Jolie’s head still spun, but she couldn’t stop herself from playing out her brilliant plan over and over. Even after Liam dragged her out of her motel room so he could go and get his revenge on the bunny that had given her this injury in the first place, which was a miserable experience, she couldn’t stop herself from getting excited.

“I wish you would lie down,” Liam said, watching as she bounced around the motel room.

“Right, well, should have thought of that before you took me out hunting with you,” she said, though she wasn’t in a bad mood about it. She was still thinking over her plans; her wolf ears and tail had popped out and they didn’t seem to want to go back in.

“If we can get just a couple more of the guys to go along with this—”

“They’re not going to, Red was just testing the waters and he didn’t like what he saw,” Liam said, then crossed his arms and growled. “And I took you out of the room because we’re being watched. I wasn’t about to leave you alone.”

Jolie scratched at the bandage wrapped around her temple. Liam had managed to find her one in the main office, and it was lucky no one had noticed the broken door yet. She didn’t want to get kicked out of here just yet, especially when she was still working through her new plans, though at this point it was obvious their hours here were numbered.

“Stop picking at it.”

She lowered her hand, pouting at him. “It itches, and this can definitely work. No one really respects Renzo. I mean, they respect his strength enough to follow him, but people still remember what he did. You can totally take him.”

“Respect for his strength is most everything that’s needed to lead a pack. Even if I decided to challenge him, and beat him, he still has something I don’t.”

Jolie felt her inner hackles rising up. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

Liam stared her dead in the eyes. “Intelligence.”

Jolie’s eyes popped wide. She opened her mouth. Nothing came out, so she closed it again. There was nothing she could say to that. Not really. She tried anyway. “You’re not stupid, Liam.”

“No.” He shook his head. “But I also don’t have much of an education either. I could never manage the pack’s finances, collect the funds from the people living in the pack and redistribute it fairly. I don’t know how to fix a roof or repair plumping, and I wouldn’t know the right sentences to give out should anyone break pack law. I’ve been living out in the wild for too many years. Sometimes I can barely control my inner wolf. Red might want to have me as an alpha, but he knows these things just as much as I do. That’s why he ran in the end.”

Jolie shook her head, and her heart hurt for him. It throbbed and ached in a way she only seemed to feel whenever it came down to what Liam was feeling.

“You’re not nothing, Liam,” she said. Then she clenched her fists, letting herself get angry. “And who cares if you don’t know how to do those other things? You can learn. I can help you. I can keep the pack’s books and you can trust me if I ever tell you that you’re being too harsh in your sentencing.”

“You’re still assuming I would challenge Renzo for the pack.” Liam’s eyes flashed to red. He looked away from her, as if he didn’t want her to think it was her he was angry with. “The pack could have backed me then, when I killed Dempsey’s idiot father after that prick murdered my mother. They let Renzo banish me instead of taking a stand then.” Liam’s jaw clenched, and it wasn’t lost on Jolie how his claws started to come out at the memory he described. “Far as I’m concerned? They can have him.”

It seemed so wrong to hear that coming from his mouth. Not just the words, but the way he said them. “But they’re still your pack. You’re an alpha; you can’t really want to run away from them.”

Liam met her eyes again, the red staying in place. “Don’t mistake the fact that I stuck around the pack to mean I was loyal to them. I stayed close to the pack for one reason and one reason only. For you.”

Jolie’s heart did that painful palpitating thing again. She had to rub her chest, just over her heart, to make the aching stop.

Liam caught the action. Both brows lifted above his green eyes. “It hurts you that I don't want anything to do with the pack? You do remember they turned their backs on me.”

“So did I,” Jolie said, though she hated having to remind him of that fact.

Mostly because of how much she hated the truth in it.

Liam turned away from her. His eyes briefly flashed to red again.

When she'd first found him, he'd been furious with her. He hadn't wanted to admit they were mated at all, even though Jolie knew he'd been able to feel that pull as much as she had.

He'd stayed for her, but over the years he'd resented her a little. He'd never said it to her, but Jolie knew it was the case. It was pretty hard to hide something like that when he'd grabbed her by the throat in the cave behind the waterfall.

