I sat on the bed staring at the window. My mind was still struggling to take in what had happened in the last twenty four hours. With the revelations my cousin had unleashed and trespassing on Kane’s territory, it was all too much. I inhaled deeply and expelled the breath slowly trying to fight off the urge to run as far as I could. To go against my instinct felt so wrong but I couldn’t leave Maverick. I loved him and I couldn’t give him up, even when it made logical sense.

Even when I heard Maverick approach I didn’t turn to face him.

“You okay?” he asked.

I shrugged. I doubted I would ever be okay. To discover the type of family I had was still hard to process. Not once had I even considered the family that had given me up would be anything other than loving. The truth had shattered every dream the little girl in me had ever harbored. The dreams that I had held onto to get me through the darkest moments of my life.

I looked over my shoulder to see Maverick leaning against the doorway of our bedroom. He was devastatingly handsome, still enough to make me breathless. His eyes deep and searching. I swallowed. It still felt strange to think he was mine. I was so lucky. The emptiness in the middle of my chest filled with the love I felt for him. I might not never have the family that I had always wanted but I had someone who loved me so deeply it still felt like some sort of fairytale. What I felt for him was stronger than anything I had ever experienced. No one made me feel the way he did.

“Yesterday, was a lot,” I murmured, not ready to revisit the revelations.

My state was emotional and I wasn’t sure I could take anymore. I needed time to deal with it and find a way to align my past with what I had learned from Tristan.

“I’m not sure what to call you anymore,” he sighed, pushing off the door frame to approach me slowly. “Mary isn’t your name anymore, Victoria is the one you chose but you can’t out run who you are Alexandria.”

It was a reminder of what lay beyond the safe confines of the room.

“I was never Mary. That was a name chosen by someone who didn’t know me. And right now it’s still to dangerous to let on who I really am so I think the safest choice is Victoria.” I sighed as he sat down beside me on the bed and took my hand in his. The touch settled the anxiety in me. “I don’t know if I’ll ever want to be Alexandria.”

“Why not?” he frowned.

“Because that name brings danger and puts lives at risk.” I leaned my head on his shoulder, feeling to weak to face what was coming with any bravery.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead and I closed my eyes briefly, intent on concentrating on how he made me feel and to let go of all the thoughts cycling through my mind relentlessly.

“We’ll figure a way to deal with this,” he said, with a confidence that made me lift my head to look at him.

“I want to believe that more than anything.” I swallowed nervously, tightening my hand over his. “I’ve handled a lot in my life Maverick. I’ve spent most of my life expecting the worst of people, expecting life to kick me in the teeth and then I found you. I finally have something that I can’t lose Maverick. I can’t lose you. Just thinking that something might happen to you because of me is too much to handle.” I trembled.

He put his arm around me and pulled me closed. “You won’t lose me. I haven’t figured out how we are going to handle this whole situation. You can’t hide forever and at some point we will have to deal with your family and Colt Richards. Our world is unlike the humans, we are governed by our animal instinct which means no matter how this goes lives will be lost.”

I closed my eyes feeling the pain of his words inside of me. I didn’t want anyone to die. When I thought about anything happening to Lark, or Sebastian, who had never been a fan, I could not fathom it.

Feeling like I had to take action otherwise I would have no other choice but to watch my unavoidable future unfold, I stood suddenly to face Maverick.

“Let’s just leave. They don’t know what I look like. I know how to disappear Maverick. We could live quietly under the radar, just the two of us.” I grabbed his hands, he stood slowly. “No one has to die.”

He was already shaking his head. “They will find you. It’s just a matter of time Victoria. This is something you cannot hide from.”

I didn’t want to hear it. I released his hands and turned my back on him, like I could ignore what he was saying and hold onto the hope that I could stop what was going to happen. The lack of control in the situation was enough to throw me into a full panic, making it difficult to stop my hands from shaking.

“Victoria.”

I tried to ignore him, I didn’t want to face it.

He gently turned me to him and touched my cheek gently. His eyes searched mine. I could feel the love shining in the warmth of his gaze. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. I won’t allow anything to happen to you.”

I wanted to believe him so badly but the reality was he may not be able to stop it.

“Right now we know more than they do and that counts in our favor.”

“How so?” I frowned.

“We know who is after you and why. They still don’t know where you are Victoria. It gives us a chance to put a plan together.”

“They don’t sound like the type of people that will negotiate,” I muttered.

He smiled. “There are other ways of handling this. We have just have to figure out the best one.”

He made it sound so easy, too easy. It felt like he wasn’t telling me everything.

“Why do I get the feeling that you aren’t being completely honest with me?”

“I don’t want you to worry,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to mine.

It was difficult to think when he was so close and once he kissed me, all I could think about was him and how he made me feel. Temporarily, everything else fell into the background as I wound my arms around his necked and pulled my body up against his. His lifted me to wrap my legs around his waist as he deepened the kiss.

He made love to me in the most tender way. Not once could I think of anything other than what he made me feel physical or emotional.

Afterward, I lay in his arms trailing my hands across his chest trying to hold onto the hope that somehow there would be a way to deal with the whole situation. He pressed a feather light kiss to the top of my head.

For I feared that if I couldn’t see a way out of it, I would be left with no other choice than to do the right thing.

Leaving him would be hard and it would break my heart but it would be easier than watching him die to defend me. He would protect me with his last breath.

If he was willing to lay his life down to keep me safe, what was I prepared to do to save him?

Anything. Even spend the rest of life, without him. Living every moment in the pain of knowing what could have been. In the short time of being with him I knew what I would be giving up.

It wasn’t just love, it was a sense of belonging. He was my family. He made me feel protected and loved in a harsh world that had taught me bad things happened to good people all the time.

I would not endanger him. For the moment I would stay but if there was no way out without bloodshed I would give him up, no matter what it cost me.