Free Dark Wolf Rising (Heart of the Shifter) by Stephanie Rowe

you think my heart could be wrong?"
    She bit her lip, searching his face for so long that he felt a part of his heart crack. He realized then that the reason he'd hunted her down was because he'd needed her . He'd been doubting Jace's guilt the entire time, and he needed someone to tell him whether he was right, or just being naive. She was right that once someone gained his loyalty, it was theirs forever. Was he being blind in this situation?
    She was the person he needed. Bryn was savvy, smart, and a survivor. She's seen the hell of the attack, but she also knew him in a way that no one else did, not even himself. Bryn would see the truth within him. He knew that if she told him he was wrong, he would doubt himself. Bryn was his anchor, and he needed her to believe in him.
    "Bryn?" His fingers tightened in her hair. "You were there. You saw it. You know me. What does your heart say? Am I wrong? Am I just being stupid and fucked up? You know. Tell me."

Chapter 7
    CASH'S GRIP ON her hair was too tight, too desperate, showing Bryn exactly how on edge he was. He doubted himself. He doubted his instincts. Every question she'd raised about Jace's innocence was one he'd already thought of. There was no logical reason to believe his story, but at the same time, she could feel his conviction in his heart. Every piece of his soul believed in Jace's innocence. He believed in so little in this world, so the fact he'd chosen Jace to believe in meant something.
    "Bryn?"
    She closed her eyes and, after weeks of fighting off the memories, she allowed her mind to return to that night. She succumbed to the horrible images that she'd worked so hard to keep at bay. She put herself back in that moment, when she'd walked out of her office at three in the morning, hating her accounting job, hating her life, hating the empty condo she had to return to. She'd felt so broken, so empty, so sad, still barely surviving in the shadows of her mother's death.
    She felt Cash's finger on her cheek, brushing away a tear, and she rested her head on his chest, using him as an anchor while she opened herself up to the pain of that night, the pain she'd tried so hard to ignore. "I wanted to take a short cut to the garage," she said softly. "I knew the alley was going to be abandoned that late at night, but I didn't care. I was tired of being afraid, tired of feeling dead even though I was alive. I knew it was a safe area, and I wanted to be brave enough to walk down a stupid street."
    His hands trailed through her hair, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "What were you scared of?"
    "My life. Me. How empty I felt. I knew I had to change something, but I didn't know what." She hooked her hands over the waistband of his jeans, letting her knuckles press against the bare skin of his stomach. "I was halfway down the alley when I felt someone's presence, like I was being hunted."
    His fingers tightened in her hair, but he said nothing, letting her continue.
    "I looked around, but I didn't see anyone." Her heart started to pound again, that cold, dry taste of true fear that had consumed her in that moment. "The streetlight above my head went out. One by one, all the lights in the alley blinked out." Her skin had started to crawl then, and fear had wrapped itself around her spine, terror crawling into her muscles. "I bolted for the nearest door, but it was locked. I knew I had to get out of there, but when I turned to run, I saw the silhouette of a man..."
    The image appeared in her mind, and suddenly it became clearer. "No, not a man." God, how had she not remembered until now? It was so clear there had been two men, but the second one had completely vanished from her memory. "There were two, one behind the other, walking toward me. I ducked behind a dumpster, and waited, praying that they hadn't seen me. I didn't remember the second man until now, but he was definitely there."
    "Tell me the details." Cash's voice was low. "Sounds. Smells. Temperature."
    She