Read Online Heart Of The Wolf by Dianna Hardy - Free Book Online Page A

placed
himself at the edge of his desk where he had been earlier, noting
the slight discomfort in his residual limbs as he settled into
position – there was always slight discomfort.
    Living had its
cons.
    Lydia moaned
in her sleep, her eyes twitching under their lids.
    Was she
dreaming?
    Her breathing
turned ragged, her body shaking as if from fever or fear. Fear? He
sniffed. Yes, fear radiated off her.
    He hauled
himself off the desk and leaned over her, thinking he should crouch
or kneel instead so as not to scare her if she woke up, but even
though he could crouch (just about), it wasn't the most easy
of positions, and a part of him was feeling bone-tired with the
events of the last few days.
    “Lydia,” he
whispered, only half wanting to rouse her.
    She whimpered,
and then her chin wobbled and she made a sort of sobbing noise.
    Seeing her in
pain, even if only in a dream, hit him square in the gut. He kissed
her forehead, nudging her head deliberately as he did so.
“Lydia.”
    Her eyes flew
open as a cry burst from her lips. Her hands came up and found his
face, clamping either side of it with clammy palms.
    “It's me! It's
okay … it's me…” Jesus Christ…
    Her eyes were
wide with terror, the blue of them paler than normal, making way
for that gorgeous violet just under the surface. Damn, he could get
lost in her eyes, and that was a complication he really didn't need
right now – there was so much else to get through.
    But he
couldn't look away; not when she was so afraid.
    “You're safe.
Lydia, you're safe.”
    That
ever-present insecurity that lived in him, snaked its way through
his system and peaked. Is she? Can you really keep her
safe?
    She still made
little whimpering sounds, seemingly unable to form words, but it
was her touch on his face that brought him out of his mental
self-flagellation; feathery strokes across his cheekbones, as if
she were somehow soothing him, even though she was the one in
anguish.
    He didn't see
the kiss coming.
    Her lips
brushed his in an almost tender fashion, like she was afraid he
would break at her touch.
    Shocked, he
froze, but he wasn't sure what exactly had shocked him. Her
frightened state? Her gentleness? Her … lovingness?
    No – not
that!
    His entire
being went on red alert, his chest doing that crushing thing again,
and even though a part of him didn't want to pull away, there went
his shutters, slamming right down over his ruined heart and a
thousand screams he'd never wipe from his memory if he lived a
thousand years.
    He pulled
away.
    Dazed, she
looked confused, and then embarrassed. What got to him though, was
the hurt. She'd masked it quickly, but he had seen it, and he was
the one who'd just put it there.
    That didn't
sit well with him at all, and even less so with his wolf, who
stared daggers at him from inside his head. What the fuck was
that? You just pushed away your mate.
    “I'm sorry,”
Lydia muttered, her entire face beetroot. “I had a bad dream.”
    His brow
creased over the scent of … a lie? She was lying to him?
    He quenched
the uneasiness that came from that possibility. She doesn't
trust you.
    Can you
blame her? reprimanded the wolf. You just denied her
needs.
    But, wait …
how could she be lying? He'd witnessed her having the
nightmare…
    “Where's
Taylor?”
    Oh, well
done, you. She was frightened, needed comfort, you all but told her
to fuck off, and now she's asking for another male. You are the
Best. Mate. Ever. “Lydia—”
    “Where's
Taylor?” she repeated, finality injected into her tone; her own
eyes, usually so expressive, now guarded.
    It was clear
she didn't want to talk about the dream or her reaction to it. It
bothered him more than he'd like. Welcome to the other side of
the fence.
    “He's gone
back to Selena's house with her—Ryan's there too,” he added
quickly. “She was attacked by her own brother this morning.
Unfortunately, the full moon, plus a lack of females to go around,
can lead to … all kinds of