“Then explain.”
“No.”
“Well, I’m the first of six, so get ready to talk and for the love of everything nice, take a damn shower,” River said, taking his leave.
He could be upset if he wanted to be. It wasn't like Dylan was missing out on work. He didn’t have a job anymore. Lust Lane had their problem resolved with Will and Emery on the case, and Flora…Flora didn’t need him anymore. Even if she did, she probably didn’t want him.
“How did you like working again?”
“How did you get in here without me noticing?” Dylan said.
“You're so wrapped up in pity and hurt, a gorilla could sneak by you,” Leo said, sitting on the end of his bed.
“Not now, Leo.”
“Answer the damn question.”
“Yes,” Dylan answered, still turned away from the door where everyone kept appearing from. The growing silence was almost peaceful before the strain of Leo’s unbreaking presence sucked the life out of it. “I miss it.”
“Miss her or the work?” Leo asked.
“Both.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing, she —”
“Not her, the work. You need something for yourself. You do everything for others and absolutely nothing for yourself. You’ve become unhappy.”
“No, I...”
“Dylan, that can’t continue. Not when life isn’t just about you anymore.”
“It’s not about me, it was never about me.”
“Exactly, when it’s just you, you don’t have to think about you. About what makes you happy or fulfilled. Your life impacts more than just you Dylan. It hurts us, it hurts her when you’re not thinking about yourself. When your partner enters the picture, you’ll bring her down into the selfless pit of unhappiness whether you know it or not.”
Dylan couldn’t look at him. He was making sense, but Dylan wasn’t ready. He only felt hurt, a hurt so deep he couldn’t sleep the pain away. Something needed to change, he wouldn’t live much longer down this road. He sighed as he finally looked toward Leo. Flora wouldn’t choose to be with him as the broken man he was now. He had to become the man she would choose. The man he would choose. Someone who was dependable, happy, and healthy. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll think about it.”Saying he would make a change was easy, but actually doing it was worlds harder to do.
“Dylan, you can be so hard-headed sometimes,” Leo breathed out before closing the door on his way out.
He knew what he had to do. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to get his job and the girl back. He wanted to have everything, except it wasn’t up to him now. Flora coming back could not —would not — be up to him.
Dylan needed her to choose him to be her mate. Choose him because she loved him. He couldn’t live knowing she didn’t choose him, but fell into him, confusing love for gratitude. She said she loved him, but when the heat died down and people returned to their normal lives, would she still feel that same love?
That was what scared him. He was down bad, no question. But he wanted her to have the chance to explore what she truly wanted and if she wanted him as a mate or not. Dylan couldn’t be just her boyfriend or friend; she was his mate. He couldn’t accept anything less. With Flora, it was all or nothing.
He dragged his body out of his bed, untangling his Flora-scented sheets from his body. Leo was right. Before Flora could love him, he had to love himself. He had to get his life back; he had to be happy. He couldn’t give her a happy, loving life if he couldn’t even give that to himself.
He went to his desk in the corner of his room and opened the little drawer. A business card he’d kept neatly on the top of his desk. All it held was a phone number. One that was written in handwriting he was all too familiar with.
“I guess I have a call to make,” he murmured, dialing the number.
Someone was waiting for his call. Each ring brought another hit of anxiety to his already frazzled state, but he was doing this for him. He’d found something for him. He started out a desperate poor second-in-command wolf and turned into a killer, rich, second-in-command wolf. In a world of good and bad people, he had to be okay with falling into the bad category. He saved the good ones and gave people a second chance at life while hunting their enemies and providing for his Pack. His pride didn’t only stem from being a working part of his Pack but from helping the Shifters, vampires, witches, and fairies from fates too close to hellish.
