Rejected and Pregnant I Fled The Pack (Evelyn and Damon) novel Chapter 275

Her lips trembled. For a moment I thought she'd bolt anyway.

Then her shoulders crumpled, and a sob she'd clearly been holding for hours broke out of her. She pressed the back of her wrist against her mouth, trying to muffle it, and failed.

I didn't move closer. Every instinct I had screamed to gather her up, but I knew better than to crowd a frightened animal, wolf or human.

"What's your name?" I asked quietly, when the worst of it had passed.

She sniffled. "Marissa." A pause. "Marissa Dawn."

"Marissa," I repeated, and my wolf practically purred at the sound. "That's a beautiful name."

She let out a wet, disbelieving laugh. "I look like a drowned cat."

"A very pretty drowned cat."

That startled a real, if tiny, smile out of her, and I felt it like a punch to the sternum.

"I'm going to take off my jacket," I said, "and offer it to you. You can take it or not. Okay?"

She hesitated, then gave a small nod.

I shrugged out of my heavy, lined jacket, still warm from my body, and held it out at arm's length. She stared at it for a long moment, then reached out and took it like it might bite her. She pulled it around her shoulders, and it swallowed her whole, the sleeves hanging past her fingertips.

She closed her eyes and breathed in.

"It smells like you," she murmured, then went bright red when she realized she'd said it out loud.

"Good," I said, and meant it. "Maybe it'll help."

Slowly, she unfolded herself and tried to stand. Her legs buckled immediately. I caught her elbow before she hit the ground, and she gasped at the contact, a spark of heat running through both of us at the touch.

"Sorry," I said, steadying her but not pulling her close. "How long have you been walking?"

"I don't know." She swayed. "Two days? Three? I took a bus, then I walked. I didn't want to use the highway."

"Have you eaten?"

"A granola bar. Yesterday."

My jaw tightened. "Okay. Let's fix that."

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