thought the best thing to do was to let him rage until he was too tired to continue. Like the way he must’ve done all those other nights when he’d gone on a rampage.
But it felt too cruel. Rory needed to stop this.
Rory’s heartbeat hammered against her rib cage as she approached the torn up circle of violence where Dylan battled his invisible demons. She had no idea what she was doing. She just acted on instinct.
Her presence might be enough, she thought. Her and Dylan had known each other for years. He’d always been protective of her, even when they were kids. Even before they’d fallen in love with each other.
She hoped that the mere sight of her might have some sort of calming effect. It wasn’t much of a plan, but she had nothing else. She needed to figure out some way to soothe the savage beast.
The plan, of course, could go terribly wrong. There was no guarantee that Dylan would even recognize her in his current state. He hadn’t seemed to know who she was back in the house. At the time, he seemed like he was more in control of himself than he was now. Now, he seemed completely unaware. It was a risk she had to take.
She moved forward slowly on trembling legs. Rory wasn’t the type of girl to be intimidated easily, but she’d never encountered anything like this.
Dylan’s strength was mind blowing. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen and now she faced the daunting task of trying to stop him. But how do you stop a force of nature? She might as well try to calm a hurricane or divert a tidal wave. It seemed impossible.
Rory refused to believe in the impossible, not when it came to Dylan. Growing up, she knew it was impossible that he would ever love her. Yet somehow that had happened. When he went off to war, she thought it was impossible for him to come home alive. But he managed that somehow, too.
So getting through to him, parting the red mist of rage that consumed him, that had to be possible, too.
Dylan lifted his snout in the air, catching her scent. He spun around in a blur of torn up soil and debris. His jaws opened wide and a mighty roar tore through the dark night.
Rory’s hands shook as she lifted them up, palms out towards the furious bear. It occurred to her she would be safer if she shifted into bear form, but she hoped that the sound of her voice and the sight of her face would be the things that got through to Dylan. Besides, if he saw another bear approaching him, he might take it as a threat.
And there was no way Rory could ever hope to survive against a creature like Dylan.
She continued to edged forward, inch by inch. Her quaking knees tried to betray her. They tried to keep her from advancing. It was through sheer strength of will alone that she managed to move forward.
Dylan growled at her, low and threatening. His golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark. Those eyes showed no signs of recognition. All she saw in those eyes was fury.
Dylan had told her he’d killed people. How many men stared into these eyes at the end? Were these golden eyes the last thing they ever saw? She shuddered at the thought.
It was so difficult for her to reconcile the two versions of Dylan that she knew. There was the strong but gentle boy she’d grown up with. Then there was this. The dark tormented version of him.
This was the version Dylan warned her about. This was the part of him that made Dylan think he and Rory should never be together.
Whatever had happened to him when he went off and joined the military, it had changed him. That was certain. But she knew that a part of him was still that gentle giant who had defended her when she was being picked on. Part of him was still that man who gathered her up in his arms when she was crying and brushed away her tears.
That man was still inside the beast raging in front of her. And that man was worth fighting for.
“Dylan,” she said, her voice low and
But it felt too cruel. Rory needed to stop this.
Rory’s heartbeat hammered against her rib cage as she approached the torn up circle of violence where Dylan battled his invisible demons. She had no idea what she was doing. She just acted on instinct.
Her presence might be enough, she thought. Her and Dylan had known each other for years. He’d always been protective of her, even when they were kids. Even before they’d fallen in love with each other.
She hoped that the mere sight of her might have some sort of calming effect. It wasn’t much of a plan, but she had nothing else. She needed to figure out some way to soothe the savage beast.
The plan, of course, could go terribly wrong. There was no guarantee that Dylan would even recognize her in his current state. He hadn’t seemed to know who she was back in the house. At the time, he seemed like he was more in control of himself than he was now. Now, he seemed completely unaware. It was a risk she had to take.
She moved forward slowly on trembling legs. Rory wasn’t the type of girl to be intimidated easily, but she’d never encountered anything like this.
Dylan’s strength was mind blowing. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen and now she faced the daunting task of trying to stop him. But how do you stop a force of nature? She might as well try to calm a hurricane or divert a tidal wave. It seemed impossible.
Rory refused to believe in the impossible, not when it came to Dylan. Growing up, she knew it was impossible that he would ever love her. Yet somehow that had happened. When he went off to war, she thought it was impossible for him to come home alive. But he managed that somehow, too.
So getting through to him, parting the red mist of rage that consumed him, that had to be possible, too.
Dylan lifted his snout in the air, catching her scent. He spun around in a blur of torn up soil and debris. His jaws opened wide and a mighty roar tore through the dark night.
Rory’s hands shook as she lifted them up, palms out towards the furious bear. It occurred to her she would be safer if she shifted into bear form, but she hoped that the sound of her voice and the sight of her face would be the things that got through to Dylan. Besides, if he saw another bear approaching him, he might take it as a threat.
And there was no way Rory could ever hope to survive against a creature like Dylan.
She continued to edged forward, inch by inch. Her quaking knees tried to betray her. They tried to keep her from advancing. It was through sheer strength of will alone that she managed to move forward.
Dylan growled at her, low and threatening. His golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark. Those eyes showed no signs of recognition. All she saw in those eyes was fury.
Dylan had told her he’d killed people. How many men stared into these eyes at the end? Were these golden eyes the last thing they ever saw? She shuddered at the thought.
It was so difficult for her to reconcile the two versions of Dylan that she knew. There was the strong but gentle boy she’d grown up with. Then there was this. The dark tormented version of him.
This was the version Dylan warned her about. This was the part of him that made Dylan think he and Rory should never be together.
Whatever had happened to him when he went off and joined the military, it had changed him. That was certain. But she knew that a part of him was still that gentle giant who had defended her when she was being picked on. Part of him was still that man who gathered her up in his arms when she was crying and brushed away her tears.
That man was still inside the beast raging in front of her. And that man was worth fighting for.
“Dylan,” she said, her voice low and
Similar Books
