“Where do we go? Motel? Airport? Idaho?”
Myra rubbed her forehead. “Let’s head to the airport. Hopefully I’ll talk to him before we get there and have a better idea of what I need to do.”
“Perfect.”
She waited a whole minute. “I can’t stand it, I’m calling again.”
Cindy frowned, but didn’t object. They both heard it ring and ring. She hung up when voice mail kicked in, dropping her head back against the seat.
“Shit. God. Shit.”
They drove for a few minutes with her watching the clock to keep from calling him again, too soon.
The phone rang, and she nearly fumbled it before answering. It felt so good to hear his voice, but then so heartbreaking to hear how unsettled he was. Afraid. Adam wasn’t supposed to be afraid of anything, damn it. And she had caused it. Sort of.
Her stomach turned and she worked harder than she thought possible to hold her feelings back, to not let them travel down the link that already existed. She couldn’t make things worse by letting him feel her upset. She didn’t think she succeeded entirely, but she could only do what she could do.
He hung up and she clenched every muscle in her body to keep it all in. Cindy’s hand came to her neck. “Honey, you have to breathe.”
She rocked, trying to do as Cindy said, but also trying to keep the promise to herself not to overwhelm him. Shoving her fist into her teeth, she let only the tears slide down her cheeks, nothing else came loose. She hoped.
When the car stopped, she looked up. They were at a hotel. She didn’t object.
“Wait here a minute, I’ll go get a room.”
She nodded.
It didn’t seem as if much time had passed at all before Cindy was opening her door and pulling her out. She walked like a zombie to the room and simply sank to the floor.
“Myra, honey, come over to the bed. Lie down.”
She just shook her head and hugged her knees. She would pull herself together. She would. She had to. Just…not right now.
Adam ran. And ran. And every mile, his instincts urged him to run the other way. Toward Myra. Somehow, he knew what direction to go to get to her, but the more he wanted to, the harder he resisted, running fast in the other direction.
Part of him knew he was making a mistake. This wasn’t a loss of control like he feared. Wasn’t the same thing. Maybe. It was the maybe that killed him. He refused to be forced into action that wasn’t his choice. Falling for someone was one thing. The sudden compulsion to join himself with Myra, while enticing beyond belief, was terrifying in the way it completely bypassed his brain and maybe even his will. Brought back the horrible fear of being a monster with no control.
He shook his head, knowing that wasn’t quite right. The wolf promised it wasn’t right. He had never become that monster. But he didn’t trust it. Never had. Maybe he’d started to on this trip. But it wasn’t enough to counter the years of refusing to do so.
Finally, he compromised, not going to where Myra was, but letting himself make his way to Zach and Hillary’s house, even though it was uncomfortably close to the same path.
When he was several miles out, the two wolves materialized onto the path in front of him. He should have sensed them well before he could see them, but he was too busy ignoring his instincts. He’d slowed down, his feet a bit raw from the reckless running. The white wolf came to him, licked his jaw, then turned and led the way back to the house. She went inside and came back a few minutes later with two pairs of sweats.
He didn’t need to look at Zach to know he was concerned as they walked into the house. He dropped onto their couch and leaned back, fingers rubbing his tired eyes.
“Feeling any better?” Zach asked.
“No. Just tired.”
“I wish I could help,” Hillary said as she walked back into the room.
He smelled chocolate and opened his eyes to see her holding a mug. He blinked. Seriously? Hot chocolate? What the hell.
He accepted the hot drink, sitting upright and cradling it in his hands. He hadn’t even realized he was cold. He still felt antsy, but was tired enough not to be as affected as earlier.
“Are you going to keep running?” Hillary asked, her voice free from judgement.
“Can I?”
