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"Because I do."

"You don't know her."

"No," I admit. "But I know what fear looks like. And that woman is scared out of her mind. It doesn’t look like the fear of being caught and going to prison. It’s fear for her life. She’s worried about this happening to her."

He doesn't argue. He doesn’t say anything.

For a while, we sit in silence.

Then Forge speaks again.

"She's ours."

My chest tightens.

Because I've been thinking the same thing since the moment she opened that door. This is just a difficult situation to navigate, and I’m not sure how to do it. I keep thinking about how she ignored it too. She didn’t say a word about it.

"Maybe," I say.

He frowns. "Maybe?"

"A scent match doesn't mean she wants us, Forge."

His expression changes, just slightly.

"I know that."

"Good. And you better remember it, because this is not the time you can go all caveman and force your wants on other people."

His jaw tightens, and he says nothing.

I start the car and drive off before either one of us tries to go back inside.

My phone rings the moment I pull off. I glance at the screen and groan. I knew this was coming.

"Captain,” I say.

Forge raises a brow. "Already?"

I answer, putting him on speaker.

"Warren."

"Where the hell are you?" he barks.

"Falling Oaks. We located Forester."

There's a pause.

"You found her?"

"Yes, sir. We just finished speaking with her."

"And you're only now telling me?"

Another pause.

“Yes, sir.”