It was odd. Time seemed to be moving slower, and Chester’s voice sounded almost warped. “What?”
It couldn’t be someone from my clan. It wouldn’t be. Why would they come here?
“Something about him was off,” Chester continued grimly. “Finn came in shortly after he left, and then he called his friends here. They think they know who it was.”
“…he called his friends…”
“…they think they know who it was…”
“…who it was…”
The floor was slipping beneath me. This couldn’t be happening. I was dreaming. Having a nightmare that I’d wake up from shortly. I had to be.
Through the screaming fog, I sought out Evan. My voice sounded strange, like an old version of me. One I had thought I’d left behind. “Who was it, Ev?”
He didn’t duck his head this time. He answered me in a clear and steady voice. “It was your father, Reid. Clyde.”
I was shaking my head before he even finished speaking. It couldn’t have been him. It couldn’t have.
I took a step backwards, everything in me screaming to run. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t already. Why wasn’t I moving? I had to get away from here while I still had the chance.
I wasn’t going back there. There was no way. I’d die before returning to that life.
My brain was refusing to accept it. Maybe that was why I hadn’t fled. “No. No, it’s not possible.”
“Actually, I don’t think thatispossible.” I heard Chester’s words as if from a distance. Like he was at the end of a very long tunnel. “That bloke looked around my age. There’s no way he was old enough to have a kid in his twenties.”
That was because Clyde wasn’t Chester’s age. He was in his second century.
A disbelieving laugh bubbled up in my throat. Great. I was officially crossing over into hysteria. I choked it back, horrified to find that tears replaced it.
Do not cry. Evan has already seen you at your most vulnerable. You are not that boy anymore.
But with the threat of my father breathing down my neck, it was near impossible to push back the tears. I blinked rapidly, desperately trying not to give in.
Chester obviously noticed, pulling me into a tight hug. “Don’t panic. It can’t have been your dad, he wasn’t old enough. Besides, Evan didn’t see him, so how would he even know?”
I could almost feel the pity emanating from the four shifters. Unlike Chester, we all knew that Evan didn’t needto see Clyde. His scent would’ve confirmed it. And, thanks to the time he’d spent with my clan, he’d recognise it.
I had to run. It was the only solution.
I was going to have to leave everything and everyone I loved. My little flat. This job. Chester. My friends. I was going to have to run and never look back.
Staying here would lead Clyde to me eventually. It was a risk I couldn’t take.
So I let Chester hold me, knowing it would be the final time he’d do so. Who knew how long it’d be before I let someone this close again? Maybe I never would. It was too dangerous.
And too painful when I inevitably had to leave.
A shifter who strongly resembled Finn spoke suddenly. “Right. Chester, would ye be okay with Reid cutting out a few hours early?”
“Of course,” Chester said without hesitation. “If he needs to go and sort this out, that’s fine.”
I wiped at my eyes as I stepped out of Chester’s grip. Fabulous. I should’ve known better. Shifters were far too interfering for this lot to let me run out of here without asking a few questions first.
The shifter who’d spoken nodded. “Then, Reid, why don’t you come on back with us to the cl—house. We can discuss how best to keep you safe.”
His near slip was a reminder of how closely aligned their life was to my former family’s. A life I had no intention of returning to.
