Even with her laughter softening me, the truth scraped me raw.
That wolf was nothing but a shiny new toy with a couple of good moves and a face easy enough to stare at. He didn’t have the years we had. He didn’t have the scars we shared. All the late-night training, the blood, sweat, and regret I’d poured into her. He hadn’t held her when she broke or watched her pull herself together, determined to prove her strength to the world.
He also didn't make your mistakes.Gritting my teeth, I told that voice to go fuck itself. I knew I’d fucked up, and I was paying my penance for it. Every. Fucking. Day.
But still… she looked at him differently, and I hated him for it.
My hands curled at my sides, nails biting into my palms as memory bled through. Chalk-dust air, the echo of our bodies hitting the mat, power ripping loose where it shouldn’t have.
Six years ago. Both my best and worst memory. Finally feeling like she saw me as a man, feeling my horns poking through my skull, growing, just when I saw those eyes glaze over, the shine of magic rippling through them. Then everything came crumbling down.
One moment of loss, one failure to hold the reins. I had to go before it got worse. Before she realized she just felt that way because of my magic then hated me.
If I’d been stronger... if I’d tried to learn how far my magic could go before that night?—
The jeep jostled me as she veered off the dirt road and into town. “Hopefully, it’ll go away soon. Want me to drop you off? I can do this on my own if I need to.” She kept her gaze split between the road and the rearview, her voice too casual, too certain.
Her words gutted me.
She doesn’t need you anymore. She can do this all by herself. She doesn’t want you around. Serves you right for pushing her away. She’s going to find someone better.
Panic clawed at my chest. It didn’t help that I was already on edge because of that fucking turned wolf, but now my mind was falling off the deep end because she mentioned doing something without me.Fuck. I need to get a grip.
I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, forcing clarity through the haze before I spoke. “It’s not so bad. Just a little blip.” My tone was light, but she kept eyeing me like she wasn'tsure. Before she could press, I redirected. “Where’re you taking us? Did someone text you with a lead?”
Her head shook, those pale strands of hair slipping loose to frame the glow of her skin. My fingers twitched uselessly at my sides. All I wanted was to tuck them back, just one touch. Help her brush back those unruly strands.
“No,” she said, voice steady, sharp with purpose. “I thought about what you said. He was working under the table, always in cash, right? That limits him. Places that pay in cash, that let you slide under the radar…” She flicked her blinker and turned into a strip mall shrouded in shadows. A neon purple sign shined bright against the dark, spelling outMoon Runner.
She pointed. “Here. Best cash rates for work under the table, and anyone who pays with cash is untaxed. If he’s been running this long, he’s either worked here or at least come through.”
The jeep settled into a spot. She leaned toward me before sliding out, her voice dropping into something smug and certain. “I may have only been here five years, but I make it my job to know my territory.”
She winked and gave me a wolfish grin.
My heart flopped, ugly and desperate. If it had arms and legs, it would’ve busted out of my chest to chase her down like a mangy stray begging for scraps.
Why did it feel like both home and hell to be near her? Soft comfort twisted with hunger, rightness tangled with regret? For a year, I worked so hard to learn how to control it so she wouldn't be under the influence of my magic again, and we could build something naturally. Eventually, I’d tell her that she was my mate, and it didn't matter to me if I wasn’t hers. I wouldprove to her wolf that I was the right one for her. But as soon as I came back, she’d closed that door and put me in the friendzone.Fucking idiot!
Before I could smack myself in the head, I reminded myself about her secret pact with her siblings.
That mate-blocker tattoo of hers was my only solace. It meant I had time. I just needed to get her to see me as a mate candidate, then everything would be okay. It would all work out. I just needed patience. She said Ezra told her it should last ten to twenty years. I could wait for that.
Climbing out after her, I shoved my hands into my pockets, locking every reckless urge in a cage. If I slipped, she would turtle up so fast, I’d lose the scraps I still had. That risk was not one I was willing to take.
Once I got to her side, she kept her voice low and level. “When we get in there, I need you to read everyone in the room. Find out who feels guilty or nervous and flag them for me. If need be, we’ll track every single one later with fewer eyes.”
“You got it, Nov.” She didn't even look up at me any more to make sure I understood. She knew me so well that she never had to explain beyond the basics of what she needed. That ultimate trust burned a longing in my heart worse than her earlier wink had.
No matter how badly I wanted her, my first duty was the same as it always had been, to be at her side, to use what I was to make her stronger, to remind every supe in this city that the Syndicate had eyes everywhere, and the Rossey clan was not to be messed with.
It was the only way I still mattered in her life.For now.
Stepping in front of her, I opened the door and went in first. I held it wide as I released my magic, feeling out the crowd before she even crossed the threshold.
No one inside immediately registered as a threat, but that didn’t mean anything. Danger didn’t always show itself until it looked straight at her. When she stepped in behind me, all the eyes in the room fell on her. The shift in their emotions hit me like static.
Fear. Agitation. Exhaustion. Excitement. Hesitation.
