“Better enough to drive?”
She shrugged, which made her breasts rub against his bare chest. Considering he was completely naked, the fact his cock jumped to attention couldn’t have been missed by Elizabeth. “For a little bit, at least. I can drive us to the nearest hotel.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They walked slowly together through the woods. On her own, Elizabeth could have moved much faster. Each step Rex took felt like agony as pain shot up his legs. There was no way he would complain. He’d already been un-manned in front of her a few times. Leave it to him to not even be able to impress a mate.
Finally, they made it back to the car. Even though it felt like it might kill him, he managed to, with help from her, hot-wire the car to start again. He stumbled inside and groaned as the desire to pass out threatened. “Elizabeth, I have to tell you I might pass out. I will heal faster but I don’t want it to upset you.”
“Thank you for the warning.” She sighed. “If I had even a small amount of my power, I could heal you.”
“If you had any of your abilities, you wouldn’t be in this car with me.” Their mating—if it ever happened and he wasn’t sure it would—was only because she’d been cursed and he’d been sent out to retrieve a witch. They would never have found each other if things had gone differently.
Then I guess we should be thanking the stars for all your bad luck.
He rolled his eyes. Even injured, his wolf had to give him a hard time about his internal musings.
“Should we expect more visits from those wolves?”
He shrugged, which hurt like hell. “Probably not those but others like them? I suppose it’s possible.”
“Great. Something to look forward to.”
Rex needed to get his mind out off what had just happened or he was going to start to obsess. His mate, who was for all intents and purposes human, had rescued him in the woods using a tree branch. If his brothers ever found out, he’d never hear the end of it.
“I have a tendency to screw things up. I’m sure by now you’ve noticed.” She looked at him from the corner of her eye as she pulled their borrowed car into traffic. “Not really. What have you messed up that’s bothering you?”
“Today or in general?” Wow, he was really out of sorts. He shifted in his seat. No way should he be talking to Elizabeth about any of this. If he was smart, he’d close his eyes, shut up, and pass out before he made it so she would never want to speak to him again.
“You haven’t done anything particularly wrong today. Aside from leaving me in this car when you so clearly needed my help.”
The gleam in her eye made him grin. Maybe that was why he let his guard down completely. In any case, before he could stop himself, he told her the truth. “My whole pack thinks I’m a traitor. I basically have one chance left not to be put to death.” Chapter Eight
Elizabeth wasn’t sure how to respond to Rex’s pronouncement his entire pack thought he was a traitor. She bit down on her lip, insecurity making her mute.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have burdened you. Just ignore me. I think I must be exhausted.” He looked out the window as the heavy burden of silence stretched out between them like the darkness of the night outside had just invaded their stolen car.
Was Rex a traitor? He hadn’t said that, exactly. Instead, he’d told her his pack thought him a traitor. There was a big distinction between what other people saw and what really existed inside of a person. She had always known this, having been raised to see past the superficial, but she’d learned the hard way this was not how the rest of the world viewed things. Her cursed face was all anyone could see when they looked at her.
Except for Rex.
The thought he could see her as she really was made her shivers travel down her stiff spine. For the first time in more years than she cared to think about, someone looked at her like she mattered. He didn’t flinch or scream. He’d wanted to hurt those who had.
This wolf—whom she’d been raised to mistrust—had taken on fifteen artificially created creatures, willing to die fighting rather than run from the impossible odds to keep her safe.
She shook her head to change the course of her thoughts. No way, no how could she allow herself to become infatuated with Rex. She had to betray his secrets to her coven.
Romanticizing him would only make it harder than it had to be.
“Why do they think you’re a traitor, Rex?” She spoke softly, afraid any louder would shatter the air around them. It was so thick with tension she found it hard to take a deep breath. His silence surprised her and she turned her head to regard him. In the reflection of the car window she could see his eyes were closed. His breathing had turned deep and even. Rex Kane had passed out in the car, as he’d predicted.