Free Nessa's Two Shifters by Marla Monroe Page B

out front to find Jessup in the same spot she’d left him. He relaxed as soon as he caught sight of her as if he’d been afraid she’d disappear through another door and not come back.
    “Ready to go?” he asked with a smile.
    She nodded her head and let him lead her back outside. Joseph started the truck as soon as he saw them heading in his direction. Once his brother had her settled and buckled in, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove through what there was of the small almost town of Wolf’s Pass toward Cascade. She’d have been fine with stopping at the general store for what little she needed, but Joseph was driving and she had been instructed that what she wanted didn’t matter, more or less.
    As they headed for the slightly larger town, Nessa wondered if she should tell them what Mr. Craigly had told her about Derrick. She was just mad enough not to, but somehow it seemed petty and childish when they were risking their lives for her, not to mention that she was scared.
    “Um, my boss said Derrick had been by this morning looking for me. Evidently he was pretty upset that I hadn’t been home.” Nessa kept her gaze on her hands.
    “What did your boss say about it?” Jessup asked, covering her hands with one of his massive ones.
    “That he was glad I hadn’t been there. He said he was worried about me. I told him that I had a safe place and couldn’t work anymore.” She risked a glance up at Jessup.
    He smiled down at her and squeezed her hands. “Good. We’ll keep you safe, sweetness. Give us a chance.”
    She nodded then looked over at Joseph to find his mouth tight and his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. She could tell he was trying to keep from saying anything that would upset her just by the set of his jaw. She quickly looked away and focused on the scenery straight ahead of her. They would be in Cascade soon.
    The small town was actually only a step up from Wolf’s Pass in size but did have a few more stores according to people she’d talked to at the truck stop. She’d never actually been there before. Before they’d ended up living in the trailer in Wolf’s Pass, they’d lived in Billings. Once they landed in the tiny community living in the rundown trailer, she’d never been allowed to go anywhere else. Derrick had liked keeping her under his thumb so he could control everything she did.
    Once she’d turned eighteen and he’d gone through all of her inheritance, she’d mistakenly thought he would leave her alone and she could escape his abuse and neglect. Instead, he’d gotten more restrictive and found another use for her. One she didn’t like to think about and didn’t want anyone to know about either. She doubted Joseph or Jessup would still want her for their mate if they knew the entire truth. Nessa cringed at the thought of them finding out.
    “Park as close to that dress shop as you can get, Joe. I don’t want her out in the open any more than we can help.” Jessup pointed toward a storefront.
    Nessa focused on the small town around her as Joseph slowed the truck to turn into a parking spot in front of a line of stores. There were at least five stores to choose from that she could see. None of the names were visible from where she sat, but the windows held hints of what they sold. The dress shop Jessup had pointed out did indeed have several mannequins in the window wearing pretty dresses. They looked too sophisticated to her. She wasn’t used to anything fancy. She sighed, at least not in the last seven or eight years.
    “Stay with one of us at all times, babe. Since neither one of us knows what your brother looks like, we don’t trust anyone near you,” Joseph said as he unfastened his seat belt.
    Jessup had hers off and had climbed out of the cab already. Now he held his hand out to help her down as well. The second her feet touched the ground, both men guided her toward the dress shop.
    “I’m not sure they are going to have anything for me