Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(24)

"No, it's not." He caught her hand and moved to the porch.

"He stated right away that he wasn't there to cause harm," she said, wanting to soothe Lucas. Wanting to make this easier.

"And you should never believe him," he said.

A whisper of fear settled in her chest. They lowered themselves down on the porch so they could lean against the cabin.

He brushed his thumb over her lips. "I don't want my father anywhere around you."

She looked into Lucas's serious gaze. "He hurt you?" The need to protect him made her blood run faster.

"Not me. I'm his son. But he considers anyone else fair game."

"If he's that bad, why do you go there? Why have anything to do with him?"

"For Clara, mostly. But then ... I need him right now."

"Why?"

"His approval will go a long way to help me get into the were council."

The council he couldn't get on if he married her. The thought shot a wave of apprehension through her and she remembered what Della had said about things not working out between them because of his family and his pack. She pushed that thought out of the way and tried to understand. "But if that's who they look to for approval, then why would you want to be on that council?"

He closed his eyes for a second as if explaining was difficult. "If I make it on the council, then I can change things."

Kylie recalled his grandmother telling her that he wanted to change how the world viewed children raised by rogues.

"But until then, I have to convince him that I see things his way."

"What things?"

He shook his head slowly. "Things I don't think you even need to know."

Kylie frowned, not liking being shut out of his world, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to belong to it. She'd bet that Fredericka knew everything. "But I do need to know. I want to be a part of your life. I don't want to be shut out." I don't want your pack or your family keeping us apart.

His eyes tightened. "I'm not shutting you out. I just prefer that you know this Lucas."

She digested his words. "There can only be one Lucas."

"There is only one. One real one. But I have to play games with my father and the council. I have to convince him that I'm on his side."

She shook her head. "I don't understand."

"And I don't expect you to."

She dropped her hand from his arm. "That's not right. How would you like it if you thought I kept things from you?"

A frown pulled at his lips. "You do keep things from me. Things about your ghosts." His eyes brightened with frustration. "Things you talk to Derek about and not me. And you're right, I don't like it."

She considered his words and knew they were true. "I only keep things from you because you don't want to know about them. They make you crazy."

He nodded, and acceptance filled his eyes, but she could tell it cost him emotionally. "And believe me when I tell you that the things I keep to myself are things you wouldn't want to know either."

She looked deep into his eyes, hating this conversation, but only because she cared so much about him. "Secrets between people can't be good. It can keep them apart. Why don't we just tell each other everything?"

"Sometimes what we don't know protects us. It can't hurt us if we don't know it." He leaned his forehead against hers. "I can promise you this, Kylie Galen. I'll do whatever I have to do, but I won't let this hurt you."

She frowned. "What do you mean by whatever you have to do?"

"Just that. I won't let what's happening in my messed-up life hurt you."

His words scared her. But the fear was more for him than for herself. "I'm not some fragile little girl. I'm not the same girl whose window you peeked into."

The playfulness in his eyes was both sexy and warm. "Oh, I've noticed."

"I'm serious."

"I know. But you're still my girl, and I want to protect you."

She rolled her eyes in frustration. "I'm the protector. That's what I do," Kylie insisted.

"I know. You're amazing and can do amazing things. And you've already saved my life. But as a protector, the one thing you can't do is protect yourself. So please don't try to stop me from doing it."

* * *

Kylie woke up before the sun the next morning. The only thing she was aware of was Socks sleeping on her stomach, his pointed skunk nose resting between her breasts. She lifted her head and stared at the little guy. He opened one of his beady eyes and then the other, and stared up at her with adoration. The kind of look one got only from a pet.

The kind that said pure love and acceptance.

The silence in the room was loud. Unsure about what had awakened her, she pulled her arm out from under the thin cover to measure the temperature. No cold. No ghosts.

And then she heard it. Or heard her.

"Kitty, kitty," Miranda called from the slightly opened bedroom door. "Come on, Socks. Don't you want to be turned back into a kitten?"

Socks sprang to his feet, leapt to the floor, and scurried under the bed. Kylie wasn't sure if his annoyance was at Miranda for constantly trying to change him back or if he perhaps didn't want to change. Considering Kylie had changed a whole hell of a lot these past few months, she couldn't blame Socks. Change was scary.