His sincerity is like a balm to my raw fear.As if I’d be anywhere else.
“Yes,” I promise. “I will.”
Chapter Seventeen
JAMIE
Knowing Raegan finally knows the truth has me in such a euphoric state, I almost forget about my need to shift. But the longer we sat across from one another in Rhett and Paloma’s house, the tell-tale signs rushed to the forefront of my mind.
My temperature has probably skyrocketed just in the last five minutes, and now there’s a sharp pounding against my temples making the sun too bright and any noise too loud.
Raegan promises she would wait for me at my condo—the one I can now call ours. This brings on another wave of relief, knowing she’ll be safe while I let my wolf run free. The sudden onset migraine almost starts to feel like a mild pin prick at the thought of her being there when I get home. I’ll finally be able to tell her everything I’ve had to keep hidden all these years, every internal struggle and difficult position I’ve been put in. Then maybe I can tell her about the bond.
I have no doubt that if she was able to figure out what I’ve been hiding, she’s also figured out why I’ve been acting the way I have. If she was compelled to find me, surely that means shefeels the pull too. I want to ask her, but first, I have to get out of this scorching human body.
Rhett is waiting for us at the front entrance. Based on the shit-eating grin plastered across his face, he’s probably deduced that the woman walking next to me is the mate I was questioning him about earlier.
“You must be Raegan,” Rhett says, extending his hand to shake hers as we approach. “I’m Jamie’s Uncle Rhett.”
Her unblemished hand takes his weathered one and for a moment I think he might crush her delicate fingers. I can feel the growl climbing up my throat, but Rhett gives me a placating look, as if to say‘chill out, I’m not hurting your girl.’
She’s looking at me knowingly. “I didn’t know you had family in Shadow Hills.”
“Oh you know how the story goes,” Rhett suggests. “Everyone’s got that crazy uncle they don’t like to talk about.” He laughs heartily and Raegan doesn’t bother fighting the smile that comes to her lips.
My nostrils flare, unamused. “Alright, that’s enough. She was just leaving.”
Raegan pulls back and crosses her arms in that tightly tucked protective shield she’s so good at making. I’ve hurt her feelings by rushing her away, but she has to understand, I don’t want her here when I lose control. I can’t promise I won’t accidentally hurt her somehow.
Compared to Rhett, I probably look like I’ve come down with a heinous flu. My uncle on the other hand is as calm and cool as a cucumber, with many decades of shifting under his belt. His control is much steadier than mine, and I envy his years of wisdom.
Rhett looks back and forth from Raegan’s wounded expression to my clear desperation. I can’t stop clenching and unclenching my hands, and though I shed my shirt, it feels likesomething is choking me, and I keep reaching to pull at an invisible collar.
Raegan’s expression is now turning to concern. She takes a tentative step toward me, but I take an equal step back. And there’s that hurt look again.
I finally get to tell her the truth, and now I’m fucking everything up.
“Okay, I think it’s time we get this show on the road,” Rhett says pointedly. He gently lays a hand on Raegan’s shoulder and steers her toward the exit. “He’ll be fine, darlin’,” I hear him tell her as they get further away. “This isn’t his first rodeo.”
I let loose a sigh of relief and lift my eyes to the gray and gloomy sky. As the wind shifts the clouds, I catch the faint outline of my nemesis, and my stomach lurches.
Glancing around frantically, I check to see if anyone else is around, but the camp has scattered. No friends eating and chatting happily at picnic tables. No kids running wildly through trees disobeying their parents. The camp is a ghost town, except for me and the blurred outline of my uncle coming back into view. Without me realizing, my vision has started to glaze over. Everything is out of focus, even as I raise my hand right in front of my face I can barely make out the lines along my palm.
I’ve never waited this long to shift before. Typically, if I put it off until the day of, I’m already running through the trees first thing that morning, but it’s almost noon and I can feel my wolf clawing beneath my skin, begging for freedom.
As Rhett reaches my side, he firmly grips my bicep, and I can hear the animalistic shift in voice as he says, “Now, boy.”
At those words, my wolf lifts its head and howls. I hear him calling out to the moon, but then I realize the high-pitched yell is coming from me. The line of where I end and the wolf begins has already blurred beyond recognition, and the last thing I seeas my body and mind succumb to the beast is the tunnel of trees around me as I dart on all fours into the woods.
Chapter Eighteen
RAEGAN
As I’m walking back to my car, I hear the distinct sound of a wolf howling from within the camp. My first instinct is to run, but knowing that howl might be coming from Jamie sends my heart racing. The rational side of my brain is telling me to leave him be—Rhett was right, this isn’t the first time he’s shifted, so Jamie knows what he’s doing—but the irrational side wants to run straight into his arms.
He’s not in any danger,I try to tell myself.
But if that’s the case, why does it feel like my heart is trying to burst from my chest? It’s pounding with panic against my rib cage, and with every pump of muscle rushing blood to my ears, all I hear is,help him, help him.It follows my heart’s rhythm, and every second I ignore it, the warning only pumps harder.
