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An angry growl startled me from my thoughts and it took me a second to recognize it was Trent. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” a low voice denied and my forehead wrinkled as I tried to figure out who he was talking too.

“Like hell you do. You were headed straight for the Hanley line,” he accused and in the silence that followed I deduced he must have interpreted the situation correctly. After a minute, it dawned on me who the other person was; the voice had been feminine, and the only female who’d been out hunting for Monster was Anna.

“Until you stopped me,” she snapped and I was positive it was Anna.

“Yes, I stopped you because it was suicide.”

“We needed to know if they had him,” she argued in a whisper shout. “Time was of the essence. No telling what they’d do to a little boy.”

“Initiate him into the pack. That’s what they would have done.” He paused as I wondered what he meant by initiate. “You know what they would have done to you if you’d been caught?” The silence was loud as Anna refused to answer. “They would have beat you, raped you, and done their best to break you.” I heard his throat clear as I leaned further out the window to hear his words. “You are a magnificent wolf, Anna, but you are just one wolf. You can’t go against a pack like that alone.”

“I just wanted to see if I caught his scent. If they’d come onto our land. Grabbed him.”

“I can appreciate that, but this isn’t the place for lone wolf shit,” Trent told her.

Anna snorted, “Said by the only lone wolf here.”

His next words were so low I almost missed them. “Not by choice.”

“I came to check on Jess and Monster,” Anna said quietly. “Then I’ll go home.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I wasn’t asking,” he said sharply and I heard Anna suck in a sharp breath. “I don’t trust you and the last thing we need is you getting kidnapped. It would destroy what’s left of the Pack.”

“You act like you know us,” Anna retorted angrily. “But you’re not Pack.”

“I know. Trust me, I’ve been made well aware I’m not Pack, but you know what? I can see things just a bit clearer than you because of that fact. And I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure you or anyone else doesn’t destroy it because of stupidity.” Anna made a choked sound and he sighed. “Let’s go. You can check on the kid in the morning.”

Only a light scrape against the concrete told me they’d left as I eased my window shut. I glanced once more at Monster, grateful they’d found him and Trent had stopped Anna from making a dangerous mistake. I crossed to the bed and smoothed a dark copper lock off his forehead. There had to be a way to fix the broken bonds that surrounded us. Otherwise, I was afraid we might not survive the coming days.

***

The morning light streaming through my window caused me to blink. It took a second to realize it was late, really late. I shot up as I checked the time on my alarm, wondering why it hadn’t gone off.

“Your dad turned it off.”

I’d like to say the reason I didn’t shriek was because I’d instinctively known he was there, but that would be a lie. Instead, I blinked at him bleary eyed and repeated dumbly, “He did?”

The brilliant smile he gave me did nothing to get my brain working as I stared at him in stunned admiration. It wasn’t often I got a full smile from him and my barely awake brain didn’t know what to do with it.

“I think I like seeing you first thing in the morning,” he murmured, bracing his forearms on the bed as he leaned over me. His lips skimmed my cheek and I frantically tried to decide if bad breath was worth the risk when he added, “You’re much quieter than I expected.”

I smacked his chest and exhaled right in his face, deciding he deserved a shot of morning breath after that comment. His chest rumbled as he rolled over onto the bed next to me.

“Why are you in such a good mood?” I asked rhetorically, dragging the covers back over my arms as I snuggled back into the bed. If Dad had shut the alarm off then I was taking full advantage.

“Because I’m in bed with my favorite girl?”

“Only girl,” I corrected, grinning up at him.

“Only girl,” he echoed.

“And why are you in bed with me and not at school?”

“It’s Friday,” he offered in explanation, crossing his arms behind his head as he laid back and giving me a great view of his biceps.