Trust Read Online Free Page B

“Is it deep?”
    “It is in some parts,” he told her, guiding her in a little farther. “The current is fairly strong, but it’s easy enough to swim in.”
    Taylor’s free hand gripped at the sleeve of his shirt as they waded upstream. Alder hooked his arm around her waist under the guise of keeping her steady. While she had been uncomfortable with being touched earlier, she seemed to be growing used to it now, and he liked that.
    He had no clue what he was going to do with Taylor when he got her back to his territory. The wolf in him was already coming up with a few ideas, but while his animal instincts might have urged him to protect her, to keep her, and to take her as his mate, he knew that things were not that simple. They were strangers.
    “Hey,” Taylor said, garnering his attention. “Do you really think they won’t follow us into the mountains?”
    He gave a firm nod. “They don’t even know for certain that it was you in that car. I doubt they’ll waste their resources tracking us into the mountains where they run the risk of being attacked by shifters.”
    “Are there really shifters in those mountains? Like, you’ve actually seen them before?”
    Alder considered the question. He was tempted to tell her the truth about what he was, but the anxiety in her voice led him to err on the side of discretion.
    “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine,” he told her.
    Before they arrived at his territory, he would have to tell her what he was, but it could wait.
----
    T hey crossed the river in a shallow area and made camp another mile down, in a small clearing between a granite outcropping and a cluster of evergreen trees. Taylor flung her bag down, all but collapsing onto the ground beside it. She didn’t give a damn about pine needles or bugs—she just wanted to rest.
    Alder sat down next to her, positioning his large body between her and the trees. Her eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness, and she could see him watching her, but she didn’t mind.
    “Is it safe to take a nap here?” she asked him.
    “I don’t think they’ll find us here,” he said.
    She tried to relax, but now that they were relatively safe, her pesky conscience had returned, bringing with it a fresh rash of guilt.
    Us.
    Yesterday, she had just been Devin Taylor Michaels, a college girl with a remarkably masculine name who happened to be wanted for killing a member of congress. Then, she had managed to meet the handsomest, nicest, most perfect guy on the planet, and had somehow turned him into her accomplice.
    “Hey, Alder?”
    “Hm?”
    She propped her head on her elbow to gaze up at him. “What were you doing? You know, before I came along and ruined your life?”
    “You haven’t ruined my life.” Before she could point out all of the reasons why he was wrong, he said, “I thought you didn’t like to ask personal questions.”
    “I trust you not to lie to me.”
    It was only after the words had left her mouth that she realized they were true. Although they’d just met hours ago, Alder had demonstrated an unparalleled level of loyalty towards her. The least she could do was trust him.
    “I was on my way to visit family.”
    She frowned. “They’ll be worried about you, huh?”
    He hesitated, and then said, “I suspect they will.”
    Taylor wanted to apologize, but given the circumstances, it seemed like a shallow gesture. She’d never been a fan of apologies anyway.
    She said, “You can say that I forced you to drive.”
    He gave a dignified snort. “I doubt anyone would believe you could—”
    “You can say I held you at gunpoint.”
    Alder was quiet for a moment. She glanced up at him, but couldn’t make out his expression in the dark.
    “Do you have a gun?” he finally asked.
    Taylor closed her eyes. Softly, she said, “It’s not loaded. It belonged to him. The man I shot.”
    It was crammed in her bag beneath newspapers and empty pill bottles, the heavy weight of it a constant reminder of