Page 36 of Same Thing

There was tension in his shoulders, and she came to stand beside him. It smelled heavily of smoke.

“Is this where you do bonfires?” she asked. “Human sacrifices?” she joked.

“You wanted to know me,” he said in a gruff voice. “Well, this is my memory box.”

She didn’t understand, but when she looked back at the mess, she could see it. A home had stood here once. The outer shape was loosely rectangular. Beyond the debris was an old barn that had been demolished. The nose of an old, smashed car stuck out of the destroyed door.

Nory’s throat clogged with emotion. “This is your home?”

“It was.” He inhaled deeply. “I’ve gone through everything, dug around, but almost all of my belongings are burned past recognition.

“What happened to it?”

“Police said it’s just an accidental fire, but it wasn’t an accident. I think my last Alpha set it on fire. There are so many start up points, and some kind of fire starter was dumped everywhere. I can smell it still.”

“How could the police not see that?”

“They don’t care. I don’t either. They were only called for insurance stuff. I needed a case number. Look,” he said turning toward her, “I can sense the worry coming off you, but you don’t have to let this get to you. I have it handled. We have insurance geared toward what I am. It’s good, and I’m in the process ofall the paperwork and figuring out what contractor to hire to rebuild it.”

“This is why you were at the apartments.”

Liam crossed his arms over his chest. “It wasn’t my first choice. None of the others were taking me, and it had a month-to-month lease option. I’ll move back in here as soon as there is a frame, roof, and walls. I don’t mind living in a construction zone. It’s how I grew up. I just needed a little place to sleep, and get away from all the shit here, you know?”

There was a heaviness in his voice that tugged at her heart.

She had problems with Jackson, sure, but this man’s home had burned to the ground, along with all of his belongings, and it was a new thing. There hadn’t even been time to catch his breath, and here he was, bringing her here to give her sanctuary from the stalking stuff that was happening in her human world.

He had nothing to give, but he was giving her what he could, and that was another brick in the foundation of a damn good man.

Her care for him grew in this moment. Her desire for him, her trust in him, her respect for him grew too. He was letting her in.

Nory stepped closer and slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his ribs and just stood like that until he slowly slid his arm around her and hugged her in closer. She didn’t know how long they stood like that, staring out over the rubble of his life, but the tension left his body slowly.

He turned his head suddenly, and froze, then told her, “We need to go.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Nate is coming, and by the speed he’s going, he’s probably pissed. I don’t want to do it today.”

“Nate is one of your Pack,” she said, trying to remember the names of his Pack members he’d listed on the way here.

“He’s my Second.” Liam grabbed her hand and led her toward his truck, not rushing, but not wasting time either.

“Second Pack? How many Packs are you in?”

“I’ll explain later,” he gritted out as he opened her door for her.

A white pickup truck was heading right for them, and she nearly screamed as he slammed on his brakes and skidded sideways toward them, spraying dirt. A plume of dust enveloped her and Liam, and he was just…gone. Liam had disappeared.

Through the dust, she could see two men fighting. They were yelling something she couldn’t understand, and the roaring in her ears was overwhelming as she looked at how close Nate’s truck was to her. It had settled just a couple of feet away.

She’d almost just died.

“Have you lost your mind?” an unfamiliar voice wrenched up. “You’re in the middle of Arrangements, man!”

“Stop. Talking!” Liam roared, then grabbed the man by the back of the neck and dragged him toward Nory and shoved his face near his truck. “If you ever come that close to her with anything again, I will kill you!” His yelling echoed across the woods.

He shoved Nate forward and placed himself between the dark-haired, gold-eyed stranger and Nory.