Claire looked down at her student, the silent plea clear as day in those espresso-colored eyes.

Nina stumbled for words, her brow creased in worry. “You’re not really going to kill me, are you?”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Don’t be fooled by appearances; sometimes the scrawniest dogs are the most dangerous.

—Man’s Best Friend: An Essential Guide to Dogs

Gun ready, Gideon yanked open his door and took aim. “Where is she?” he asked with deadly calm, his barrel a mere inch from those silver eyes. He looked away for the briefest second to scan the street. Tom, who had diligently dogged Gideon’s trail, was nowhere in sight. Guess Cooper called off his watchdog. Or Tom got lazy and went on a food run.

His gaze flicked back to Darius, the very bastard he had spent endless agonizing days hunting. The lycan didn’t appear the least bit ruffled to have a gun in his face. He lifted a dark brow and asked mildly, “She’s not with you, then, I presume?”

Desperate for answers, Gideon flung his elbow against Darius’s throat and pinned him to a porch pillar. He pressed the gun to the center of his head. “If you touched her—”

Darius’s lips curved in clear amusement. “I didn’t hurt her, if that’s what you’re worried about. Or didn’t she assure you of that herself?”

“Why would she be with me? You took her.”

“I let her go. Days ago.”

“You let her go?” Gideon’s finger loosened on the trigger and he eased his arm from the lycan’s throat, shocked and a little skeptical at this unexpected news. “Why?”

“Because that’s what she wanted.” Darius shrugged lightly, as if even he couldn’t make sense of it.

“She didn’t want to go with you in the first place,” Gideon reminded him, finding it hard to believe that this lycan would take Claire’s wishes into consideration.

“Yes,” he agreed, angling his head. “But I thought I could persuade her to stay with me. We lycans are social creatures, you know. We enjoy companionship. I thought Claire would come around.”

“What about your pack?” Gideon sneered. “They’re not company enough?”

“I don’t have a pack.”

At this Gideon could only stare. Every lycan had a pack.

“No pack. I had hoped Claire could be my pack,” he said in a soft voice. “She’s all I need.”

Gideon aimed the gun again, beyond tempted to blow this lycan away. “Sorry, she’s not yours.”

“So I learned.” Once again, Darius appeared unperturbed. “Appears she’s not so easily persuaded. Someone got to her before me.” His gaze cut to Gideon meaningfully, making it clear to whom he referred.

Darius sidestepped Gideon and entered the house. “Despite my best efforts to convince her otherwise, she thinks you can save her.” He smiled that cold smile again. “But we both know differently. Don’t we?”