Deceiving the Protector (27 page)

The silence drew out, but Lia didn’t have the heart to break it. Not with Laurel looking at her so intently.

“I know your face.” But that seemed to puzzle the girl more than anything else. “Who
are
you?”

“A…friend,” Lia choked out. They’d been that, just as she’d been a parent and a protector. It was too much to ask, she decided, pain searing her heart so deep she could tell by Tate’s tightening hand that he could feel it too. Too much expectation to place on Laurel’s shoulders if she admitted they were sisters. “We’re Wolves, just like you.”

Laurel stiffened, but said nothing.

“You’re going home with them,” Aurelia said gently. Or as gently as she was able. “There are things you need to learn, Laura. About yourself, about your kind.”

“I’m already with my kind,” Laurel said, pulling her hand from Aurelia’s grip, repudiation on her face. “I’m happy here.”

“And we’re happy having you,” Aurelia replied even as Lia flinched. “You’ll always have a home with us. You’re one of us, Laura, never doubt that. But you’ve come to an age where you need to learn from those like yourself. We’ve taught you what it is to be a shifter. They can teach you what it is to be a Wolf.”

Laurel’s gaze snapped back to Lia’s, a mix of fear and confusion crossing her delicate features. In her eyes, colors flickered, the dark pupil shifting wide to small and back again. “Do I have a choice?”

“No.” Aurelia’s voice had a finality that couldn’t be argued. She sighed, reaching her hand out again to the girl. “Trust in me, Laura. This is best for you. When you’re ready, when the time is right, you can come home. But right now…you need them.”

Laurel wanted to argue, but to Lia’s surprise, all she did was clamp her jaws and bow her head over Aurelia’s hand. So much control. Too much for a girl who should still be playing games, running and giggling with her friends.

Lia stood, circling the table to stand before her sister. She forced her mouth to smile, hoping it was gentle instead of pained. Unable to resist, she traced the back of her fingers down the side of Laurel’s cheek. The girl was older, her face longer and the baby roundness had long faded, but her cheek was as soft as ever. Lia swallowed the lump in her own throat before brushing a few stray hairs behind Laurel’s ear.

Fast as lightning, Laurel’s hand caught her own, leaning forward to stare more intently up at Lia. “I felt something when you looked at me. The way you touched me. Why do I know your face?”

Lia could only hoarsely whisper, “Because hearts don’t forget.” Hers never had. “Come with us and I’ll teach you all the things your heart still remembers.”

“Everything?” A frisson of fear glistened in Laurel’s eyes.

Lia smoothed her hand down the side of Laurel’s face again, her chest aching when the girl’s sable lashes came down and she leaned into the touch. “Whatever you’re ready for, sweetheart. And if anything bad comes up, I’ll help you with that too. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’ll always be here.”

Laurel’s eyes snapped open, the color shifting completely to a winter blue of a Wolf, her grip suddenly so hard it almost hurt. “Lia?”

Her heart jolted in her chest to hear her name. She tried again to smile, to nod. “Do you remember something?”

Laurel shook her head. “You’ve said that to me before. That you’d always be here.” Those Wolf-eyes darted over Lia’s features. “I remember…
you
. The way you felt. You kept me safe. I was scared, but you kept me safe.”

Lia nodded, harder this time, her tears impossible to hold in anymore. “I tried, honey. I tried so hard.”

Laurel buried her face in Lia’s neck. “I’ve dreamed of you.” Her voice was so small, unexpected tears spilling onto Lia’s skin. “The way you’d pet my face. I could never really see you, but I dreamed of how you felt. In my heart.”

Lia held her sister to her tighter, rocking her as she always had before. Wrapping herself around the girl in every way she could, offering her strength, her comfort. Her love.

She pressed her cheek to the top of Laurel’s head, turning her face so she could see Tate standing next to Aurelia. So she could smile at him and he’d know he was a part of this moment with her. He stood rigidly straight, her proud hunter, but she could see the track of a tear on his bronzed face. Not at all ashamed or afraid to show his raw emotions openly. A swell of gratitude, of love, rose in her for him. She couldn’t reach for him physically, afraid to break the moment with her sister, but she could reach for him with her heart. With her soul.

The most amazing thing—the miracle she still couldn’t quite believe but was so grateful for—was that she didn’t have to.

He was already there.

In a world that has nearly destroyed them, wolf shifters fight for survival—and love…

Discover more dark, sexy paranormal romance in TEMPTING THE ENEMY by Dee Tenorio, book one of The Resurrection Series.

Dee Tenorio has a few reality issues. After much therapy for the problem—if one can call being awakened in the night by visions of hot able-bodied men a problem—she has proved incurable. It turns out she enjoys tormenting herself by writing sizzling, steamy romances of various genres spanning paranormal mystery dramas, contemporaries and romantic comedies. Preferably starring the sexy, somewhat grumpy heroes described above and smart-mouthed heroines who have much better hair than she does.

The best part is, no more therapy bills!

Well, not for Dee, anyway. Her husband and kids, on the other hand…

If you would like to learn more about Dee and her work, please visit her website at www.deetenorio.com or her blog at http://www.deetenorio.com/Blog/.

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