The Catalyst - By Zoe Winters Page 0,4

from the skill she had that he needed, she seemed to need a lot of prep work for magic, which was good. It kept the balance of power in his favor, exactly where he preferred it to be at all times.

He pulled her to him, setting to work bandaging her arm. "I'm Zane Trent, but you can call me Z."

"I need my books. I can heal this if you'll just let me get my books," she said, ignoring his introduction. Poor girl probably wasn't yet prepared to see him as anything beyond the crazy naked man in her kitchen.

He snorted. "Sure, I'm that stupid. I get you your books, and you hex me into a sealed magic jar or turn me into a frog. No can do. Besides, don't self-healing spells take a lot of energy out of a witch?"

"Yes, but..."

"I need you with full energy to help take care of this pup."

"You're insane."

"Only moderately. This kid is driving me crazy. I need help."

Her expression softened. "Still. I-I can't go out there."

"Out where?"

Her gaze went to the door.

"You went out there to bring the pup in."

"I know but... I try not to go outside."

Z moved on to her torso, which was just grazed, not as bad as the arm. He was beginning to think he had a nut job on his hands. "Why?"

Her voice lowered to a whisper as if she didn't want to be overheard. "The birds told me something bad would happen."

Fucking great. All he needed was a mentally unstable nanny he couldn't bring himself to leave the kid with. What good was that going to do him?

"I'm not crazy," she said, as if reading his mind.

She'd probably just read his facial expression. Unless she could read minds. Could she read minds? Hey, I think you're real pretty. If you weren't so pretty I'd eat you for dinner, he thought at her. But she didn't react; she was still on about her birds. At least his mind was safe from her.

"They did warn me," she said, "I heard them just like I heard you when you were in your other form. And just like I understood what the wolf needed."

She had him there.

"Come on, it's only a few miles from here," he said. Despite his intention not to negotiate with her, he found himself negotiating. If he could get her to come to his cave of her own free will it would be so much simpler. Maybe her weird outside phobia was minor, just a blip on an otherwise sane human being.

"Miles? Miles! No. Oh no. Miles are too far. Way too far. That's just impossible for me. I'm sorry."

He'd known it was too much to hope for.

"Nothing will get you out there. I'll protect you," he said, standing and offering a hand like he was about to sweep her up on his white stallion and go riding off into the sunset. Was he about to do that?

She held her bandaged arm up and raised a brow. It was still dripping blood. "That makes me feel safe."

He tried again, willing himself to be patient and not shift and chase her out of the house. He was betting her fear of him would dwarf her fear of the nebulous outside if push came to shove. "What's your name?"

She looked away. "I wish you'd put some clothing on."

"No problem, ma'am. Let me just step outside where I keep my traveling walk-in closet." Ordinarily her shyness would entertain him, but right now it was annoying. "Stop acting like a virgin."

The attractive flush that came to her cheeks confirmed the suspicion that had been building in the back of his mind, the suspicion he'd hoped he'd been wrong about. "A girl as pretty as you? You had no opportunities? No interest?"

Her hands were in her lap, and she'd gone to staring at them, he guessed because clothing wasn't about to magically appear on him.

"I don't ever leave my house. So, no. You're the first adult male I've ever..."

"Seen naked?" He'd softened his voice because now he just felt like an ass. He'd destroyed her kitchen, injured her, and now this. He disappeared back down the hallway to the bathroom and returned, wrapped in a towel for her comfort more than his. "Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you."

He sighed. "If you won't come with me, I need you to watch the pup for a while. Can you do that?"

She nodded, and he shifted back into his panther form and jumped out the window. By