Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)(8)

He pressed his lips together, and something passed across his face, an  evasiveness that told her that she was wrong. "Partially."

She stiffened. He'd been selected for another reason, a reason he wasn't planning to share. "What haven't you told me, Jace?"

He grimaced. "I was orphaned as a young boy when my parents were killed  in a car crash. I was thrown from the car and left to die, but Grigori's  father found me and brought me into the pack."

Abby stared at him, shocked by his revelation. "You were in their pack?"

"For six months. The first day I was recovered enough to leave my bed, I  was in the woods, testing my leg, when I came across his father  training some of the wolves in his pack."

Abby's stomach turned. She'd seen that training. Most wolves didn't survive it. "What happened?"

"I tried to stop him." Jace shrugged. "Grigori's dad kicked my ass, and turned me over to Grigori to kill."

It didn't surprise her at all that Jace had tried to interfere, even  when he was a young boy and hopelessly outmatched. "But you're alive."  Understanding dawned. "You defeated him, didn't you? And he hates you  for it?"

He nodded. "I'd heard the pack had been exterminated, but apparently, I was wrong."

"So, isn't he hunting you, now? You got out of jail. He didn't win." She  knew how Grigori worked. The fact that Jace was suffering inside would  be worthless to him. He wouldn't stop until Jace was destroyed.

"I've tried to find him, but I can't. I think he's gone underground to  develop a new plan." Jace narrowed his eyes. "I'll be ready this time.  So will my pack." His eyes darkened. "That day defined who I was. I made  it my mission to protect wolves from bastards like Grigori's father. I  resolved never to allow my wolf to be like them, and I never have. Until  your sister."

She understood now. "That's why he used the song on you, isn't it? He wanted you to become that which you've crusaded against."

"He wanted me to become him." Jace narrowed his eyes. "I won't let him  win. No matter what, I will never become like the monster I saw that  day."

She knew he spoke the truth. His honor was stamped in every line of his  body, in every word he spoke, in the way his fingers curved protectively  around hers, offering her all he was to keep her safe. The fear that  had been suffocating her dissolved, replaced by a feeling of security.  Jace was unlike any other male she'd ever known, and she was safe as  long as she was with him. "You're incredible," she said softly.                       
       
           



       

He grinned. "I used to think so, but I'm a little more realistic now."  His smile faded and he brushed his knuckles across her jaw. "It gives me  hope that you see me that way. I need that."

She tilted her head into his touch. "Me, too."

For a moment, neither of them said anything. It was just a silent,  powerful connection between two people who had seen hell and found their  way out, half-broken, but somehow still breathing. In his presence, her  fear of Grigori faded, replaced by something new and stronger. They'd  both survived so much of Grigori's hell. Why couldn't they win one more  time?

Something flashed in Jace's eyes. Pain? Guilt? Empathy? "Did you ever  live with him?" he asked quietly, his gaze searching hers. "With  Grigori?"

She shrugged with the nonchalance that had become her escape from the bitterness of her past. "Until I was seventeen."

"Seventeen." Jace repeated her answer, his eyes glittering. Anger surged  in his face, and for a split second, his eyes shifted to the gray-green  of his wolf. She sucked in her breath, but he'd regained control before  she could even be sure she'd seen it.

He took her hands, his fingers closing on hers. "I won't let him take you again," he said, his voice like steel. "I swear it."

Tears filled her eyes at his fierce words. She wasn't used to someone  standing by her side, offering his protection to her. She was so used to  being on her own, learning how to fight, to protect herself for the day  when Grigori decided to turn his depravity onto her. "It's not about  me," she said. "It's about Seth. If you have to choose between us, get  him free, not me. I promised my sister."

Jace slipped his hand through her hair, tangling his fingers in the  locks that hung over her shoulder, his gaze searching hers. "So brave.  Willing to sacrifice yourself to protect another," he whispered, his  voice almost reverent. "Such honor in you."

She shook her head. "No, I'm just doing what's right. Seth is still innocent. He deserves a chance to live."

"You're not just anything," he interrupted, his voice steely with anger.  "Don't let anyone tell you that you are. You're selfless, honorable,  and brave, even when you're terrified." His fingers tightened in her  hair, and suddenly her breath caught, and she froze. "You're a hell of a  woman, Abby."

His gaze went to her mouth, and anticipation raced through her. Was he going to kiss her?

"Jace?" she whispered, swallowing as his gaze darkened. Her heart started to hammer. Why was he looking at her like that?

He lifted his gaze to hers, his eyes stark with desperate longing. She  saw in them the depth of suffering in his soul, the gaping chasm that  was sucking him down, the absolute self-hate for what he'd done to her  sister. He was a drowning man, sucked into a miasma of hell and  damnation that Grigori had plunged him into. She'd seen suffering in her  life, plenty of it, but never had she felt the depths of pain that was  tormenting him.

"Jace." She grasped the front of his jacket, as if she could hold his  head above water and keep him from sinking into the quagmire forever.  She wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to do whatever it took to save him  from his own hell, one that he'd been plunged into because of her song,  and her voice.

His fingers tightened in her hair, a grasp that was almost desperate.  "There's so little honor left in this world," he whispered, his voice  raw and hoarse. "So little beauty. So little to believe in. Until you."

Her heart seemed to stutter in her chest. No one had ever looked at her  with such intensity. No one had ever spoken words like that, words so  rich with emotion that they seemed to fill the air between them. "Jace-"

A thump from the apartment made them both jump, breaking the moment.  Jace spun away from her, shoving her behind him as he faced the door.

There was another thud, and he leapt toward the door, moving with such  speed and agility that she thought he'd actually partially shifted as he  moved. He reached the door, kicked it open and charged inside, not even  hesitating for a split second.

There was a loud crash, a violent snarl, and then silence.

Abby pulled her gun free and pointed it at the door, her heart  thundering. She'd lied to Jace when she'd bragged about her gun skills.  She was a sharpshooter when it came to inanimate targets, but never once  had she managed to put a bullet into a living creature, not even to  save her own mother's life. The gun was for show, a facade that would be  exposed the moment someone called her on it. "Jace?" she whispered, her  voice quivery.

There were no sounds from the room.

Should she call the police? Go into the room? Damn it.

She couldn't risk calling the police. What if something had happened?  Neither of them could afford to be tied down by police bureaucracy,  especially Jace, who'd just gotten exonerated from murder charges, a  result that most of the people in the city didn't agree with.                       
       
           



       

Slowly, her heart thundering so loudly she could barely hear above the  pounding, she edged down the hallway, her shoulder pressed against the  wall. "Jace?" she whispered again, knowing that the shifter could hear  her easily.

No response.

Crud. What had happened in there?

She reached the doorway, but just pressed herself against the wall,  unable to make herself leap into the doorway as Jace had done. She took a  deep breath, then peeked around the doorframe into the apartment.

China fragments were shattered on the floor, tinged with blood, but  there was no sign of Jace. She gripped the gun more tightly, scanning  the one-room apartment. The window above the fire escape was open, just  like it had been the day her sister had died, and suddenly her heart  seemed to congeal. What had happened to Jace? How could he just  disappear like that?

Was this a set up? Had Grigori been waiting for her to come back? Had it all been-

The skin on the back of her neck prickled suddenly, but before she could  turn, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she was pulled up against a  hard body. "Welcome back, Abigail."