academy when the next class
opened up, but she would receive a few months of on-the-
job training before that. She wasn’t sure if it was something
she wanted to do forever, but she was bone tired of
traveling constantly and tired of the clandestine nature of
her work. She already had to hide what she was from
people. But she hadn’t told Owen about her job relocation
stuff yet.
That would have to wait until she figured out what had
changed between them in the past week. She didn’t want
him to think he’d affected her decision—even if he sort of
had.
After a quick shower she ran a blow dryer through her
hair and changed into black yoga pants and a matching
black tank top with a cartoon jaguar on the front. Despite
the cold outside, Owen kept his place warm and she could
scent the burning embers of the fire downstairs so she
didn’t need anything heavier. And if she was being
completely honest with herself, her yoga outfit was like a
second skin so if she was leaving tonight, she wanted him
to see everything he’d be missing.
She tossed al her clothes into the bag her mom had
brought over, then made the bed and straightened the room
before heading downstairs. The stairs led directly to a
wide-open living room so she dropped her bag by one of
the oversize couches and continued toward the kitchen.
Owen’s back was to her as he stood at the stove—
shirtless. Of course he’d be showing off al that expanse of
muscle and driving her crazy.
“I hope you’re hungry,” he said without turning around.
Unfortunately she didn’t hear any sexual undertones in
that question. She was most definitely hungry in more ways
than one. “Starving.” She leaned against the counter next to
the stove so that she faced him.
He half turned toward her and for a moment, he looked
almost pained as he met her gaze. But then his face was a
virtual mask. He flipped a burger in the pan. “How’d you
sleep?”
“Good.” She raked her gaze over his face but he didn’t
look her way.
Just kept al his concentration on those burgers. Gritting
her teeth, she headed to the stainless-steel refrigerator and
started pul ing out condiments. He didn’t like much other
than mustard on his burgers but she did. “Do you want your
bread toasted?”
“No.” His one-word answer rankled her.
Unable to take it anymore, she slammed the bottle of
ketchup down on the counter. “If you wanted me to leave, al
you had to do was ask.”
He swiveled to face her, his blue eyes narrowing slightly.
“I don’t want you to leave.”
Could have fooled her. “Then why have you been so
impossibly polite this week? I feel like we’re strangers.”
Even on their run in the woods today he’d kept his distance
and had cut it short by insisting they come back to the
house. She’d thought maybe he wanted some alone time
but nope, he’d left her here while he supposedly dealt with
pack business. If he’d been serious she wouldn’t have
minded, but she didn’t buy it.
Owen moved the pan away from the hot stove and then
turned it off before moving across the kitchen toward her.
His expression was dark, but she couldn’t figure out what
he was thinking. Her heart thumped erratical y and she had
to stop herself from wiping sweaty palms on her pants.
The only thing separating them was a wood island with a
marble countertop. Copper pots and pans hung above it
and at the moment it felt like it was a physical example of
the huge wal between them.
He placed his hands on the island counter, his knuckles
turning white as he clasped the edge. “You’ve been healing.
I didn’t want to do anything to disturb the process.”
She snorted at his formal tone. “Disturb the process?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said quietly.
“Hurt me? I’ve been healed for a week.” And so very
turned on every time she saw him. It had nothing to do with
being in heat, either. That was over and she no longer felt
that clawing, driving hunger that came every time she went
into heat. What she did feel was a very specific clawing,
driving hunger that was al focused on one man.
He took a step back from the counter and shoved his
hands in his pockets. His arm muscles flexed and she
couldn’t help but trace her gaze across the broad expanse
of his bare chest. He’d left the top button of his jeans
undone, clearly to drive her crazy. Warmth spread
throughout her body as she stared at the faint line of hair
that trailed beneath his pants. Just as quickly her nipples
beaded tight. She knew they had to be visible through her
top and when his gaze landed on her chest, she inwardly
smiled.
He stil wanted her body, at least.
But he simply took another step back. Away from her.
That’s when it hit her. They’d been alone in that cave. None
of his pack had seen them together. Then she’d kil ed that
jaguar and almost died, so it’s not like he could reject her
right away.
Coldness seeped into her veins and her throat clenched
so tight it was hard to breathe. She was just another
responsibility to him. An obligation. Turning away from him,
she made a fast exit. If she said anything else she’d start
crying and she refused to do that in front of him. She felt so
humiliated and heartbroken.
A hot tear carved a path down her cheek and she angrily
wiped it away. Grabbing her bag from the living room, she
turned and stumbled right into Owen.
His big hands settled on her upper arms, a deep frown
carving his face. “What are you doing?” he growled and she
could hear the wolf lurking in his voice.
“What does it look like?” Gabriela tried to wrench away
but found it impossible to move.
“Running away again?” There was a dark edge to his
voice.
Anger punched through her. She dropped her bag and
shoved at his chest, though he barely acknowledged the
blow. “Why should I stay when it’s obvious I’m not