I skimmed a hand down his sweaty back, kissing his shoulder when he collapsed on top of me. “Carter,” I murmured.

He let out a long breath. His body shook as it came from deep within him. His hand trailed up my arm and he lifted himself up, tracing my lips as he looked down at me now.

We didn’t speak. I couldn’t. This man was mine. This very powerful being, sculpted to perfection with eyes that were of a wolf’s. He touched his lips to mine, a soft claiming as he whispered against them, “I love you so goddamn much, Emma.”

“I love you too.”

I was weak with too many strong feelings sweeping inside of me, too many and too powerful for me to name, but as I gazed up at him, I saw his strength. As I lay in his arms and as he turned for me once more during the night, our bodies moved together as one and I felt my own strength awaken inside of me. I had grown addicted to this beautiful man. He was mine.

I would always love this man.

I rose from the bed and pulled on a robe that hung from the bathroom door. When I went into the kitchen, I looked around and started the coffee pot. As it brewed behind me and I began to look for more food to start breakfast for everyone, I knew that I had changed. Maybe it was that I had almost been killed, that I had seen it with my own eyes, or maybe it was knowing what would’ve happened to Mallory if I hadn’t pulled that trigger. I wasn’t sure which it was, but I had been changed. The culmination had occurred inside of me. I wasn’t quaking anymore. I wasn’t whining about losing my freedom or the inability to join friends for drinks without being babysat.

None of that mattered anymore.

It was done. Men had died because of me.

I no longer cared. I should’ve, but I didn’t.

Or maybe it was how I felt like one with Carter now. I felt his power inside of me. My body grew stronger as I thought of the last time. The primal way he had taken me still sent reverberations through me. It wasn’t that I was protected or sheltered by him, it was being with him and being loved by him, that made me feel his power. It was overwhelming and intoxicating.

“Morning,” Theresa yawned behind me.

I turned and saw her anew. I knew she wasn’t different. I knew it was me, but she looked weak to me. She saw it too. Her hand had risen to scratch behind her ear, but when she locked gazes with me, her hand fell away. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly. Nothing else was said. She shook her head and her eyes narrowed. Then she pulled the ends of her robe tighter around her, crossed her arms over herself, and mused, “You look different.”

I unwrapped the bacon and placed slices into a pan. The sizzling from the oil started as I glanced back at her. “Did you sleep?”

“Yeah, surprisingly.” Another yawn came over her and she rested against a counter. “Did you?”

Images of our lovemaking flashed in my head and a jolt of pleasure rushed through me. A faint grin came over me, but I nodded. “I did.”

“Is he still asleep?”

My hand tightened on the pan as I heard her derision. We both knew who she meant. My back straightened, but I took a calming breath. “Yeah. Is Noah?”

I heard a soft sniffle behind me before she replied, “I wouldn’t know.”

I turned now and saw the agony in her depths before it was masked. “I’m sorry, Theresa.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, well, what can I do about it? Brianna made her wishes clear last night. Noah’s not going to go against them. Even if we did almost die.”

“You know that Scott Graham started that riot last night.”

“I didn’t, no.”

I tensed as I heard annoyance in her tone.

“Is that what he said?”

Okay. Anger boiled up as I regarded her. I’d had enough. “You have some poor misconceptions about last night, Theresa. Let me correct them for you right now.”

She straightened from the counter but remained silent.

The tongs I held in my hand came down hard on the counter beside me. “You saw what you saw. You saw Carter kill your friend, but he was a man that was sent to kill me. And yes, Theresa, he was going to kill me. Scott Graham might’ve been nice to you when you went to Octave, but he was selling information to a man that wanted me dead.”

“Stop,” she hissed. She had grown pale with each word I said. Her chest rose up and down at a rapid pace. “Just stop, Emma. You sound crazy.”

I was calm. I was cold even. “A little more than three weeks ago I came home and found my roommate being raped. He was going to kill her or worse. And he was going to do the same to me because I was there. I shot him, Theresa.”

She flinched as I said this.

I hardened inside. I didn’t care. She needed to hear the ugly truth. “And because I knew Carter and I trusted him, I went to him for help. He’s been protecting me ever since because the man I killed is the son of another mobster.”

Her eyes went wide, but I saw the thoughts flying in her mind. She was connecting the dots. It was a matter of time and when her eyes filled with renewed horror, I knew she had figured it out. The name Dunvan fell from her lips in a whispered gasp.

“I killed Jeremy Dunvan and his father has been looking for me. I think you can guess what he wanted to do with me when he got me.”

“Oh god.”

I waited. I needed to know what she’d do with all that information. If she went to the authorities, she’d be condemning me as well. Then a different thought came to me and I felt sick. The back of my hair stood upright and I looked over. Carter was in the doorway. I knew he was waiting like me. He needed to know how she would react now that she knew the rest of it.

When his eyes caught mine, darkness flashed in his depths.

That was when I knew that she wouldn’t get the chance to go to the authorities. Carter would ensure my safety, no matter the cost. I turned back to Theresa and hoped against hope that she would let it go because if she didn’t, she was going to die.

Carter would take her life to save mine.

“Stop asking questions.”

Our heads snapped up and over. Noah stood in the other doorway, fuming with fisted hands at his sides. He jerked forward into the kitchen as his eyes were latched onto Theresa. “I told you to stop asking questions. You have to stop now! I mean it, Theresa.”

She straightened in defiance. “And what if I don’t?” She rolled her eyes. “What’s the worst that could happen?”