wanted to leave and give her time alone to think, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her. Besides, what would she do if something happened and she felt faint? He would be in the other room and unable to come to her aid before she fell and hurt herself.
No.
He would stay here and keep watch, just as Gunter told him to do. He watched as she stood so still, several emotions chasing across her expression. What was she thinking as she stood there, with the love, joy and fear he saw chasing over her face, in her eyes?
He wanted to say something, give her reassurance that she no longer need fear anything. He and Gunter would take care of her and her daughter. There was no reason for her to live with the fears she had in the past.
Whatever it was that haunted her, stayed prevalent as she watched her daughter sleep the sleep of the innocent.
“When were we ever that trusting, that innocent?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I can barely remember a time when I wasn’t fighting, or training to fight.”
She shivered and rubbed her arms. “That’s another thing. I don’t know how people like you do it. How does a man give up his life to fight for others?”
Clay took a deep breath. He’d never thought about it before. “I can’t speak for others, but I did what I did because there are people in the world who need a champion.” He shrugged. “I mean, how many people are willing to go to another country and fight for another’s rights? Some of the countries I have been to don’t have laws to protect their people the way the United States does. The people in those countries don’t even have basic human rights, or if they do, their government isn’t in a position to make sure they get them when others would take them away. That’s why our government steps in.”
He thought about some of the countries he’d been to where the people were ousted from their beds in the middle of the night, their women and children beaten and raped while others slaughtered their men.
“Some people think we have no business going to other countries. They think our military dictates to their people.” He shook his head. “They couldn’t be more wrong. We’re there to protect the weak, because they can’t protect themselves.”
What decent man could ignore something like that? Clay knew he couldn’t—and he didn’t. He’d trained to fight for those people just as he would now fight for the people of Paradise. If anyone needed his help, it was the women and children who lived right here. Who could blame his group of ranger friends for settling here when the women and children had been terrorized here for years?
The way he understood it, they had lived for decades under the rule of the sick council who deemed a girl of ten old enough to have children of her own just because she was unlucky enough to have started her menstrual cycle early.
What kind of sick bastards thought that way? What Adam Greer had done just a few years before was the right thing to do. Yet, still, these people had lived under Camulus’s thumb for years before that. From what he understood, the current alpha, the man born into the role of alpha had been delivered under Camulus’s rule. The old council sentenced Adam’s parents to death because they feared the two would have another male child and another. They feared the wrath of male offspring.
“So you fight for the underdog?”
When she smiled up at him, stars in her eyes, it hit him like a punch in the gut.
“Would you fight for me?” She looked at her daughter. “More importantly, would you fight for Holly—protect her no matter what?”
“Yes.” His answer was swift. He didn’t even have to think about it. Her child was an extension of her. If he loved Riana unconditionally, that emotion would also extend to her daughter. How could it not? “I would protect both of you with my life.”
“What if I told you that it
No.
He would stay here and keep watch, just as Gunter told him to do. He watched as she stood so still, several emotions chasing across her expression. What was she thinking as she stood there, with the love, joy and fear he saw chasing over her face, in her eyes?
He wanted to say something, give her reassurance that she no longer need fear anything. He and Gunter would take care of her and her daughter. There was no reason for her to live with the fears she had in the past.
Whatever it was that haunted her, stayed prevalent as she watched her daughter sleep the sleep of the innocent.
“When were we ever that trusting, that innocent?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I can barely remember a time when I wasn’t fighting, or training to fight.”
She shivered and rubbed her arms. “That’s another thing. I don’t know how people like you do it. How does a man give up his life to fight for others?”
Clay took a deep breath. He’d never thought about it before. “I can’t speak for others, but I did what I did because there are people in the world who need a champion.” He shrugged. “I mean, how many people are willing to go to another country and fight for another’s rights? Some of the countries I have been to don’t have laws to protect their people the way the United States does. The people in those countries don’t even have basic human rights, or if they do, their government isn’t in a position to make sure they get them when others would take them away. That’s why our government steps in.”
He thought about some of the countries he’d been to where the people were ousted from their beds in the middle of the night, their women and children beaten and raped while others slaughtered their men.
“Some people think we have no business going to other countries. They think our military dictates to their people.” He shook his head. “They couldn’t be more wrong. We’re there to protect the weak, because they can’t protect themselves.”
What decent man could ignore something like that? Clay knew he couldn’t—and he didn’t. He’d trained to fight for those people just as he would now fight for the people of Paradise. If anyone needed his help, it was the women and children who lived right here. Who could blame his group of ranger friends for settling here when the women and children had been terrorized here for years?
The way he understood it, they had lived for decades under the rule of the sick council who deemed a girl of ten old enough to have children of her own just because she was unlucky enough to have started her menstrual cycle early.
What kind of sick bastards thought that way? What Adam Greer had done just a few years before was the right thing to do. Yet, still, these people had lived under Camulus’s thumb for years before that. From what he understood, the current alpha, the man born into the role of alpha had been delivered under Camulus’s rule. The old council sentenced Adam’s parents to death because they feared the two would have another male child and another. They feared the wrath of male offspring.
“So you fight for the underdog?”
When she smiled up at him, stars in her eyes, it hit him like a punch in the gut.
“Would you fight for me?” She looked at her daughter. “More importantly, would you fight for Holly—protect her no matter what?”
“Yes.” His answer was swift. He didn’t even have to think about it. Her child was an extension of her. If he loved Riana unconditionally, that emotion would also extend to her daughter. How could it not? “I would protect both of you with my life.”
“What if I told you that it
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