Lacey stared down at her coffee, letting the warmth seep in. “I was crying my eyes out before I got more than a mile away from him the night I saw him shift, and I haven’t slept worth a crap since then.” While she tried to tell herself it was because she was worried about Kelsey, she knew that wasn’t all of it. “And sometimes when I think about him and how much I miss him, I feel like I’m dying inside. Which is crazy, since we barely started dating.”
“It’s not crazy,” Jayna insisted. “And it’s not just you. Alex feels the same way.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t have to. That’s what happens when two people who are supposed to be together try to fight it.”
Lacey took a quick gulp of her coffee, not sure if she liked where this was going. “That’s not possible. We just met.”
“It’s very possible, because I felt it when I tried to walk away from Eric.” Jayna sighed. “This is really difficult to explain, but I’ll try. There’s a legend about The One that says there’s one perfect soul mate out there for each werewolf, and that when they meet that perfect person, nothing can stop them from being together. Well, except for stupidity, of course. Unfortunately, to some degree or another, that’s what happened to everyone in the Pack lucky enough to meet The One—Mac and Gage, Xander and Khaki, Everly and Cooper, and Eric and me. The only couple who didn’t have to experience the pain of what it’s like trying to walk away from The One is Megan and Zak, and that’s simply because they were a lot smarter about it than the rest of us. They figured out they were in love from the beginning and stopped trying to slow down the train.”
“Wait a minute,” Lacey said. “First you’re talking about legends, then soul mates. Now it’s love?”
Jayna looked at her like she thought Lacey was an idiot. “Well, yeah. What the heck do you think is making you feel like this—acid reflux?”
Lacey shook her head. “I don’t know about the legend of The One, but two people can’t just fall in love the moment they meet. That’s crazy.”
Jayna snorted. “You mean like a six-foot-four, two-hundred-and-forty-pound guy growing fangs and claws and jumping over ten-foot-high fences with you in his arms—that kind of crazy?”
Lacey opened her mouth to tell Jayna that she was dead wrong, but the words wouldn’t come out. Because finally, it all made a bizarre kind of sense. The tug she’d felt toward Alex from the second she’d met him, the pain and confusion she’d felt every second of the day since she’d run away from him, the incredible sense of calm she felt when she was with him, like everything was going to be okay as long as they were together. It really did make sense.
“I’m in love with Alex?” she murmured softly. “That’s what this is all about?”
Jayna picked up her mug and sipped her coffee. “Yes, that’s what this is all about. You being in complete and total, cosmically inspired, can’t-live-without-it love.”
Lacey stood there, letting that sink in for a while, her gaze drifting to where Alex sat on the couch in the living room. Then her eyes went wide.
“Did Alex and the other guys just overhear the entire conversation we had?” she asked Jayna.
“No way,” Jayna laughed. “When it comes to two women having a private conversation, they tune it out. I think they’re terrified we might be talking about PMS. They’d rather charge into a building full of gun-toting psychopaths than overhear a woman discussing feminine issues. So don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me until you decide it’s time to let Alex in on it.”
Lacey considered that. “If Alex is feeling the same way, doesn’t he already know we’re in love? I mean, he’s a werewolf. He’s supposed to know about this legend already.”
“Yeah, but he’s a guy too,” Jayna pointed out. “That means he’s probably clueless about what’s really going on. At some point, you’re going to have to tell him.”
Lacey’s gaze went to Alex again. Exactly how did she do that after the mess she’d made of everything?
“Bingo!” Becker said from the living room, jarring her out of her thoughts.
Alex looked up from the notebook he was flipping through. “You find something?”
Becker’s gaze didn’t waver from the big-screen TV. “Maybe.”
Lacey walked into the living room, Jayna right behind her.
“Apparently, McDonald is a big proponent of giving people second and sometimes third chances,” Becker continued, still fixed on his screen. “He employs a lot of people who have done some really stupid crap, including Dr. Pettine. According to multiple newspaper articles and court proceedings, Pettine screwed up a surgical procedure about five years ago and was on his way to being sued for everything he had. Losing his medical license seemed to be the least of his problems, but then McDonald stepped in, and poof, the lawsuit disappeared, and the medical board dropped their investigation. The next thing you know, Pettine is working directly for one of McDonald’s research groups, like nothing ever happened.”
Becker tapped the keyboard, and a photo of a guy in his midtwenties with brown hair and eyes and what could only be called a bored expression popped up on the TV.
“If you think that’s interesting, look at this guy,” he said. “This is another doctor named Peter DeYoung. He only recently graduated medical school but immediately found his way to one of McDonald’s research companies. Nothing unique there, since the councilman hires a lot of doctors fresh out of college. The interesting part is that DeYoung decided to pay his way through med school by making and selling meth in the basement of his frat house.”
Lacey snorted as she sat down beside Alex. “I thought I was ambitious just waiting tables. I’m guessing he got caught?”
Becker nodded. “You guessed right. And guess who helped him not only get out from under that arrest, but also get his record expunged?”
“McDonald?” Alex surmised.
“The one and only,” Becker said.
