C22 Wonderful. Lovely. Sounds great.

On the way home, stunned, I couldn't quite believe it. But I shouldn't have been surprised. A connection had formed before the couple's magic kicked in.

I arrived at my cabin, and my wolf howled in my head. claim her now!

"Shut up!" I roared at him and entered my house, bursting through the doors to get to the basement gym. My wolf growled. But I had practiced a lot over the years to drown him out when necessary.

I took a few deep breaths, took off my shirt, clenched my fists, and started punching the punching bag. The bag swung with my strength and I responded to it head on, with several punches left, right and left again. I didn't look at the wall of mirrors I had set up, turning my back on him, not wanting to see the truth. My mission was to relieve the frustration boiling in every vein since Lara had arrived in town.

Fate had brought her to me. She thrilled me, challenged me, and would be strong enough to take whatever I threw at her. But she also understood the deepest parts of my nature, parts of me that I couldn't explain even before she knew the truth of what I was.

My fists hit the leather and my knuckles felt the pain. I needed to function near her again without shaking her, demanding that she tell me the truth. I had to see how far she was capable of going to get me before Scott .

Once I had hit the bag hard enough, I put in a few miles on the treadmill before moving on to the weights. I continued until my muscles ached, and was glad when a sense of calm came over me. After running through the woods, after dark, I would feel even calmer, ready for the showdown.

I needed to know if I could trust my partner. I needed to know what I would choose when the time came. And as the pain threatened, I vowed to put the safety of the city before my needs.

Before my partner's needs.

Lara

After a restless night's sleep, I awoke with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.

I intended to go to the shop today to find out when the part would arrive. If Mary said it would take longer, I would beg and plead with her to take the Firenza to go get the replacement gasket myself. I couldn't take it any longer.

My dreams, haunting and beautiful at the same time, made me realize that my feelings had become more and more entangled where Paul was concerned. If I was going to do this, I had to do it now.

No more waiting.

I worked out the kinks in the plan and the ache in my gut subsided a bit. I would take Paul somewhere safe. Maybe a motel, take a picture of him with my cell phone, send it to Scott and wait for him to arrive with my uncle. I would release Paul's handcuffs and arrange an exchange, armed to the teeth, ready to fight Paul and Spencer . If I died in the attempt, so be it. At least I wouldn't feel like the scum of the earth, a miserable human being, a pathetic....

The phone rang in my room, drilling into my thoughts. I pushed the blankets away from the bed and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?

"Sorry to bother you, Lara," Rose's sweet voice said through the line, "but Mary just dropped off the keys to your truck. She says it's already taken care of. She has to leave today, so she left a message to say that maybe you can catch up later before you leave."

"Oh," I replied, my foggy mind trying to catch up. "Great. Thanks, Rose."

My wish came true. The truck was already fixed. But how to play this, should I take a walk around town to find Paul , crossing paths with the townspeople, accepting their kindness with a lump in my throat before carrying out my plan?

I can't do that, I panicked, but I can take the coward's way out.

"Rose ?" I said, remembering I was still on the line.

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you have a number where I can call Paul Reed ?"

She let out a warm chuckle, as if she was eager to reunite the two lovebirds. A couple of numbers later, I said goodbye and dialed Paul's home number with a trembling hand.

After a couple of rings it went to voicemail, so I hung up. I finally reached him in his office.

"Paul," he answered. Even his voice gave me butterflies in my stomach.

Taking a deep breath and putting a hand on my abdomen, I said, "Hi, this is Lara . Rose gave me your number."

"Hi, Lara, " she greeted, more cheerful than I expected. "I'm glad you did."

I laughed. A nervous, half-hearted laugh. "E m, I just wanted to let you know that I've already got my truck back. Maybe we could have a picnic somewhere before I have to leave?"

"Oh, no." He chuckled. "You mentioned you wanted to go dancing. So, honey, let's go dancing."

"Great," I said, hitting the bed. Yes, I had mentioned it. But I had also pinned my hopes on seclusion, getting him away from the city. A picnic, quiet, no people around. "About seven?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll pick you up and we can go to The Gray Robin. It's down by the creek. They have a dance floor and play good music."

"Cool. But I'll pick you up. Mary dropped off the keys to my truck this morning." Again, I tried to laugh but failed.

"Okay. Meet me at the inn at seven."

"Wonderful. Lovely. Sounds great. See you at seven."

"Lara , are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm just sad to leave this place, that's all. Bye Paul ."

I let go of the handset again as if it was burning and dropped onto the bed, my heart pounding.

My actions today were about to ruin me for life. When it was all over, if I survived, I'd get my uncle out of town, drop him off somewhere far away, rescue Paul's ass and leave Idaho for good. I was done with the place. I was done with bounty hunting. And I was done with fucking Scott Smith .

After showering and gathering my meager belongings, I ate as much breakfast as I could, even though I wasn't hungry. I grabbed some cookies for later, as I didn't want to venture into town for lunch.

After that, I hid in my room, trying to read a novel and failing. Instead, I picked up my pencils.

Drawing relieved my cluttered thoughts. Time ceased to be a concept when I drew or painted. It was as if I fell into a black hole where only my imagination and I existed.

After almost finishing another sketch of Woods Creek, a knock on the door disturbed me. I opened it and saw a tray on the floor full of food. Next to it was a note: Eat. I want Rose .

Tears escaped my eyes before I could stop them. I caressed the note with my fingers and love filled my heart as I carried the tray to my room and pushed the door shut.

"How can I do this?" I whispered, my head aching, throbbing with the words, You have no choice, you have no choice, you have no choice.

Numbing to the pain of it all, I grabbed the tray and ate what I could, wrapping and gathering what I could carry, stuffing it into my bag.

I had already taken out the strong sedative and put it in the bag for later. I only used it in desperate circumstances, and again, I had gotten it through my uncle's dubious channels. He had made sure I had it on hand, because he wanted my safety above all else: "If things get bad, I'd been told, throw this in their drink. It's strong enough to knock out a horse."

Now I would use it to knock Paul out.

Stop it. And accept it.

It was almost time. I stayed focused on the task at hand, ignoring all the shit that could go wrong. And also accepting that nothing would ever happen between Paul and me. Because even if everything went my way, and I rescued the man after selling him out, there would be no way he would forgive me.