“Raif.”
“Stop, Axel, I am. I’m grumpy as fuck. I’m not nice. Can you imagine me with cubs? I’d be a terrible father.”
“You said you feel incomplete. What if you meet your mate and they complete you? What if they’re perfect for you?”
Raif meets his eyes and nods.
Axel is paying vendors when Chloe comes in. She’s got her crutch tucked under one arm and boots on both feet.
“You’re supposed to be resting,” Axel says, rising to his feet and coming around the desk to help her.
She shoos him away and limps over to the chair.
“I’m sick of resting. I’vebeenresting. What I wanted to do was to see you. Besides, it barely hurts anymore.”
He takes in her slightly flushed cheeks and her warm honeysuckle scent. She doesn’t seem to be in any distress, so he lowers himself back into his chair across from her.
“So,” she begins, “I got some info back from one of my contacts. It looks like the property the town sits on was sold to a...hold on, I have the name.” She fishes out her phone from her back pocket and clicks around on it. She’s gorgeous, his beautiful mate. He wants to kiss her breathless. Pick her up and carry her back to his den, back to his bed. He wants to go further with her, take her clothes off, and kiss her everywhere. Find out where that honeysuckle scent is the strongest.
His fantasy is broken when she starts speaking again.
“Ok, here we go. The land was sold to a Harvey Development Group.”
He sees red. He’s up and out of his chair and pacing the small office. Harvey Group. Harvey Group, like those two fuckers who are here to buy the rest of his land and take him out of business.
It takes him a moment to register that Chloe is talking to him. Even longer to hear what she’s saying and notice that he’s stopped pacing and her hands are cradling his face.
“What’s wrong? Why’d you freak out?”
“Harvey Development. That’s those two guys I told you about. The ones who are staying here trying to buy the land.”
“So they already own some of it?”
“I never sold to them.”
And then it clicks. Maury sold the land to them. Maury has been working with the Harvey Group. Chloe said the land was sold almost two years ago. So it’s been two years at least that Maury was in league with them. What the fuck.
He can’t believe this, can’t fucking believe it. Not only had Maury stolen over three million dollars, but he also sold out Axel’s land from underneath him. It’s a blow for sure. He tunes Chloe out. He knows she’s talking, touching his shoulder gently, but he’s in a blind rage. He trusted Maury with their livelihood, with their family’s business, with the town. And Maury fucked him over.
It’s too much.
He excuses himself from the office, leaving Chloe there with a sad look on her face. He’s in the woods before he knows it. Running at top speed towards his cave. He strips and shifts, roaring out into the forest. It’s worse than he could have imagined. What will happen to the town now? Harvey Group owns the land there and can tear it down if they want. How could he not have known? How could he have missed this happening?
It’s nightfall before he shifts back and makes his way home. He forgoes the lodge and heads straight for his cabin. He’s only a few meters away from it when the scent hits him, honeysuckle. She’s here at his cabin.
He makes his way to the front steps, expecting an argument. Expecting her to be angry at him for running away, again. But when he enters his cabin, she immediately rises from the couch and is in his arms before he knows it. He buries his nose in her hair, she smells like his most favorite thing in the world, like home, comfort, and love. She places small kisses all over his face when he bends down for her.
“Are you ok?” The concern is evident in her voice, and he feels bad for worrying her.
“Yeah. It’s just a lot, you know? I don’t know what’s going to happen to the town. It was my responsibility, and I failed.”
“You didn’t,” he pulls away from her, but she steps towards him and grasps his head on both sides. “Hey, you didn’t. He scammed you, you didn’t know. Doesn’t mean you failed.”
She’s better than him for believing it wasn’t his fault. She’s better than he is in a lot of ways. What woman, what New York City bigshot would want him? Podunk fuckup who can’t run a business. He curls in on himself. He wants to be able to impress her, make her think he is a worthy mate. But he’s not, not really. How can he want her to stay here in Montana when he’s giving her nothing to stay for? A failing business? A failure of a mate? No, he won’t do that to her.
He kisses her palm and tells her he’s tired. She nods, and soon she’s leaving him alone in the cabin to brood, it’s better this way.
Chapter Twenty-Two