“You forgave me. Why can't you forgive them?” Jolie stepped up to him. She reached up, putting her hands on his bare shoulders. He was only in a pair of jeans, his feet bare, and he seemed absolutely determined to not look her in the eyes. And something unsettling occurred to her just then. “Liam, I am forgiven, right? I mean, are you still mad at me?”

They hadn't exactly worked out the details on what had been done, what she had done, considering Dempsey had attacked Liam's small home, forcing them on the run.

“I do,” he said shortly, nodding.

“Then why won't you look at me?”

He did, finally. His green eyes looked very much as though they were struggling to stay their natural color.

Jolie's stomach did a strange, painful twist. She pulled her hands back.

Liam sighed, and he reached out to take her wrists before she could do something completely foolish, like step away from him entirely. “I've forgiven you. I just don't like what happened.”

“Okay,” Jolie said, her heart hammering so hot and heavy she felt the pulsing in her ears. “But you need to talk to me about these things. I know you were mad at me—”

“Not anymore,” Liam said quickly.

“But that's not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” Liam asked, and this time he sounded somewhat impatient. There was a growl in his voice, red in his eyes, and his lip curled as he released her wrists and turned away from her. “I don't understand you.”

Jolie tensed. “Me?” She stared at Liam's back, wondering if it was even possible to hear something so utterly backwards. “You're the one that's hard to understand. Trust me.” She tried to laugh about it, to joke it off, but the muscle in Liam's back tensed, as if he didn't enjoy the reminder of how new they both were to all of this.

They'd been best friends as kids. Liam's parents had taken Jolie in, before Renzo killed his father and took over the pack. Jolie could still remember the cracks in his mother's fierce strength slowly but surely starting to show as the shifter she was paired up with after the death of her husband hurt her.

Again and again.

Dempsey hadn't cared what his father did, and in truth, Jolie hadn't noticed his eyes on her even back then. She'd been too focused on trying to keep Liam from doing something dangerous.

When Liam killed his step father, Jolie was secretly glad he was dead. She only wished Liam had done it before the man had killed Liam's mother.

Then Liam was banished, and she had been on her own.

She looked hard at the back of Liam's head. She'd recently convinced him to let her cut his hair. The trust needed for an alpha to allow anyone to get near his face, head, and throat with a blade was monumental. She'd thought they'd made progress when he'd finally agreed to let her do it.

But really, how well did they honestly know each other? Seven years was a long time to be separated from each other, a long time for a boy to grow into a man in the wild...

How many people had Liam made contact with in the time he'd been away? A couple? Or none at all?

And something even more horrifying than all that struck her.

What if this wasn't just a shield he was putting up to protect himself with her? What if this was who he really was? Someone who kept people at an arm's length, even his mate, because he just didn't know how to interact with the people around him?

Jolie's throat closed. She inhaled a deep breath once, and then twice, working through the pain that struck her hard.

He wouldn't appreciate being pitied, so she would keep it to herself. But as much as she tried to bury the feeling, it was still there, and it made her look at him differently.

Jolie stepped forward. She hesitated only briefly, part of her wondering how welcome an act like this would be as she curled her arms around his waist from behind.

Liam's body tensed. “What are you doing?”

“I love you,” Jolie said softly, squeezing him as tightly as she could. “I know things are different, I'm sorry I destroyed the life you built for yourself, but I'm still glad you're here, and if you don't want to talk about what happened, or what you're feeling, then I won't push you into doing that. I won't push you into trying to fight for the pack either. If you really want to be without them, then I'm with you.”

“You say that now,” Liam grumbled.

“And I mean it.” She looked up at the back of his head, trying desperately to make him feel her sincerity. “You are my home now. I knew I probably wouldn't be going back when I ran away. I was fine with that then, and I'm fine with it now.”

“You could always change your mind.”

Jolie sputtered. “And go back to where Renzo wants to hand me over as some kind of prize to Dempsey?” Now she was growling. “No thanks.”

Liam laughed. He...actually laughed. He turned in her arms and looked down at her, his green eyes dancing in a way she hadn't seen since they were kids.

She kept glaring up at him. “I mean it. I'm not going back there if you're not going. I guess I just...brought it up because the idea of you being the rightful alpha and taking your place seemed kind of...poetic. Like that was the way things were supposed to be.”

Especially when Red showed up and put those ideas into her head.

