Ma was right—she needed to be loved, just as everyone did. It was something she hadn’t been given as a child but had in abundance now. It was what comforted her when times got tough.
She didn’t need my pa to keep her safe, she needed him to love her.
And he did. Unquestionably so.
As I shifted and ran back towards Reid’s, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. That was nothing new—he’d lived rent free in my mind ever since our run-in at Thistle Do Nicely.
But now, I wasn’t just thinking about whether he was safe. No, I was wondering if he was loved. If his friends were enough to fill the void his family had left in his heart. If he knew he was as deserving of being worshipped as everyone else. More so, in fact, because he’d gone without it for so long.
My wolf was circling around something.Sniffing it gently. Inquiringly. It wouldn’t let me see it yet, but I knew it was there. A knowledge that was going to change everything.
What I did know was that I had a new purpose. It wasn’t to keep Reid safe. Obviously, with his family lurking, I’d be doing that. I’d be neglecting my role if I didn’t.
It was to make Reid happy. To do whatever was needed to make his life a little better and brighter.
I didn’t like it. Not one little bit. Because he’d already told me what he needed for that to happen.
“I think it would be better for me if our paths didn’t cross again.”
My stomach twisted at the thought, but Ma was right. I had to respect what Reid wanted. I didn’t have to like it, but I had to do it.
Unless Reid explicitly asked for my company, he wouldn’t see me.
But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t see him. That would be enough for me. For my wolf.
It had to be.
As I parked myself in the woodland outside his flat, I repeated my new mantra to myself.
Reid doesn’t just need to be kept safe, he needs to be happy.
But, in the back of my mind, there was another voice. My mother’s. Her words a tattoo alongside my own mantra.
He needs to be loved.
Chapter 11
Reid
The bonus of having Calan turn up at the crack of dawn to relieve Logan was that I was up a whole hour earlier than needed. Which, in turn, meant I beat Chester to work.
There was a first time for everything, I supposed. I managed to make it on time on days when I had to open the shop, but it took six alarms to achieve it. Other days though? My punctuality was more hit and miss than an incel’s success rate with beautiful women.
I got out of my car just as Chester did, clutching my coffee. Fuck, did I need it today. Logan hadn’t been joking when he’d said we were going to be friends. I’d stayed up until nearly 2a.m. chatting with him. The tiny shifter had an uncanny way of making you open up and reveal things you knew you shouldn’t.
To be fair, that often happened with me. I overshared like it was going out of fashion. It was possibly the neurodivergence at play, but I suspected my upbringing had something to do with it.
Not the having to hide what my family were from theworld. It wasn’t like I’d interacted with anyone who wasn’t a supe as a kid. That didn’t happen until after I ran away.
No, it was because no one in the clan ever gave a shit about my thoughts or feelings. My voice wasn’t to be heard.
Funnily enough, Evan had been the first person to actually take an interest in what I had to say. Looking back now, he had to have been bored out of his fucking skull, listening to a ten-year-old drone on about dinosaurs. He’d never given any sign of it though. None I’d picked up on, anyway.
Finn’s voice echoed through my mind.“Evan’s a good person.”
I was sure he was. But, like I’d said to Evan, I couldn’t seem to move past this.
Even if I wished I could.
