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“Help me with the bags,” Walden ordered me, cataloguing Tully’s shivering body like he was committing her to memory.

Like he knew her better than I did. As if she belonged to him.

I’d known Tully was mine before I’d even scented her, but now? There was no doubt I would do anything to keep her with me. Tully quivered in the low light of the streetlamps as we carried her bags over to the car. I picked my way around thedamp puddles. Pride surged inside me at her quiet strength. But she wasn’t alone, she’d never be alone again.

“Miss Hartlock, Miss Hartlock, are the rumors true?”

“Why are you with Baylark Pack?”

A light drizzle covered all of us in a fine sheen of cold mist as we rushed past.

“Miss Hartlock isn’t answering questions right now.” Ajax tossed them an affable smile and shooed them away. He stayed back to make sure they didn’t follow.

A sharp gust blew down the street and Tully winced, curling close to me unconsciously. I’d take it, even if it was just to find respite from the wind.

“Hop in the car, Tully. You’re coming home with us.” Walden tipped his head with the order.

It was beyond presumptuous, but Tully melted into me and nodded against my chest. Walden was taut with the desire to herd Tully into our waiting car and care for her. It reeked out of Walden’s pores; the sharp line of his clenched jaw and the worried way his gaze tracked her damp clothes. Tully’s cheeks dusted with the most beautiful pink.

“I don’t know what to say.” Her clear blue eyes were hazy with worry as she blinked away a line of rapidly forming tears.

“Take all the time you need. You’re safe with us.”

“I-it would only be for one night. Until I organize something else.” She chewed her lip. “I could call Clay.” She whispered under her breath with a shudder.

I met Walden’s eyes over her shoulder. The hunger that flared in his gaze burned my insides. Tully would stay with us, but she wouldn’t be gone within a day. Now she was in my grasp, I didn’t know if I could let her go.

“Clay? Is he a boyfriend?” Walden demanded, and I frowned at the jealousy in his tone.

“N-no, he’s just someone who was kind enough to help me.”

“That’s our job now.” Walden ground his teeth together. “Is this everything you have?”

Tully looked up at the sky, her teeth cutting a groove into her bottom lip. She tossed her hair behind her ears with a frustrated noise.

“I don’t have much.” She winced.

“I need to speak with Ajax and make a few calls. Get in the car and get warm,” Walden said.

Tully stared at him for a beat before she peeled off Walden’s jacket and held it out, but he waved her off.

“Keep it, please.”

Her eyes flashed with grateful relief, but the tremors in her body multiplied. I urged her over to the car with a sweep of my arm. Tully let me bundle her with a soft sigh. I peeled off my sweater and wrapped it around her knees. It was the best I could offer until we got to our house.

“I can’t believe it’s really you,” I blurted out.

Everything about her mesmerized me. The subtle shift as Tully snuggled underneath the clothing. My pulse hammered. Her hand snapped out and wrapped around mine. In the small confines of the car, her scent was dizzying. It spiked, like figs pried open and gorged on, the remains rotting in the sun. The curve of her neck called to me, needing me to run my nose down the unmarred skin. If I wasn’t sitting, my knees would have buckled.

Tully was here, and she reached forme.

“My head is spinning right now. I c-can’t think.” She shifted a little closer as her body sought mine.

I squeezed our joined hands, leaning forward. Walden paced outside the car, uncaring of the light rain. He and Ajax kept tossing us hungry, impatient looks, but I knew they wouldn’t come until they destroyed every bit of evidence of Tully from the paparazzi that remained.

“I’ll do whatever you need to help you feel safe. I-I meant what I said over the phone. My feelings might seem crazy, but they’re real.”

It was scarier in person to crack my ribcage into wings and offer her my beating heart. Scary, but impossible to pretend. I thanked the gods for leading me to this moment. If Tully rejected me, I could be her friend. It might require some heart stomping, head smacking, and gut rearranging. But I would do anything for her. I wanted to tell Tully exactly that, but how can you spill your soul without sounding like a complete lunatic?