She made her way from the roof down to her apartment. The fire escape creaked under her weight but didn’t fall away as she yanked open her bedroom window. She barely made it through the window before letting herself fall the rest of the way. Collapsing onto her bed, Teagan tried to sleep.
The blissful escape wouldn’t come take her away, though. A knock on her front door asked her to get out of bed and answer, but she didn’t move. That meant nothing to whoever was outside because she listened as they let themselves in.
Ember appeared in her bedroom doorway. Teagan thought they would both be too angry when they saw each other again, but the arch of Ember’s brows gave away her concern. Teagan needed to know that she wasn’t alone right now, so she reached out and silently asked her sister to join her.
Ember paused for half a breath. She glanced around. “Where is your man?”
Teagan cringed. “He’s not mine.”
Ember studied Teagan for a long while before pressing her lips together and nodding. It was an agreement to set the conversation aside. For now. Perhaps forever. Teagan wasn’t sure if she could talk about what happened.
She wanted to believe that Reece would come find her, but she was afraid that these few days would remain in the past. They would not belong to her future. Reece had been hers for a few nights.
“You don’t have to wait for him to show up, you know.” Ember climbed onto the bed and wrapped her arms around Teagan.
“What do you mean?”
Ember snuggled up to her sister’s back. “Whatever the two of you had, it’s not over just because you left his house. You can keep it going if you try.”
Teagan wasn’t completely convinced. She recalled the conflict on Reece’s face when she’d surprised him at work. The expression had cracked her heart. It hadn’t broken her, but she wasn’t completely convinced that he wanted her the same way she wanted him.
“Dad gave me the whole rant,” Ember said into Teagan’s shoulder. “He said your boyfriend wouldn’t throw the first punch. He called Reece, and I quote, a pussy just like Cash. If Reece has the ability to piss Dad off without even raising a hand, then I like him already.
“Cash didn’t fight Dad because he knew it would upset me. I think Reece had the same thought. He wanted to protect you, Teagan. He made it so that you didn’t have to watch the two of them beat the crap out of each other.”
Teagan’s hopes lifted. She smiled into her blanket. This apartment wasn’t her home anymore. That cabin in the woods had become her sanctuary. Reece’s voice was her lullaby. She wanted to go back and sink into his body while they watched the snow fall outside the big window.
Reece didn’t expect the knock on his door the next morning. Teagan stood on the doorstep, a steaming coffee in each hand and an apprehensive smile on her lips. His heart clenched at the sight of her.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
He stepped aside to make way for her. She took a step forward, looked at him, and hesitated. He couldn’t figure out what she was looking for, which meant that he could do nothing while her expression slipped, and she quickly ducked inside to hide the glimmer of confused hurt that flashed in her eyes.
He felt like he’d done something wrong but had no idea what that could have been. She stood at the kitchen counter with her back to him. The sight of her in his cabin again eased the knot that had tightened in his chest overnight, but her behavior gave him pause.
“I wanted…” Teagan began then trailed off. She laughed, almost at herself.
The small sound set him on edge. He couldn’t quite grasp what was happening. When she turned again, she boasted the same smile as earlier. He got the sense that it covered a range of emotions that he wished she would just explain. It would have been easier for both of them.
Maybe then Reece would know what it was that they had.
He’d felt something while with her, but it had been fleeting. He couldn’t be sure if it was real. He had no way of knowing, because he had no understanding of what love actually felt like. As badly as he’d wanted it all his life, now that he had a chance to know, he wanted to back away.
“I was hoping we could talk,” Teagan said.
Reece could feel his heart growing cold. He knew he had to stop it, but he didn’t know how. His beast tried to fill him with fire, but his fear of being spurned was stronger. There was a chance that Teagan had come to thank him for all he’d done so she could move on with her life.
He could reach for her and try to hold on, but he knew from experience that he couldn’t hold on forever. Eventually, she would want to break free from his grasp. She would shake him off and leave him behind. That was what everyone else had done.
His mother used him for her own gain. She had a special place for him in her heart, but it seemed to be closer to pride than love. His sisters…well, they’d up and left. He knew that he’d failed at creating bonds with them. Part of the reason they never reached out to him was his own fault, but it still hurt nonetheless.
“What is there to talk about?” He shrugged nonchalantly.
Teagan’s expression faltered again.
If he pushed her away, then it wouldn’t hurt so much when he woke to find his bed empty in the morning. The pain would be temporary. It would fade over time, and he wouldn’t think about her every time he reached for the empty space on the other side of his mattress.
“If you’ve come back to hide from your life again, then I’ll have to remind you that this isn’t a hotel.” He pushed past her and started down the hall toward his bedroom.
“Reece,” she said softly.
Her voice pulled him up short. Yearning exploded in his chest. The ice quickly formed over it again. Somewhere inside him, his beast thrashed, but he could barely feel it.
“Go home and deal with your life, Teagan. I can’t fix anything for you. That’s your job.”
There was a crash followed by a splash. Reece spun. Coffee dripped down the side of his counter. Teagan’s shoulders rose and fell rapidly. Rage lined her face, twisting her lips and filling her eyes with fury.
“You’re one to talk!” She threw her hands in the air. “You spend every day in the aviary, hiding from your own life. Do you really think that your situation is any different? Just because we’re hiding in different places doesn’t make one of us better than the other.”
Reece clenched his jaw. His fingers curled into fists at his sides.
