“I—” Despite his resolve, he hesitated, because if he went through with this, he didn’t know what the fuck he’d do. He was about to give up his last chance not to be a failure for the rest of his life. His last chance with his father.
“Sorry, Amy, I don’t want to do that,” he said heavily.
“HR will send your papers by the end of the day,” she said. “And don’t expect a fucking reference unless you want everyone to know what a fucking oxygen thief you are.” She killed the call.
Riley was left numb. But a small part of him, buried deep inside, felt right for the first time in too long.
Chapter Twenty-seven
RILEY
Driving back into Elk Ridge, Riley had to fight the instinctive urge to turn into the diner’s parking lot. It was muscle memory and hope combined, like somehow everything would go back to how it was if he just slid into a booth and waited for Jason to appear with a coffee and a smile.
Except he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d be less welcome right now. Instead, he drove up Main a little way and found a place to park.
He tore a sheet from his pad and wrote a note to Sheriff Urban. He didn’t have an envelope, so he folded the paper tightly and wrotePersonal and Confidentialon the outside. It would go one of two ways—Janice would either be the nosiest person in existence and read it, or she’d be the sort of person who would die sooner than betray the trust the sheriff had in her. Riley had no idea which of those was true, but just in case it was the former, he’d been very careful in what he’d said.
Sheriff Urban,I’ve told my editor there’s no story here.The article never left my laptop and is now deleted.R.C.
He took it into the sheriff’s office, pretty certain that Urban and Bryce would still be back at the ranch. Sure enough, the only person there was a deputy he hadn’t seen before, her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Even Janice was missing, though he swiftly realized that was probably because it was Sunday. He left the note with the deputy and retreated.
Sliding back into his car, he wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now. Nothing was keeping him here. He should head back to civilization and the things he knew. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
He told himself it was because he didn’t have his next move lined up. That it made sense to stop and recalibrate, figuring out what to do. But deep down, he knew better. It was one last, pathetic hope that maybe word would get back to Jason about that note, about the fact he hadn’t filed the story. That Jason would believe it meant something and might not hate him forever.
Eventually, he did the math. Wages, expenses—he had enough for food and gas. Definitely not enough to get a room at the motel again. Instead, he bought bread, cheese, chips and water and drove out of town. There was no point in sitting where Urban would see him straight away and run him off. He just had to hope the track he’d turned down, looking for somewhere to park, wouldn’t result in him being at the end of a shotgun. It didn’t seem to lead anywhere, so he left the car and walked through the trees until he found an old tree stump to sit on.
He ate because it gave him something to do, though every mouthful seemed to stick in his throat. He concentrated on the birdsong and the way shafts of sunlight fell between the trees. Anything rather than think about what Jason was doing right now. Or about what came next.
Because the truth was, he didn’t have a plan. The job was gone, the story dead, and he’d burned the only thing that might have proven he was more than a pretty face and a line of bullshit. And what was left? No job and no future. And no Jason.
He’d failed at everything.
JASON
“The way I figure it, we can’t count on Jesse’s identity being secret anymore, and we need to have a plan for when it does come out,” Matt concluded, looking around the table at the gathered pack.
“You think that shifter who blabbed was the one who attacked Jesse and then ran?” Christian asked.
“I’ll let you know,” Matt said.
Christian stared at him. “How in the hell would you be able to tell?”
“I’ve been asking around. Turns out not everyone connected with Cale’s pack is as loyal as he thought,” was all Matt said. But cold rage burned deep in his eyes. There was no way he was going to let the shifter who had invaded his home and damn near killed his mate go unpunished.
Matt pushed back his chair and rose to his feet. “Bryce and I need to work out who in the shifter community we talk to in the event Jesse’s identity becomes known, while the rest of you—” His gaze swept over his assembled pack, and his eyes softened slightly as he took them all in. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, staying alert for intruders.”
Jason flinched. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that an attack on them might come any way other than full force from a pack of shifters. He’d opened the damn door to Riley.
“Jason.”
He scarcely dared look up at the serious tone in Matt’s voice, but he had to.
“I’m the one who invited Riley here,” Matt said. “It was because I had my suspicions and I wanted to observe him, but you didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”
Jesse nudged his shoulder against Jason’s, and the relentless ball of misery in Jason’s stomach finally loosened slightly. He nodded at Matt in a way that he hoped conveyed how grateful he was. The alpha of his old pack would have banished him, but not before taking it out of his hide for having been so damn careless.
It appeared that wasn’t all Matt had to say, because he caught up with Jason as he headed back to his bunkhouse, walking beside him in silence. The longer that went on, the more nervous Jason got.
