His to Protect: Book 1 in the Bound to Him Series by Sandra Antoni (the reading list TXT) 📗

me that you don’t feel the bond that ties us together. I know you do, Chelsea. I can see it in your eyes and written all over your face. No one is going to hurt you. I know this is a lot to take in right now, but I don’t want to let you go. You are my whole world,” I said softly. Then I pulled her into my arms.

She sobbed against me once more, and I glanced over at Brady. He had a concerned look in his eyes. Chelsea was feeling overwhelmed, and that was completely understandable. But there was still more that I needed her to know. However, it could wait until she was ready. We had plenty of time. When her body stopped trembling, her hands gripped my shirt in her fists.

I could not even begin to understand what she was feeling right now. Shifters were born knowing who and what they were. Chelsea had no idea. She had been raised as a human. She was getting ready to enter a whole new world, and I knew that she was afraid. I led her back over to the couch and we both sat down.

Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and my heart was breaking at the turmoil that she was in. Turmoil that I had caused. However, I did not regret it. She was my mate, and I had finally found her. I would never have a regret about that. Her hands gripped mine as if she were afraid to let me go.

“Chelsea, I want you to stay with me until we get to the bottom of this. I can protect you here, but you won’t be safe at the resort. Will you do this for me? Brady has agreed to go back to the resort and pack your things. Please tell me you will do this. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” I pleaded with her.

Whoever was after her would probably know where she was staying. If she were here, they would not be able to reach her. She would be safe here, and she would be with me. When she finally agreed, she gave Brady the key to her room at the resort. Brady left immediately, and I pulled Chelsea across my lap.

“Chelsea,” I said softly. Her head was against my shoulder, and she had finally relaxed against me. My chin rested over her head, and my arms were around her, holding her tightly against me.

“I’m still the same man that you met three days ago. That hasn’t changed. When I told you that I cared for you, I meant it. You have been my whole world from the moment I found you on the side of the mountain. I have been waiting a long time to find you,” I continued gently.

“I don’t understand why someone is trying to kill me. I mean, everyone I know lives in Kansas City. I’ve never even been to Arizona before. If someone wanted me dead, it would make more sense to do it in Kansas City while my guard is down. This just doesn’t make any sense. Maybe they have mistaken me for someone else,” she said anxiously, raising her head and looking at me.

“Chelsea, I think that it is my fault that you are in danger,” I admitted softly. She was quiet for a few moments.

“Because of your job? Someone wanted to get to me in order to get to you?” she asked. I let out a deep sigh, then I laced my fingers with hers.

“No, not to get to me. When I first realized that you were a shifter, I had Brady look into your biological parents. One or both of them had to be a shifter,” I explained.

“That was why you asked about my birth mother,” she replied solemnly, and I nodded.

“I knew that we would have a better chance of getting to the truth than you would. We have contacts, especially among shifters. I wanted to do that for you. I wanted to find out who your father was. Your face when you talked about them told me that a piece of you was missing. I wanted to fill those gaps in for you,” I told her gently.

She leaned her head back against my shoulder again and snuggled into me. Her scent filled my senses, and I closed my eyes as I felt her relax against me once more. I hoped that she was as calmed by my presence as I was by hers.

“Chelsea, I would do anything for you. Brady thinks that our search into your background is what has caused someone to come after you. Someone doesn’t want you to know the truth. Whoever your father is, someone does not want you to find out,” I continued. I felt her breath hitch, and I tightened my hold on her.

“If I am really a…a shifter, how could I have not known?” she asked softly.

“Your wolf has been suppressed your whole life. The fact that you didn’t even know about her means that you would have ignored any signs of her. I can help you reach out to her if you want to try. Whenever you are ready,” I replied.

She stiffened in my arms for a moment and I knew that she was on edge with the idea, but then she relaxed. I could not imagine what was going through her mind right now. As surprises go, this one had definitely been shocking, and I was sure that this was not the kind of surprises that she enjoyed getting.

Looking up at the clock, I realized that it was way past lunch time. What Chelsea needed was a distraction. She needed some normalcy after the bomb that I had just dropped on her. Reaching for her shoulders, I pushed her away from me until our eyes locked.

“Chelsea, I am still the same man who carried you from the mountain. The same man who made love to you. The same man who