Dark Forest (Secret Blood, Book 1) Read Free Page B

exactly who to watch for. Julian Hathaway. Since he hadn’t scented Kiera’s abductor, he had no way of knowing if the other wolf was responsible for the current chaos, but he was definitely a threat, and a threat Aiden intended to take seriously.
    Edith scowled at him. “Fine. Rose, you can’t stay here. I don’t want you hogging up my space.”
    Rose opened her pretty mouth before snapping it closed and gritting her teeth. “Old woman, if you do not stop this nonsense, I—”
    “Exactly what are you going to do, little girl?” Edith planted her hands on robust hips.
    “I am not—”
    “You are being a pain in the ass,” Edith shot back before Rose could finish. “I already survived my son’s death, and I won’t survive the death of his daughter! Stay with Aiden.”
    Rose looked to him for help.
    He sighed. “Grams is right. My place is the safest you’re going to get in this town.”
    Rose walked off the porch, muttering to herself.
    Aiden growled at Edith and then took off after Rose. She didn’t understand. He didn’t want her to suffer the same fate Travis and Bridget had. The people he cared about kept dying around him. He was as much of a danger to her as she was in without him, no matter what he’d just said a moment ago. But he couldn’t take the chance she might be harmed, no matter his misgivings or horrible track record. “Rose, wait!”
    She turned to glare at him. “There’s a killer and kidnapper on the loose, one who seems to like girls who look like me, and the best thing you and Grams can come up with is for me to stay with you!”
    He went perfectly still. It was the first time he had a real confirmation she didn’t trust him. “Rose, I—” But he didn’t know what to say. His heart constricted in his chest. Of course she couldn’t trust him. There were too many unanswered questions about how he had survived the wolf attack five years ago, and his family hadn’t. “I’ll talk to Grams.”
    “No! Wait!” Rose stared at him like a deer in headlights. “Are you…” She closed her eyes and muttered to herself. When her beautiful green eyes opened, there was worry in them. “Are you a werewolf?”
    The question wasn’t what he expected. He could easily deny being a murderer, but a werewolf? He schooled his expression to be as blank as possible. “If I am?”
    Surprising him, she stepped closer. “Travis and Bridget were killed by a wolf.”
    “I’m not sure you’re ready for this conversation.” His body went on high alert. Everything about him was calm, but readied for flight, because he was not going to fight Rose.
    “Did you kill them?” Her chin lifted as her shoulders squared.
    Easy question. He relaxed by a measure. “No.”
    “Do you know who did?”
    His jaw worked as he wondered how to explain this to her without putting himself in danger. “Rose—”
    “You want me to sleep in a house with you,” she snapped, taking a step forward and pointing a finger at him. “I want to know the truth of what happened.”
    “I’ll talk to Grams. I am not going to make you—”
    Rose wrapped her hand around his wrist. “Damn you, Aiden! I can’t have a normal life until I’ve resolved this with you.”
    His shoulders trembled. The pounding of his heart hammered in his ears. “Rose—”
    “I want the truth,” she whispered.
    “Shape-shifter.” His voice went raw.
    “One that isn’t you.” Rose made it a statement.
    Aiden thought he prepared himself for this moment. It happened so many times in his head. The lie formed on his tongue. He was going to deny the core of his being. “I…” His jaw twitched. His wolf prowled close to the surface. He could feel the pressure in his mouth, on his fingernails. Fangs wanted to drop, and claws to grow. The other part of him wanted to make itself known to its mate. It didn’t care Rose was human. It felt the rightness of her, the way her sweet scent was an intoxication in itself. “One that isn’t