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She’s going into shock.
The standoff with Gray certainly rattled me, but for her, it was too much. She’s going downhill—fast.
I choke back the tears threatening to form in my eyes.
My fault.
It’s my fault she’s like this.
Of all the dangers she faced here, I never thought this would be what finally broke her. I thought it would be me. That she would realize what a cursed piece-of-shit human being I am and completely lose it. But she stood her ground with me through everything—even me showing her the truth about Barker Mountain.
“Hold on, Beauty…” I make it to the door and throw it open, surging through the jamb and kicking it closed behind me before I beeline for the staircase. “I’ll take care of you.”
Her lips tremble, and she mutters something I can’t quite make out as I bound up the steps and hustle down to what was my bedroom and now has become hers.
Even that first night, when I was furious at her for being here, I still couldn’t just put her in one of the other half-dozen bedrooms in this house. She needed to be here, in my bed, in my room.
I didn’t recognize that impulse for what it was then, but as I carry her into the bathroom and set her down on the counter, the reality of it slams into me as hard as my axe blade does a tree trunk.
My conscious mind might not have been on board, but The Beast lurking inside me sure was—it saw Callista and wanted her. And now, that same animal wants to roar and tear something apart at seeing her in so much distress.
Her arms stay loosely looped around my neck, and I reach back and tug them free so I can move. She shakes so badly I worry she’s going to tumble over, so I use one hand to keep her braced as I slide open the shower door and crank on the water.
“We’re going to get you warmed up.” I take her face in my palm, tilting it up toward me as she tries to focus on me with only half-open eyes. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
It’s a fucking lie.
She’s anything but safe here with me.
But for the moment, at least, she doesn’t have to worry.
Her teeth chatter as she looks at me, cheeks white, normally pink lips so pale it’s terrifying. And there’s so much fear in her eyes, the same I saw there when she looked at me that first night. But she isn’t afraid of me now. She’s searching for a lifeline, something to ground her as she spirals.
The water runs, steam starting to fill the room. “You’re safe, Beauty. I promise. I’m so sorry he scared you.”
“Scared me?” Her words come out shaking, barely audible. “That thing was going to kill me.”
She isn’t wrong about that. As far as protection for the property goes, Gray is right up there with my axe and my shotgun. If my reputation and the rumors about Barker Mountain aren’t enough to keep people away, a single glimpse of that massive animal will send them running.
He’s an effective, efficient killer when he needs to be—probably why we bonded and he took to me so easily.
And why he was so vicious in his confrontation with Callista.
Gray has been watching everything, observing her and me since the moment she drove onto the mountain, and he senses how dangerous she is to me. He can see the shift, despite how much I want to deny it’s happening.
This woman has changed everything.
Brought life and joy to a place where there was none before.
And I almost lost her tonight because she ignored my warning about the woods the same way she ignored the one I gave her about myself.
Stubborn fucking Beauty.
I reach for the hem of her shirt and pull it up and over her head, letting the fabric fall to the floor. She shakes even harder, curling in on herself slightly as I maneuver off her pants, underwear, and bra until she’s sitting naked in front of me.
Any man would be able to see what a stunning woman she is, but all I can focus on is how pale she is—the loss of that vibrancy that usually radiates from her and fills every room she enters.
That somehow revived a heart I thought had flatlined decades ago.
