The Wolf Marshal's Pack (U.S. Marshal Shifters 3)

It was a gesture that highlighted her long, gorgeous eyelashes, and Colby thought wistfully of how incredible it would be to really wake up next to her and see her dark curls tumbled across her pillow.

“Why?” Aria said.

He wanted to phrase it as delicately as possible.

“I think Luke’s right: Eli and his brother aren’t going to target your family or try to use them against you. But if they’re looking for you, and you’re with your family, I don’t think they’ll have that many scruples about busting the door down and saying to hell with the collateral damage.”

That hadn’t been delicate at all.

Maybe it would be easier to concentrate, Colby hissed at his wolf, if you would shut up for two seconds.

But he was forgetting that Aria was a woman who made her living off photographing nature—and nature was anything but cute and cuddly, no matter how many bunnies and sloths and baby goats it tried to distract you with. Colby owned all her books, and he knew for a fact that she’d seen—and recorded—some pretty grisly acts of predators against prey.

It hit closer to home when it was happening to her, of course, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t as tough as nails. She took his lack of tact without even flinching.

“Right,” she said. “Good thinking. But I don’t have to get all the way out of town for that to work. I just have to send Mattie to stay with my mom and dad for a few days. Then I can keep helping you.”

Colby shook his head. “I can’t keep risking you like this.”

“You’re not risking me,” she said firmly. “You’re protecting me.”

“I followed your logic on how you’d be my nature guide. But the part where I protect you by letting you chase after a fugitive is a little fuzzy to me.”

“If the Hebberts are hunting me, then wherever I go, they’ll try to tail me there. That means the easiest way to find them is to stick with me.”

“I’m not using you as bait!”

“You wouldn’t be. You’d be combining tracking your fugitive with protecting your witness.” She smiled. “I know those are two of any US Marshal’s favorite things.”

“Aria—”

“And...” Her mouth wobbled a little. “I don’t think I’ll feel as safe anywhere else as I do with you. I don’t think I’ll be as safe anywhere else as I am with you.”

His instincts were tearing him in two. Now he knew exactly how Luke had felt trying to fight with his own.

On the one hand, he didn’t want Aria to be in the kind of danger he faced on a daily basis.

On the other hand, every cell in his body hated the idea of leaving her alone and unprotected—or even alone and protected by someone else.

She could spend the next week sitting in a locked-down panic room with all his coworkers stationed outside, and it would probably still give him the jitters to know that Eli was gunning for her. And while chasing after the full story of Amanda Briar might get him answers, it wouldn’t necessarily get him what he needed most: Eli Hebbert safely in custody.

No one else can protect her like we can, his wolf said. Now it just sounded quiet and intense. And she is a worthy partner in the hunt.

There were probably a hundred reasons to say no to this. And part of him was worried that he was saying yes just because he was lonely and in love.

But yes, apparently it was exactly what he was going to say. And by the funny, dazzling smile spreading across her face right now, Aria already knew it.

“All right,” Colby said. He took her hand in his. “I guess I’m moving in with you for a few days.”

She laced her fingers in with his, holding onto him tightly.

“Excellent,” Aria said.

7

The bad part about having a surprise US Marshal houseguest was that Aria was suddenly remembering the dirty dishes she’d left in the sink that morning. And the messy spreads of nature and photography magazines. And all the kid-related clutter of Legos and art supplies.

She cleared her throat.