Warrior (Relentless #4)(22)

“Are you suggesting we leave her there?” Tristan asked sharply.

“No. We’ll give her some time to process everything before we talk to her again. Chris and I will watch over her, and we’re not her only protectors.”

“What do you mean?” Tristan asked.

“When I met Sara, she was with two members of the Maine pack – the Alpha’s son and nephew. She’s close to the wolves, and the two I met were very protective of her. She lives in a small town called New Hastings, in the heart of pack territory an hour north of Portland.”

“Werewolves?” It took Tristan a minute to recover from his shock. “That’s Maxwell Kelly’s pack.”

Chris spoke up. “You know him?”

“By reputation only,” Tristan said. “He’s a strong Alpha and widely known for his hunting skills. I’ve heard other packs send their wolves to him for training. His pack is one of the first in the country to live among humans instead of segregating themselves. He is also territorial. I’m still trying to grasp how those vampires managed to elude his pack for weeks.”

“The vampire who attacked Sara was their leader,” I replied. “He’s proving to be adept at hiding and covering his tracks. But if he’s still here, we’ll find him.”

Tristan expelled a long breath. “I feel better knowing my granddaughter is under Kelly’s protection, but I won’t rest until she is here with us. Please, keep her safe.”

Chris nodded solemnly. “I’ll guard my cousin with my life.”

“As will I,” I vowed.

“Thank you. I don’t think I could entrust her safety to anyone else.” Tristan’s chair squeaked when he sat again. “This is… I can’t tell you what this means to me, knowing I have a granddaughter. I just can’t understand how Madeline could abandon her own child. I knew my daughter could be selfish, but she was never a bad person. If she didn’t want the child, why didn’t she send her to me?”

“I don’t know.” I had wondered the same things. Madeline could have easily picked up a phone and let Tristan know about the girl. Why she hadn’t done that was a question only she could answer.

Tristan’s tone changed, and he was all business. “What is your plan? Will you have Erik’s team hunt the vampires while you two watch over Sara?”

“Chris and I will take turns keeping an eye on her.” I looked at him, and he nodded in agreement. “We’ll have to keep our distance though, because she won’t be happy if she knows we’re hanging around.”

“Perhaps I should ask Paulette to join you,” Tristan suggested. “There’s no one better at handling orphans, and a female might be less threatening to Sara.”

He was right, but I was reluctant to bring anyone else in. A few days ago, I’d planned to turn Sara over to Paulette, but I couldn’t do that now.

“Nikolas?” Tristan said.

“Let’s hold off on Paulette for now. I’ve already explained things to Sara, and I think bringing in someone else might be too much for her. Chris and I can handle things here.”

No one spoke for a long moment. Finally, Tristan said, “Okay, if you think that is best. I trust your judgement.”

“Thank you.” His faith in me made me feel a moment of guilt that I hadn’t told him everything. But a bond was a deeply personal connection between two people, and Tristan would understand my wish to keep it private. I’d have to tell Chris, but the fewer people who knew about it the better.

“We’ll take care of the vampire problem here,” I said. “Between us and the werewolves, Sara will be well protected. Hopefully, she’ll be more open to us in a few weeks after she’s had time to take it all in.”

“And if she isn’t?” Tristan asked, worry in his voice.

“We’ll stay as long as it takes. She won’t be alone, Tristan.” I leaned back against the couch. “Sara is strong-willed, but she’s also intelligent and curious about the world. I believe she’ll want to know more about her people when she’s less wary of us.”

“I hope you are right.”

So do I, I silently agreed with him.

Tristan made an aggravated sound. “I have a Council call in two minutes, but I’m afraid my mind won’t be on business today. I’ll check back with you tomorrow.”

“I’ll talk to you then.”

I hung up and silence hung heavily in the room. Chris stared at me for a long moment before he finally spoke.

“All right, what are you holding back? I know you better than anyone, and I can tell there’s something you’re not saying. It has to be bad if you didn’t want Tristan to know.”

I got up and walked to the window. Peering out at the quiet street, I thought about how to tell him what he wanted to know. It was harder than I’d expected to come up with the right words.

“Why don’t you want anyone else to visit Sara? You’ve never shown interest in orphans before. I would think you’d be happy for someone like Paulette to take over.”

“Sara’s not like other orphans.”

“Because she’s Tristan’s granddaughter?”

Goddamn, this was not easy. But I had to tell him about the bond, unless I planned to walk away from it. Remembering how difficult it had been to ride away from her yesterday, I knew leaving was no longer an option.