He hadn’t slept again and he’d used up every ounce of mental strength trying to keep himself from unblocking Destiny and messaging her last night.
He couldn’t do this.
All he did was replay every word she’d said to him and wondered why the hell he couldn’t shut this off. He’d been on dates. He’d fucked women. He’d kissed them, so why was this little human buried so deeply into his soul? He couldn’t even remember who he was anymore.
Why was his wolf doing this to him?
Chapter Ten
Tuesday…
“Do you want a beer?”
Dodger turned his head from where he sat in the snow, watching the crows up in the pine tree branches.
Nate stood there with two cans in his hands.
“Go away, Nate,” Dodger said low.
Nate inhaled deeply, and then came to stand beside him, staring out into the woods as well. “My friends always called me Nathan. I don’t know why I told you all my name was Nate when I moved here. I guess I wanted to start over. I didn’t want to be Nathan Donn anymore, you know? I wanted to be different. I wanted to make my own name, but then I started missing who I was.”
“I don’t care.”
Nathan looked down at him and held out a can. “Here.”
“I can’t have that.”
“Are you going sober or something?”
“No. I just can’t make any mistakes right now.” He twitched his chin at the can. “That won’t help me.”
He could feel the confusion washing off Nathan.
Dodger swallowed hard. “Please go away.”
Nathan sat down beside him, cracked the top of the beer, and drank it. Over the next hour as he drank them both down, he didn’t say a single word.
Neither did Dodger.
And when the drinks were gone, Nathan said, “What do you need?”
“A fight,” Dodger said simply.
And without hesitation, Nathan stood up and pulled his shirt off. “Let’s go then. Liam is due back home in fifteen minutes. He will stop us, so it has to be right now.”
Feeling numb, Dodger stood and pulled his shirt off too.
He’d never liked Nate…Nathan…much, but he respected this.
He was willing to bleed to settle Dodger’s wolf.
Nathan’s body exploded into his gray wolf, and Dodger’s wolf responded in an instant. He shredded out of him. The pain was excruciating for a few moments, and then all thought of Destiny was gone. God, what a relief.
Nathan circled him, his hackles up like a mohawk down his spine, his lips curled back from sharp teeth. Death was in his eyes.
Good Second.
They weren’t friends but after this, Dodger’s hatred for him would be gone.
