Page 32 of Witchblood

“As am I. Toby is a good kid. I understood why they wanted to save him.”

“But when he wouldn’t stay human you didn’t put him down.”

“No,” Liam agreed, “I didn’t.”

“Because you thought I was coming?” Wasn’t that just a huge weight on my shoulders? How many times did I have to prove to people that I couldn’t save anyone? Not even myself.

“No, because I believe in Toby. He is strong willed. I can feel it in him. His wolf is very strong. His human side more agreeable, less argumentative. I was thinking that over time they could come to an agreement. His wolf doesn’t want him to die, and Toby doesn’t want to die, so while they still argue about who gets the reins, they both behave. I think that much like you, they both need time. I can give him that.”

“Korissa said he’d attacked other wolves.”

“Sometimes. Our pack has a lot of dominants as most packs do. Most of them see Toby as weak. His wolf takes offense to that. Not a good way to survive, but the wolf is a simple animal. He isn’t a submissive wolf. His human is just more…relaxed than most dominant wolves.”

Liam strode toward a black SUV, paused and frowned down at Toby. “You can’t come, even if I’d like to have you around to guard Sebastian. You don’t look enough like a dog to pass around humans.”

“Sebastian doesn’t need a guard,” I said indignantly. Toby huffed, then stalked back to my camper, apparently finding the bottom of my entry as his new favorite resting spot. “That’s what the wards are for.” He didn’t need to guard my home. I wondered how Robin would react to having a werewolf, in wolf form, keeping an eye on unusual happenings. “It’s not haunted,” I told Toby, just in case he saw something move in a window that made him try to get in. “I have a cat. He’s not really dog friendly.”

Toby just dropped down in front of my door again, putting his head on his paws.

“I feel like no one listens to me,” I said to the air. Liam opened the passenger side door of the SUV for me. “I’m not a princess,” I grumbled. “Opening doors and posting guards…” I stepped to pass him and climb in anyway, but he stopped me, first with a hand on my arm and then a grip on the back of my neck, pulling me to him. His lips met mine in a kiss that was sweet, quick, and yet mind blowing. I sputtered for thought when he let me go.

“Sometimes I think you talk, want people to hear you, but you distract others with your words. You never actually say what you feel. Toby feels safe around you, at peace. Let him be peaceful. I desire you. It’s okay if that makes you uncomfortable right now. We have time. I will only take the steps that you’re ready for.” His lips touched mine again, only this time it was a graze. He rested his forehead against mine for a minute, staring down into my eyes. “I listen. Both to what you say and what you don’t say, Sebastian Volkov.”

Liam stepped away and went around the truck to get in the driver’s side. I finally cleared my sleep and kiss addled brain enough to get in and yank the door shut. I clicked the seatbelt into place and stared at Liam as he started the SUV. He didn’t look at me, though there was a small smile on his lips.

My mind raced with the things he said and so much more. The idea of making a life here…

But first we had to figure out what was really going on here. Would I ever feel safe without knowing? Was it Felix? Or something else?

“I’ve been thinking,” I told him after we’d pulled away from his house and the fog of desire from the kiss had faded.

“About?”

“The wolves who attacked me. You would have known if they were yours through pack ties and Felix doesn’t seem to be the type to inspire loyalty. So what is their roll in this?” Why come after me? Had it been a fluke?

“We don’t know they are involved with Felix at all,” Liam pointed out. “Just because he knows you’re here, doesn’t mean he did before the attack.”

“So it was just my bad luck to have run into them?” I really tried not to be paranoid and think the world was out to get me, but somehow it kept working out that way.

“Maybe.”

“Or maybe not.” I’d been wondering something for a while.Apaoften set up packs in territories where there were a lot of wolves. Unfortunately, sometimes that meant displacing an alpha who’d already taken a pack for himself. Not all of them were fit for the job, or soApaassured me. Ousting them wouldn’t make friends for the new alpha, unless he happened to be strong enough to make them all submit and the other alpha was looking for someone to guide them. Alphas in general didn’t take orders from others well. “What happened to the alpha of this territory when you came?”

“He challenged me,” Liam answered.

“And you won,” else he wouldn’t be sitting here. “Did you kill him?”

Liam glanced my way, a frown creasing his brow.

“You didn’t kill him.” Alpha fights for dominance usually ended in death, especially when a pack was on the line.

“I offered him a place in my pack. He refused. I gave him twenty-four hours to leave the area.”

“And others left with him?” Or had he found other strays to rule?

“A few,” Liam agreed.

“You didn’t recognize them when they attacked me?”