15. Derek

Chapter fifteen

Derek

“ D on’t even think about it,” I growled from the doorway, watching Sofia methodically checking the throwing knives.

I had caught her scent before I reached the weapons room—vanilla and jasmine mixed with the sharp tang of silver from the blades she was handling. My wolf surged forward, desperate to be closer to her. I ruthlessly shoved him back down. This wasn’t the time.

She didn’t turn around. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Stubborn woman. My jaw clenched as I watched her fingers dance over the silver-tipped blades. Every protective instinct I had was screaming at me to grab her, lock her somewhere safe, and keep her far away from tonight’s fight. But I knew better than to try that with Sofia. She’d probably stab me with one of those knives she was fondling.

“You’re planning to fight.”

She turned then, raising one perfect eyebrow at me. “Well, yeah. That’s generally what happens when someone threatens your Pack. You fight.”

Fucking hell, she was beautiful when she was being defiant. Which was pretty much always.

“You’re not fighting tonight.” The words came out harsher than I intended.

She laughed, short and sharp. “Excuse me?”

“Sofia—“

“No, please, continue telling me what I can and can’t do. I do so love it when you go all caveman on me. You might have noticed how I swoon at your feet every time you do it.”

I swear she was going to drive me to an early grave.

Memories of that night at the fairground flashed through my mind—our first date, before everything had gone to shit, her body pressed against mine, the taste of her skin, the way she’d whispered my name. Then the wall covered in her photos in that fucking cabin in the woods. They’d found her. Were watching her. Because of me.

“This isn’t a joke,” I snapped.

“Do you see me laughing?”

We stood there, glaring at each other. She had no idea what she was dealing with. The people hunting me—hunting her now—they wouldn’t hesitate to use her. The thought of them touching her made my wolf howl with rage.

“You know why you can’t be out there,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady.

“Actually, I don’t. Because you won’t tell me any damn thing.” She turned back to the weapons, but I caught the anger in her voice. “All I know is that sometimes you look at me like … like …”

Like you’re my everything. Like I’d tear apart anyone who tried to hurt you. Like I’m terrified of what loving you might cost us both.

I moved closer, my steps silent. The need to touch her, to explain everything, warred with the knowledge that the closer I got to her, the more danger she was in.

“It’s not safe.”

She spun to face me, and suddenly she was too close. Close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in her eyes, count each freckle across her nose. Close enough that it took everything in me not to pull her into my arms.

“Oh, really? And it took you how many years of military training to work out a battle with another Pack might not be safe?”

That hadn’t been what I’d meant, but I didn’t correct her.

“Look, Sofia. You’re just gonna have to …” Fuck, she licked her lips, and my mind went completely blank. Then the image of her lips licking my cock rose like a gigantic neon sign in my head.

“Have to what?”

My mind snapped back. Fuck! I had to make sure she didn’t fight. “Listen to me—“

“I don’t think so, Derek. Last time I checked, you have no authority over me.”

“I’m your …”

Mate. I desperately wanted to acknowledge it. My wolf was howling it, for fuck’s sake.

“Beta. I’m your Beta. So technically, I do have authority over you.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and put her hands on her hips. “You try that, and I’ll go over your head to Mai. The Alpha will let me fight.”

Shit. She was bluffing. Wasn’t she?

“Sofia—“

“I’m fighting. You can either help me prep, or you can leave. Your choice.”

For a moment, I thought about arguing. My jaw was clenched so tight I doubted I could get any words out. She grabbed a set of throwing knives, strapping them to her thigh. The movement drew my eyes to her legs, and I had to force myself to look away. Normally, werewolves didn’t use weapons. Guns were considered cowardly; our wolves were our weapons. But if she had to fight, anything to give Sofia an advantage would get my approval.

“I could take you home and lock you in the panic room.”

Before I could blink, she had a knife pressed against my cock. “Try it. I dare you.”

The Sofia I’d gone on that first date with, the barista from the Bottley Bar, would not have been able to get a knife so close to me. I’d suspected for a while now that she’d been training with someone, but how and when they were meeting—or even if they still were—I had no idea.

“Nice move.” I stepped back, and at the same time, my hand circled her wrist, twisting gently until she dropped the knife. I caught it with my other hand, flipped it, and handed it back to her. “I’ve seen you practice with these. Your stance is off. You favor your right side too much.”

She blinked. “I practice at night. In my back room. That’s kinda creepy, Derek.”

I didn’t give a fuck if it was creepy or not; I had eyes on her all the time now. The guys who were after her might try to grab her at any time.

“You need to adjust your stance, like this.”

I took her hand and put it in the correct position. Having her this close was fucking torture. The smell of her, the warmth of her body—it was all I could do not to pull her against me and kiss that look of anger off her face.

A loud bang echoed from upstairs, followed by Wally shouting something about tennis rackets and battle stations.

“Be careful out there tonight. I can’t always be around to protect you.”

She tilted her head to one side and glowered at me. “No one asked you to, Derek. And it’s about time it penetrated your thick skull—I don’t need you to protect me. I can do that all by myself.”

She had no idea. No fucking idea about the men who were coming after me. But I didn’t want to scare her. No, I decided when I found her photos in the cabin that I wouldn’t let them take away what was important to Sofia. If I locked her away or took her someplace to hide, away from her work, her business, her family, her friends, she’d never forgive me. They were coming after me because of what I did, and I was fucking sure I wasn’t going to let that spill over and affect the life Sofia had built herself. She deserved so much better than that, than me.

I turned to leave, then paused in the doorway. Fuck it. “And Sofia?”

“Yeah?”

“When this is over … We’re gonna talk. About everything.”

Her heartbeat quickened—I could hear it from across the room. “I’m not interested in anything you have to say, Derek. Haven’t you got that by now?”

I couldn’t blame her, but I fucking hated that I’d made her hate me.

“Tough.”

I left before I could say anything else, before I could give in to the urge to tell her everything. About the mission that went wrong, about the people hunting me, about how every time I pushed her away, it felt like I was tearing out a piece of my own soul.

First, we had to survive tonight.