“What did you do to make him run away?”
I blink. This isn’t my fault, is it? “Nothing! Last time I saw him, I was nice! I told him I wasn’t going to sleep with him anymore.” Those were the last words I said to him.
Callum’s frown deepens, and he shakes his head at me. “You’re an idiot.”
“What?” I splutter. “I stopped taking advantage of him, I stopped being an idiot!” Was it too little too late? Was that why Fitz left?
“That boy is mad about you, and you are crazy about him. Stop being a fool and just claim him already!” says Callum, sounding utterly exasperated.
There is not a single word left in all of my mind. I can only stand here staring at my Alpha helplessly. My thoughts are a tangled mess and my heart is beating far too fast.
Callum chuckles. “Never seen you thunderstruck before.”
I still can’t talk. I realize that my feelings about Fitz running away are all alarm and concern for him. Suspicion hasn’t crossed my mind. I don’t think he has gone to fetch hunters. My instinct is to believe he has fled because I have fucked up and hurt his feelings. But am I right or has Fitz fooled me yet again?
Alpha seems to believe that I’ve messed up big time. And he is an excellent judge of character.
“You don’t think he is on his way to hunters?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I think he is feeling the sting of your rejection.”
Ow, that hurts. Fitz thought I was rejecting him? He did want sex from me and not just cuddles? An echo of his words repeats in my mind. I swallow. Pondering them again, they do sound like indications of love. They weren’t at all the steamy, filthy response I had been hoping for. Had that made me panic-jump to the wrong interpretation? Or perhaps both interpretations are true? Fitz loves me and he also needs cuddles. The two things are not mutually exclusive.
“You think Fitz likes me?” I ask tentatively. It is everything I had been hoping for. I can truly see that now, as clear as day.
Callum rolls his eyes and throws a rag at me. “Jake, he worships the ground you walk on.”
I hear Alpha’s unspoken, ‘Despite all the shitty things you have done to him’, as sharply as his spoken words. It makes me wince. It makes me finally fully understand why he was so pissed at me for chasing Fitz down in the woods and fucking him. Because it was an awful way to treat anyone and it was a horrendous thing to do to the one who is meant to be your special person.
“But… but… I’m the first alpha he met, he could have just imprinted on me like a baby duckling!” I wail. I want Callum to be right so much that it hurts. I also want him to be wrong because then I won’t have to face up to what an asshole I’ve been.
“Give him more credit than that, Jake. Fitz is not daft.”
No, he really is not. He is a clever little shit. Unlike me.
I can’t handle all these emotions storming through me right now. It’s all too much.Just claim him already,Callum’s words make it seem all so simple. And maybe it is. Maybe I’ve been overthinking everything far too much. Letting my human side rule. When the truth is straightforward.
I like him, I want him. And I have done so since the first moment I laid eyes upon him. If he likes me too, then what is the problem? His childhood was destroyed by hunters, just like mine. What seemed to divide us might actually be the glue that makes us fit. Who else is going to understand my angry, damaged soul more than another broken person? Kindred spirits.
It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.
“We have to find him,” I say.
Callum nods. “Yes, we do.”
Chapter twenty-six
TrackingFitziseasy.He doesn’t seem to realize how good shifters’ noses are. I guess he hasn’t had much practice using his. Either that or he doesn’t care that he has left a clear scent trail behind. Maybe he was confident that he would be long gone by the time the chase was on.
Maybe he is. Long gone. Out of reach, where I will never see him again. I swallow and pick up the pace. Callum and Dave are with me and I’m glad for their help. I’m not sure I need it, I should be capable of hunting a lone omega by myself but then again we are talking about Fitz. He is not exactly a normal omega. He is a dangerous, murderous one. My heart flutters. I actually like that about him. As long as he stops trying to kill me, it’s something I can be proud of. How many alphas can say their omegas are ruthless death machines?
Nerves race through me, leaving me trembling even more. He is not my anything yet. He might not ever be. Just because I’ve finally pulled my head out of my ass, doesn’t mean he is going to say yes to being mine. Callum could be wrong, Fitz might not like me. Or I could be too late. Missed my chance by fucking up too many times.
But first, I need to find him to find out. I think I’m going to heave. I need to pull myself together. I’m no use to anyone if I fall apart into a gibbering mess.
Okay, concentrate. I can do this. Right now I need to find him. The what ifs and what abouts are for later. Now is for tracking.
We are a fair way from our territory but he hasn’t turned towards civilization yet. He is sticking to the woods. Surely he knows he is far easier to follow in the wild? If he gets to a road and gets in a car, it’s going to be really hard to find him. Like impossible. Once he gets to a city and melts into the crowd. He is gone forever. Shifter noses are not that good.