Maybe she was more connected to that pack than she’d thought she was. Despite the shortcomings, some of which were pretty big, it was still her home. It felt weird to leave it behind.

“Do you really think I’ll change my mind on you?” Jolie noted the tension in his shoulders. It was answer enough.

She reached up and smacked him on the back of the head.

“Hey!” Liam yanked himself out of her arms, his expression more shocked and offended than anything else. “Did you just hit me?”

“Yeah, that’s what you get for thinking I’d ever want to go back to that pack without you.” Jolie stuck her hands on her hips. “Seriously, what do you think I am?”

“An abusive woman?”

Jolie blinked. “Uh, did I seriously hurt you?”

He was the one who did all the hunting. He stayed up late protecting her, making sure he didn’t catch any familiar scents getting close to their room. Maybe he’d hurt himself at some point and just wasn’t telling her? Maybe he…

The quirk at the corner of his lips snapped her out of it quickly, and then she wanted to strangle him. She actually tried to do just that, but Liam was smart, backing away from her whenever her hands got anywhere near his throat.

“I’m going to murder you! Are you serious?”

He wasn’t laughing at her, not exactly, but he did smile wider than she’d seen him smile in such a long time. It was almost strange to look at, and even though she still wanted to wrap her fingers around his neck and squeeze, soon, she couldn’t stop laughing as she chased him around the motel room.

Her headache came back and throbbed like crazy as she hunted her mate, but it was too funny watching him hop over the bed, putting it between their bodies where she wouldn’t be able to get at him.

And he was crazy. He was so damned crazy, and she was still in love with him.

Which was why she tried to jump over the bed to get him, only to have her klutziness rear its clumsy head as her feet got caught in the sheets and—how was that even possible?—she fell on her face.

She scrambled to her hands and knees. Liam wasn’t about to let her have that advantage. He quickly climbed on top of her, turning her to her back and pinning her down, pressing her hands down hard on either side of her head.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Liam said, though it sounded as if he was still laughing at her.

Jolie blew the hair out of her face, which didn’t help the headache that started to sink in, but all the same, she was still having fun.

“Yeah, I bet you’re so worried about how much my head hurts when you’re pinning me down.”

“A little,” Liam admitted. “Isn’t having a headache the usual excuse?”

“For what?” Jolie asked, then felt stupid as she realized exactly what he was talking about.

They stared at each other, and in that moment, Jolie felt the warmth of his body pulsing much hotter than it should have, much more intensely than just three seconds ago when they were still playing around.

And through the denim of his jeans, she felt that heat collecting in one place in particular, and the firm length of his cock beneath the material pressed against her leg from the positions they held wasn’t lost on her either.

Jolie swallowed, and an excitement shuddered through her as Liam’s eyes changed to a bright shade of golden yellow.

Alert. Aroused.

“Your eyes are gold,” Liam said.

Jolie nodded. “Yours too.”

God, it felt as if she could hardly take a breath. Their motel room had turned into a sauna, and the only thing that could combat against the heat was his mouth.

Her gaze fell to his lips. He took the hint.

Liam kissed her. His lips were pillow soft on her mouth, and yet the stubble around his lips scratched her pleasantly. He never did like to shave all that often; that was fine. Jolie found that every time he kissed her, she grew to love the stubble more and more.

And unlike her previous hypothesis, being kissed by Liam while he held her down on the bed absolutely did not make the heat simmer down. It flared to life, like a living dragon inside her body, breathing fire all along the underside of her skin. A fire that travelled through her blood and bones, down her arms and legs. Liam moaned softly, his tongue slipping out and teasing her along the crease of her lips.

She opened for him, mewling softly, pushing her breasts forward, wanting his hands on them instead of her wrists, though she did like being held down.

The fire in her body pooled in her belly when his tongue slipped inside her mouth, swirling against hers, coaxing her to participate. She did to the best of her ability, but it didn’t seem like nearly enough. It felt more as if she was desperately trying to keep up with him, something she could barely seem to do as she helplessly sucked on his tongue, feeling the throb of his cock through his jeans against her leg.

To Be Continued....

This chap went above the char limit so next chap will be up in a couple of minutes, hugs and happy reading! Thanks so much :)

Mandy