“He’s going to run.”
Finn stood too. “What makes you think that?”
“You didn’t see how scared he was.” I paced the room. My bones were cracking and creaking as my wolf got more insistent, but I ignored it, running through the interaction I’d had with Reid again in my mind. “He was angry, but under that, he was scared.”
“Of you?”
“No.” I halted abruptly, remembering Reid’s fury. Anger that was rooted in fear. “Of his clan, I think. Of being found. Maybe he thinks we’re going to turn his location in.”
“We’d never do that. Reid has to know?—”
“I’ve failed him once before, at a time when he was far more vulnerable than he is now. Why wouldn’t he expect me to do it again?”
Finn’s silence spoke volumes.
I strode for the door. I wasn’t letting Reid down. Not again. “I have to stop him. I can’t let him leave. If he stays here, I can keep him safe. I can?—”
A strong grip encircled my wrist, stopping me. “No, Evan. If you go back there now, you’ll spook him further. Let me go.”
I flinched, both at the truth in his words and because he was preventing me from leaving. “But?—”
“No.” Finn’s tone left no room for doubt. “That’s an order, Evan. You’re not to go back there or seek Reid out until I say otherwise.”
A muscle jumped in my jaw as I debated arguing. I’d never disobeyed Finn’s orders, or even questioned them. I was honoured to serve in his inner circle.
Yet the thought of following this order had my stomach churning. “Fine. But not forever, Finn. Especially if Chester is going to be part of our lives now.”
Finn’s eyes widened. “What makes you think that?”
I rolled my eyes. I knew I’d proven myself to be an idiot today, but anyone with a single brain cell could see how gone our leader was for the quiet florist. “Please. I didn’t just see Reid today; I met Chester too. If you don’t have that man bed, wed, and bred in a year, I’ll eat my hat.”
With that, I yanked my wrist out of his grip and stalked out of the room. He called something after me, but I didn’t hear it. My brain was far away. Approximately seven miles to the northeast. Thinking of the man with an unbroken spirit and furious eyes.
I’d failed him spectacularly, in the worst way possible.
I vowed right then and there that I’d never do so again.
Chapter 4
Reid
Honestly, I had the best boss ever. Not only did he not fire me for making a scene, but he hugged me while I cried and offered to ban Evan from the shop forever.
Knowing how clan politics worked, I’d told Chester that we should expect a visit from Finn, and soon. Evan would’ve told Finn what had happened. Hell, he’d likely been sent here to feel me out in the first place. It made sense, given I was a human who knew the truth of what they were.
With the close proximity in which I worked with Chester…yeah. Finn would want to know more about me and my background.
Chester might insist nothing was going on between him and Finn, but he didn’t know shifters like I did. Once someone captured their attention, that was it. They fell hard and fast. A human wouldn’t have been tolerated as a partner in the Clarkson Clan, let alone a mate, but the McCarthys were different. Everyone in the community knew that their former leader, Danny, was now mated to a human.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Finlay followed in his friend’s footsteps, especially with what a softie my boss was. I wasn’t attracted to Chester, but even I felt the urge to wrap him in cotton wool sometimes.
To a wolf shifter, Chester was catnip. Someone who needed to be loved, protected, and worshipped.So while I’d known Finn would make an appearance, I hadn’t expected it to be less than an hour after Evan left.
I was out back when the bell went. I flinched, only relaxing when it was Finn’s voice, not Evan’s, that filtered back to me.
I sidled closer to the partition to listen to what Chester was saying. “Are you here to upset my assistant or excuse your friend’s behaviour? Because if so, you can turn your unfairly attractive arse around and march it right out of my shop.”
Warmth settled in my bones at the sound of Chester defending me. I had another friend. Even if he only saw me as an employee, I’d forever see Chester as more.
