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

wants to spend every hour of the day with you. That hasn’t changed. Nothing about what I feel for you has changed. Do you believe me?” I asked her.

Her eyes studied my face intently before returning to meet my gaze. Then she nodded and my heart melted. A smile spread across my face.

“Come on. Let’s go find something for lunch. It has been a very long morning, and I think you need some time to process everything that you just learned,” I told her.

Lifting her from my lap, I took her hand and led her into the kitchen. I pulled out a barstool and told her to sit, then I headed towards the fridge.

“As I’ve told you, I’m not a great cook, but I make a killer sandwich that can compete with the best,” I told her, and a small smile formed on her lips. It was something, and I would take what I could get. I longed to see her beautiful smile again, but at least she hadn’t pulled away from me.

Chapter 13

Chelsea

I was struggling. Struggling with everything that I had just been told and struggling to believe it. Someone was trying to kill me to keep me from finding out about my past. What could possibly be in my past that was worth killing for?

I watched Zeke as he moved around the kitchen. It was just too difficult to believe that he was the wolf that I had seen on the mountain. He could change into a wolf, and he said that I could too. It was just not possible. Certainly, I would know if a wild animal lived inside me.

Zeke talked to me the whole time he made our sandwiches. He was trying to distract me again, and I thought that it was sweet. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my lips as I watched him. His back was to me, but his voice was constant.

I had no idea what he was saying as my mind was going a million miles a minute, but I think he was telling me about Tucson. The sound of his voice was soothing, and it made me feel at peace. I concentrated on the sound of it, and it grounded me. It didn’t really matter what he was saying. No one had ever affected me like he did.

When he finally picked up both plates, he turned and looked at me. He instantly froze, and his mouth dropped open in the middle of a sentence. My eyes met his.

“What has put that smile on your face?” he asked as he started walking towards me once again. He set a plate down in front of me.

“You,” I replied. “I know what you were doing, trying to keep me distracted, and I thought it was adorable. But to be honest, I haven’t a clue what you were saying,” I admitted sheepishly.

He laughed as he set the second plate down and sat down at the bar beside me. He turned and faced me, taking my hands in his.

“Chelsea, I know this is all a lot to process, but I need you to know that I would never hurt you. I had no idea that looking into your past would put you in danger, and I’m sorry that I brought this on you. But I will keep you safe,” he assured me. I could see the sincerity on his face.

“I know, Zeke. I’ve known since the first night I met you that you would never hurt me. The rest, you couldn’t have known,” I replied sincerely. I looked down at our joined hands, not realizing until this moment that I needed to feel his touch.

“I don’t blame you for any of this. In fact, whatever it is that is in my past, I need to know. You started that for me, and I’m grateful. I tried, but I could never find any answers. Whatever it is that someone is trying to hide, I think it’s time to be unburied,” I said softly. I had never meant anything more. I needed the truth.

I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Zeke’s cheek. It was all I could handle at the moment, but I needed him to know that I was not upset with him. If he really was a shifter, and if I really was one as well, he was not the one to blame. That, and I loved him. But I wasn’t quite ready to say that out loud.

There was a companionable silence between us as we ate, but just Zeke’s presence beside me was enough. It was about an hour later that Brady returned with my suitcase and our left over food from the restaurant the day before. Zeke and I were still sitting at the bar talking softly.

The bags of take-out food went into the fridge, and Zeke set my suitcase in the hallway leading to his bedroom. I guess that would be where I was staying while I was here, but I was okay with that.

“Well, I guess we know what’s for dinner tonight. Zeke bought enough at lunch yesterday to feed a small army,” I told Brady, and he chuckled.

“Well, if you are feeding an army, Zeke, that brings me to another question. Do you want Emily and me to stay here? At least for tonight?” Brady asked Zeke. He turned and looked at me.

“Chelsea, would you like some company tonight?” Zeke asked me. I thought about that for a moment. Some female company might be nice, and Zeke had already told me that Emily was a shifter as well.

“I think that’s a great idea,” I finally replied. “I’m sure once everything finally sinks in that I’m going to have a ton of questions. Having a woman around might help make me feel more normal,” I continued softly.

I hoped that neither of them took offense by that. Glancing up quickly, I realized that they hadn’t. This was what was normal for them. Wolves, danger, the suspense with their