Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(97)

"If anything, this is the time to be more careful," he insisted.

"Why?" Kylie asked.

He frowned. "For starters, how about because this place is a revolving door right now? I don't like strangers being here."

Kylie felt a shiver run down her spine. "You think someone working here could really be working with Mario?"

If so, that might explain Miranda's growing feeling that someone was lurking around their cabin. She'd started putting protective spells on their cabin every day now and had even gone to Holiday and Burnett with her concerns. Concerns they'd listened to but didn't feel held a huge threat. Or at least Kylie had assumed until now.

Burnett, all two-hundred-plus pounds of muscle, leaned back in his office chair. "I've checked everyone's credentials a dozen times." He reached for a heart-shaped stress ball with the words Donate Blood and squeezed it. "Maybe Holiday's right, and I'm being overly cautious, but I'm not taking chances."

Burnett turned his head to the side as if listening to something from outside the cabin. He frowned. "Another were is at it again. I'll be so friggin' glad when tomorrow's full moon is past. Excuse me." He shot out of the room.

Kylie ran out of the cabin after him, afraid Lucas was involved in whatever was happening. While normally she wouldn't consider Lucas getting into trouble, these last few days, he'd been extra tense. Last night when he'd come by her cabin to say good night, he'd barely kissed her.

When she'd asked if something was wrong, he'd reminded her that the closer he got to the full moon, the more he turned to his instinct instead of logic. Then he'd reached out and passed a single finger over her lips. "You are temptation in its purest form, Kylie Galen."

There was a part of Kylie that wanted to give in to that temptation, but another part of her still resisted. And as much as she wished it weren't true, she knew her reason for holding back had to do with Lucas's grandmother.

The moment Kylie hit the edge of the porch steps, Della showed up. "Ellie and Fredericka are going at it."

"Why?" Kylie asked.

"Supposedly, Ellie overheard the she-wolf talking bad about you and decided to teach Fredericka a lesson. You know, I hate to admit it, but Ellie's growing on me."

"Oh, crap. Where are they?"

"By Ellie's cabin."

Kylie took off. By the time they got there, Burnett had Fredericka, and Lucas was holding Ellie back. Ellie was bleeding, and from the glow in her eyes, she wasn't finished fighting.

"Let go of me!" she growled at Lucas. "I'll teach that dog-"

"Calm down," Lucas snapped. His own eyes were a bright orange. "She'll tear you apart. You can't win a fight with a were the day before a full moon."

"Watch me!" Ellie tried again to pull away, her fangs showing.

"Stop! Or I'll teach you a lesson myself," Lucas growled, his body growing tenser and his eyes brighter. Obviously, with his own body feeling the effects of the coming full moon, he shouldn't be the one trying to break up a fight.

"Why?" Ellie countered. "Why are you protecting that she-wolf? You should be helping me kick her ass. I thought Kylie was your girlfriend. Where does your loyalty lie? With that she-wolf, or with Kylie?"

Lucas paused; the question seemed to catch him off guard. "I'm trying to save your life, though I'm not sure it's worth much."

"Because I'm not were?" Ellie spit back.

"Enough!" Burnett roared.

Lucas let go of Ellie. The pissed-off vamp stepped back, but her eyes stayed bright. Then her angry gaze found Kylie. "You have definitely chosen the wrong guy. Derek would never defend someone who said those things about you. Never!"

Kylie's gaze locked with Lucas for a moment, and then she turned and walked away.

* * *

That night, Kylie awoke to the smell of roses. Before she opened her eyes, she checked the temperature to make sure it wasn't Jane. Or worse, another vision. But nope. No cold. Just the sweet floral scent.

"Hey, beautiful," said a familiar male voice. She opened her eyes.

Lucas knelt beside her bed, holding a bouquet of roses in his hands. She sat up and saw more roses all around the room. "What did you do, rob a florist?"

He gave her his bad-boy grin, and Kylie felt her heart melt just a little. "No, but let me just say that my grandmother is going to be really pissed when she sees her garden in the morning."

She grinned and then remembered she was mad at him. And yeah, it might not have been fair to be mad when all he'd done was do the right thing by breaking up the fight, but Ellie's words had stung and stung deep. And Kylie had been nursing a bit of a broken heart ever since.

It didn't help that Kylie knew, once he shifted into wolf form, he would run off into the woods with Fredericka fast behind him. So when he'd dropped by earlier that day to see her, she'd told him she'd had a headache and was going to bed.

But he was back now. And this time, he hadn't gotten her permission first to come into her room.

"Scoot over," he said.

Kylie arched a brow, remembering his caution about not getting too close to her before the change. "Is that a good idea?"

"I'll behave. I've made sure of it. I just want to hold you and apologize."