She secured them safely in the double cup holder and looked at him blankly when he extended his own soda into the air. He looked down at the occupied cup holders and back at her.

“Can’t you hold it?” she asked.

“And drive?” he grumbled, wincing as he secured his ice-cold soda between well-muscled thighs. “Sure. No problem.”

She looked out the plastic window of the Jeep’s Bikini top as they waited for their food, her dark thoughts lingering like the gray, low-hanging clouds in the sky. On the next full moon she would succumb to an instinct that demanded she feed on human life.

Bile rose in her at that, and she glanced at his hard profile. Only he wouldn’t let that happen. He would make certain it never came down to that. One way or another. He would destroy her first. He hadn’t said as much, but she knew, she understood, and she didn’t blame him. Claire looked back out the window at the impending night.

There was still a chance. Claire swallowed hard and nodded in conviction, clinging to that belief. They’d find the alpha and break the curse before Gideon had to resort to such measures. He must believe it possible. Otherwise he would have already killed her.

And why hadn’t he? The question continued to rattle around inside her head. What was his motivation for helping her? Was she his good deed of the year? A single altruistic measure to break up a long line of kills?

“I haven’t told you thank you.”

The soft beat of his thumbs on the steering wheel abruptly ceased. “For what?”

Claire looked at him again. “Helping me.”

His lips thinned. “I haven’t helped you yet.”

“I think you have.” Claire recalled what he had said about the police force being full of hunters like him. “Those other hunters you mentioned, would they do what you’re doing?”

“No. They’d have destroyed you that first night.” The muscles in his jaw knotted and his eyes grew intense, burning as they looked at her. “I guess I’m just growing too soft for this job.” There was both sarcasm and anger in his voice. Claire wondered to whom it was directed.

Gideon turned, relieving her of his intense gaze as he accepted the bags of food through the window. She took the warm bags, the aroma of fried food tantalizing. He shifted the gear stick and they were soon speeding along the frontage road. Even with the top attached, the air hummed loudly around the vehicle as they merged onto the interstate. Grease soaked through the white paper bags balanced on her lap, singeing the tops of her thighs. But she didn’t care. A burger in one hand, she shoved fries into her mouth with the other, hardly chewing before she swallowed.

“Mind handing me my burger?”