I shoved open the stairwell door and took the stairs two at a time.
The familiar scent of flour and old wood followed me up to my floor. I unlocked my apartment, stepped inside, and slammed the door behind me harder than necessary.
Silence. I stood there in the dark a moment, leaning against the door like it was the only thing keeping me upright.He knows now.
No one outside of Bear and Bun had known. I didn’t tell anyone because... well, because I didn’t want to be defined by it anymore. But Ironfalls clung to you like smoke.
Like blood under your nails. You could scrub and scrub and still feel it in your bones.
I kicked off my boots, tossed my jacket onto the couch, and moved automatically to the kitchen. The taste of burnt frosting still lingered from James’s cupcake. It had been awful. And I’d eaten two.
Idiot.I leaned both hands on the counter, arms shaking. Why didn’t he tell the others about that guy bothering him? Why keep it a secret? Was he afraid they’d think less of him?
Then again, wasn’t I doing the same?
Wouldn’t I do the same if I were in his shoes? The answer was yes. Hell yes. I would’ve tried to solve it myself, and if I couldn’t, only then would I go to Beau. Maybe.
James had no one but his pack and if he couldn’t lean on them, who could he lean on?
...Was it my place to tell him that?
I wasn’t his alpha. I wasn’t even his boyfriend. I was just the guy he kissed when the lights were low and the world got too heavy. Still, when that customer cornered him, my first instinct wasn’t to de-escalate.
It wasn’t to talk. It was to step between them and bare my teeth. I wanted to maul that jerk for ruining our moment. For digging up something I wanted buried. For saying it in front of James.
And my grizzly, he raged. Not out of shame.
Out of protectiveness. James wasn’t pack. Not mine. Not yet. But my bear was starting to think otherwise.
I ran a hand through my hair, pacing the tiny kitchen. I’d never felt like this for Kellen. Lust, yes. Possession, yes. But never this. Never the mix of fear and need and frustration that James stirred up.
He made me want to be better. Not because he asked me to. Because I hoped he’d stay if I was.
The sharp buzz of my phone nearly made me jump. I fished it out of my pocket, half hoping it was James, but it wasn’t. An unknown number lit up my screen, but I didn’t need to guess.
I knew it was Kellen. He was probably using a new number again. My stomach twisted. I should’ve blocked it without thinking. Should’ve tossed the phone across the room.
But instead, my thumb hovered. And I hesitated. Old habits. The kind you think you’ve broken until they come crawling back, smug and sweet and just manipulative enough. I picked up.
“Finally,” Kellen purred. I could hear his smirk through the phone. “I was starting to think you’d blocked me.”
“You’d deserve it,” I muttered, leaning against the counter again.
“Aw, don’t be like that. I’ve been thinking about you.”
“You never stop thinking about me. That’s the problem.”
Kellen chuckled, low and syrupy. “I made a mistake, okay? You’re the one who left, not me. Maybe I should’ve kept things a little more... exclusive, sure. But that’s not a reason to keep pushing me away.”
No apology. No accountability. Same old Kellen.
“Kellen,” I said, tone flat.
“Rafi, baby, don’t be like this. I need you.”
I stared at the wall. And thought about James. About his stubborn courage. His strength. The fact that he’d never play me like this.
“Rafael. Are you listening?” Kellen demanded.
