Page 51 of Warlander Grizzly

She rolled her head against the pillow. He was standing next to the truck bed, a towel draped over the edge. His arms were resting over the ledge, his head was canted, and his eyes were glowing in the moonlight.

“Favorite what?”

“That’s my favorite smile.”

And she took stock of her face. Sure enough, she wore a smile.

“You look at peace.”

“I didn’t know this existed,” she admitted softly.

The seriousness in his eyes as he watched her lips form the words called to her animal.

“I can feel her,” she whispered.

From here, she could see the gooseflesh rise on his forearms. “She knows she’s safe.”

“Oh, she was always safe. My bear will fight anything. Fear doesn’t exist. Tonight she feels different than she did before.”

“How’s that?”

She blinked, and a drop of water released from the corner of her eye. In the barest of a whisper, she told him, “She doesn’t feel so alone.”

Landon lifted his chin higher and said, “She’s not.” And then he hopped easily over the edge of the truck bed and knelt over her, cleaning her gently with the soft towel.

“You surprise me,” she murmured, watching him work.

“You surprise me too.”

“You really are a healer, aren’t you?”

He blinked slowly and dragged his bright-silver gaze to her. “It seems we are both figuring each other out tonight.”

She parted her lips to say something, but something on the edge of her vision captured her attention. She frowned and watched the still-burning ember clinging to a leaf float down, down. Something brushed her cheek and she wiped it away with her fingertips. It was a dark smear. It was ash.

She looked up. Ash was raining down like dark gray snowflakes from all the trees. The scent of smoke clogged her lungs and made her cough. When she recovered, she was standing in the middle of Smashland Mobile Park. Something was dripping from her hands, and she looked down to find wet crimson on her fingertips. With a gasp, she tried to wipe the blood off, and it came off easily on the fabric of her jeans. Jeans? She was wearing clothes?

Horrified, she looked up, knowing what she would see. Huge flames licked the sides of the trailers. All but Kru’s at the edge of the woods, but there was a man striding for it with a torch in his hand.

The sound of his snarling overpowered the screams that rattled in her head. When he looked back at her over his shoulder, a pained sound escaped her. No.

“Landon?” she called, pushing her legs into a jog. “Landon!” she yelled louder as his powerful strides toward Kru’s trailer lengthened. “Stop!”

His step faltered, but he pushed on.

“Please! Stop!” she screamed as he drew the torch back. Kru would be so hurt. Cadence would be devastated! That was their home, their sanctuary!

With a monstrous roar that shook the trees, Landon hurled the torch at the home, and it ignited like a bonfire.

Lucia skidded to a stop in shock as the heat blistered her skin. She threw her arm over her face to protect it.

“Why?” she asked Landon, her heart in her throat.

He didn’t answer her from where he was standing beside her. He was just watching the flames.

“Landon,” she whispered, tears streaming down her heat-blistered cheeks. “Why?”

He turned to her, and his eyes were full of anger she’d never seen on his face before. “Because you told me to.”