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what she’d done.
    The silence was maddening, and Taylor couldn’t resist cracking an eye open to look up at him. To her surprise, he had lain down. With his head resting on one arm, he stared over at her.
    She asked, “Aren’t you gonna ask me why I did it?”
    “Why you killed the man, or why you lied to me?”
    Ouch.
    “Both, I guess.”
    “No.”
    “Why not?” she asked.
    “Because I don’t trust that you’ll tell me the truth.”
    There was no malice in his words, and somehow that made them even tougher to swallow.
    “I suppose that’s fair,” she said, looking away.
    Taylor let out a breath as Alder took her chin in his hand. He gently tilted her face back towards him. Moonlight reflected off his eyes, making them shine in the darkness.
    “Stop lying to me, and I’ll start trusting you.”

Chapter Six
    A lder woke just before dawn . He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but the events over the previous night had been more taxing than he’d realized.
    Taylor lay curled up beside him, one hand clutching at his shirt. Her pink lips were slightly parted, and he wanted to reach out and run his thumb over them. Instead, he lay next to her for a few moments, listening to soft cadence of her breathing, until he carefully detached her hand and left to head for the river.
    Early-morning fog blanketed the water, and he didn’t have to wade long before it rose up to his shoulders. The cold water did little to cool his heated blood or quell his nagging erection.
    Alder fisted his cock, holding it firmly but refraining from pleasuring himself. It was not something he was in the habit of doing. Given his position in his pack, he never went without a female when he wanted one. Not that he wanted one often.
    He bathed quickly but lingered in the water until his arousal had subsided. He was still wet when he dressed, and the fabric clung to his skin uncomfortably.
    Taylor was awake when he got back. She sat on a slab of granite with her head in hands. Not wanting to startle her, he made sure his footsteps were heavy as he approached the site.
    As he brushed aside a tree branch she looked up, her mouth hanging open.
    “You’re here,” she said, sounding surprised.
    He cocked a brow. “Did you think I’d left you?”
    “No,” she said quickly. “Well, okay, maybe just a little. I mean, I would have left me.”
    Alder frowned, but he didn’t comment. He sat down next her, grabbing a package of beef jerky from his bag. Most of the things humans tried to pass off as meat repulsed him, but beef jerky had always been a guilty pleasure of his. He broke off a piece, offering it to Taylor.
    “No, thanks,” she said, holding up a hand. “I don’t eat meat.”
    At first, he thought it was another one of her lies. After quick consideration, he couldn’t imagine any reason she would lie about such a thing, though the statement still made no sense.
    “How can you not eat meat?”
    She shrugged. “I dunno, I guess I just like animals a lot.”
    “So you choose not to eat meat?” he asked, still trying to understand.
    Taylor pursed her lips. “I’m a vegetarian.”
    That was not a word Alder was familiar with, but from the way she said it, he could tell that he should be.
    He asked, “So what do you eat, then?”
    Taylor tapped her fingers as she ran through the list. “I mostly like peanut butter. I eat spinach, tofu, salads, crackers, bananas, veggie burgers, and lots of protein shakes.”
    Alder didn’t even know what some of those things were, but he did know that none of those things were in the forest.
    “What am I supposed to feed you?” he asked her.
    For some reason, the question made her blush. “You don’t have to feed me. I have some stuff in my bag.”
    Alder chewed on a piece of jerky as he watched her produce half a candy bar from her backpack. She finished it in two bites, and he found himself experiencing a strong urge to go hunt for her. But if she wouldn’t accept processed meat, he doubted