“And then what?” Lacey asked morosely.
It wasn’t like she could imagine ever being with Alex again. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look at him without seeing all those teeth and hearing that growl of rage that had shaken every building in the junkyard.
“Then you do what comes next,” Wendy told her. “Whatever that might be.”
Chapter 11
Alex sat on the couch in his apartment, the glow of the morning sun streaming through the windows as he stared at his cell phone, not sure if he was doing it because he was hoping Lacey might call him back or because he was damn close to calling her again.
He desperately wanted to call her, just to hear her voice and convince himself that she was okay. But he knew he couldn’t. She already thought he was a monster. He didn’t want her thinking he was a stalker too. He almost laughed at how stupid that sounded.
By all means, go ahead and scare the crap out of the woman you love by sprouting fangs and claws in front of her, but don’t offend her sensibilities by violating the three-calls-a-night rule.
He tossed the phone aside on the couch beside him with a curse. He’d already called and left two messages on her cell and one on her home answering machine. That would have to be enough. She would either call him back…or she wouldn’t.
Alex let his head fall back onto his couch, replaying last night’s events in his head for about the hundredth time as he tried to figure out if there was something he could have done differently. He couldn’t come up with anything, of course. He hadn’t been able to do so all night. Lacey had been in danger. He’d done the only thing he could think of at the time to save her. And he had saved her, probably at the cost of their relationship.
Alex had scared Lacey—really, really scared her. It probably wasn’t a stretch to say she’d been far more terrified of him than she’d been of that man in the junkyard with the gun. The way she’d backed away from him in complete fear had torn at his insides like nothing he’d ever felt before. He’d rather be stabbed fifty times over with a dull knife than feel the kind of pain he was feeling right now.
The worst part had been watching her drive away. It had felt like something was being physically ripped out of him. In some ways, he supposed it was. He’d accepted a while ago that Lacey was truly The One for him. He supposed the horrible sensation he’d felt was that amazing link between them being torn apart. The legend of The One had been clear that the connection between a werewolf and his mate could never be denied. The fact that it could be destroyed had never come up in conversation.
Even though Remy had told him to give Lacey some space to come to grips with what she’d seen, his first instinct had been to chase after her. He hadn’t done it, of course. He was smart enough to know that the harder he chased her, the faster she’d run. Besides, it had taken over two hours to get himself disentangled from the damn surveillance operation at the junkyard. Rodriguez had freaked out when they’d called him, thinking they’d done something stupid to blow their cover. That was only partially incorrect. They’d done something stupid, but it hadn’t blown their cover, not completely anyway.
Luckily, he and Remy had been able to convince Rodriguez that they had nothing to do with the commotion at the junkyard and it had just been a wild dog running through the area. Thankfully, Vaughn had backed up their story—in return for them putting in a good word for her with Brooks. By the time they’d gotten the surveillance van back to the police equipment yard, it had been after three in the morning. That’s when he’d called and left those messages for Lacey, saying he was sorry for scaring her and that they could talk any time she was ready.
He and Remy had stopped by Cooper and Everly’s place after that, hoping he could do a little damage control. Cooper had taken one look at them and frowned.
“Since nothing good ever happens after midnight, this can’t be good,” the team’s demolition expert said when he’d opened the door. “If you need money to help pay for some bar you and the guys busted up, you’re going to have to count me out. I’m saving every penny I have for the honeymoon in Hawaii. You wouldn’t believe how much the plane tickets alone cost.”
“Dude, why are you guys paying all that money to go to Hawaii when you’re probably never going to leave the hotel room anyway?” Remy asked. “We could put some fake palm trees and one of those ocean noise machines outside the window of the nearest motel, and you’d never know the difference. It would save you thousands.”
Cooper gave Remy a wry look. “How is it that you actually get laid? Because it sure as hell isn’t your romantic side.”
Remy chuckled. “It’s my mad skills in bed.”
“Okay, Remy. TMI,” Alex interrupted. “Can you try and remember why we came here in the first place?” He looked at Cooper. “It’s Lacey. I sort of fucked up and was hoping you might know how to handle it.”
He quickly filled Cooper in on the story, highlighting the part where Lacey ran off in complete terror.
“I tried calling her, but she’s not answering,” he added. “I’m worried she might tell someone.”
Cooper was still considering that when Everly wandered into the living room, wearing an old Army Bomb Squad T-shirt of Cooper’s that hung down to her knees and a worried expression.
“Did I hear Alex say that Lacey found out he’s a werewolf?” she asked, pushing her long hair back.
“Yeah, the hard way,” Alex said, then brought Everly up to speed.
“Do you guys think she’d go public with this?” Remy asked.
“No,” Cooper and Everly said at the same time. They gave each other a quick look before Everly continued.
“I didn’t talk to her that long the other night, but I get the feeling she’s the kind of person who will think about what she saw, maybe even talk it over with someone she trusts. She’s not going to run around screaming it from the rooftops or putting it on social media.”
Alex relaxed a little at that. “Do you think I should tell Xander and Gage?”
Cooper shook his head. “I’ll deal with them. You need to back off and give Lacey a little time. If she’s The One for you, she’ll come around.”