“Do you really think that you can keep your head low and stay out of the way of everything that’s been going on? The walls of the aviary aren’t going to protect you. They won’t stop everything outside from changing.” Teagan backed away.
As she moved, Reece caught the glimmer of a tear cascading down her cheek. It tugged at his heart and tried to yank him toward her before she could get away. But Teagan was already escaping.
“Look at you,” he sneered before he could stop himself. “You’re running away right now. You can’t come in here and throw all this in my face, then vanish. That’s not fair.”
Her shoulders trembled. He couldn’t touch her and still them. He was powerless as she crumbled. But she didn’t fall apart. Teagan sucked in a breath, raised her head, and pulled herself together. She turned empty eyes upon him.
The sight broke something within him. He couldn’t tell what had shattered as it was still buried under the ice encasing his heart. He knew that it was his own fault, though. His own words had been the wedge that widened the chasm between them.
“What we had meant something to me,” Teagan said softly at the door.
She left before Reece could even think to move. The sound of wings in the air signaled her escape. He drifted toward the door and watched the owl woman flee their fight.
Regret soured his mouth. Had every bridge been burnt? Could he rebuild them? Reece wasn’t sure he knew how to. He’d never been taught how to love. He fumbled around it, unbelieving and blind.
For the span of a few fleeting days, he’d had somet
hing real. Then he’d gone and thrown it all away like a damned fool.
Teagan couldn’t throw away her feelings for Reece. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t reason her way out of them. They lingered, aching and growing more bitter by the second.
At least she had rule of the skies again. She let the air currents carry her with no real regard for where she was headed. The dragons could all be damned. Teagan went wherever she wanted.
The sun didn’t set as early as it had a few weeks ago, but every day still felt too short. The sunlight gave way to dusk. Stars appeared along the vast canvas of the sky. Teagan turned her head so that she could admire them. Out of the corner of her vision, a dark dragon wing came too close.
She banked away, tucking her wings in so that she could roll for more distance. When she snapped them out again and steadied herself, she saw the apologetic face of her father. Callum flew alongside her. He tilted away from her to give her more room.
When he made no move to push her toward the ground or drag her out of the sky, she sighed happily. He was trying to be more careful around her. She appreciated the effort, even if he was kind of bad at it at first. She knew, now, that it was possible for her to fly alongside dragons.
Thoughts of Reece made her chest ache again.
She’d hoped for more with him. The kind of happiness she’d felt while with him had been incomparable. That’d made her think they had the kind of bond that her sister had formed with Cash.
A mate bond.
Apparently, Teagan hadn’t been so lucky. She was still alone.
At least she still had her dream. She could ask her father for a bit of money and use it to open her bookstore once and for all. Then she could hide among the books and the words, where romance wasn’t so painful. The people on the page could experience the hardship for her.
Because she didn’t want to hurt like this anymore.
13
Reece was sorely tempted to burn his mother’s house down. There would be hell to pay after, but maybe he would feel a little better. As it was, his beast rioted beneath his skin and left him off balance all the time. He didn’t know how to settle the creature.
What they’d had was gone. Teagan had left. She hadn’t called him. He’d checked over and over. At first, he’d told himself that she didn’t have any way to contact him, but that lie had quickly lost its efficacy. She had so many ways to get ahold of him. Their families were more intertwined than ever.
For a while, he reasoned that her father likely had her on lockdown. The Teagan that had walked out of here wasn’t someone who could be held back any longer. There was no way that Callum could control his younger daughter anymore.
That left one explanation: Teagan didn’t want anything to do with Reece anymore.
His beast gnashed its teeth. He winced, feeling it bite from the inside. His breath was short and labored. The pain sank deep into him.
He couldn’t sit here and wait for the pain to go away. He snatched his keys and drove into town. He stared at the buildings and wondered which held Teagan’s apartment. Maybe he could surprise her and apologize for his cruel words.
But she’d been just as cruel. People who loved each other couldn’t do such things. Right? This wasn’t how love worked. That could only mean that they weren’t meant to be together. Perhaps Reece had no fated mate, a thought he’d had before.
The light of the local bar that Cash often played at beckoned him. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d pulled into the parking lot and turned off the truck’s engine. He sat in the driver’s seat for a long while, just staring at the steering wheel.
He wasn’t sure what to do next. Running a hand over his face, he decided that he couldn’t have what he wanted. His family had already seen to that. They’d shown him that they would interfere in any relationship with Teagan. They would throw around lies and send Callum to disturb the peace.
Reece couldn’t have Teagan, even if he wanted her.
He shoved open the truck door and made his way into the bar. The familiar setting didn’t put him at ease. He’d thought the smell of alcohol and warm bodies would draw him in and make him forget Teagan for a while. The faces in the room were all the same, though.
People turned and stared when he walked into the room. It was all too easy to put on his practiced smile, but behind it he was conflicted. He hated himself for approaching the bar, for glancing back to take in the bar’s prospects tonight.
He just wanted a distraction. He didn’t want to think about what he couldn’t have.
If his sisters had been here, they would have berated him. They would have pointed out that Reece had always gotten what he wanted. The one time his desires didn’t work out, he fell apart. They would have been disappointed in him.
Thankfully, they didn’t know he was here. They didn’t even know about Teagan. His sisters had their own lives now. He tried not to interfere in their happiness. He was afraid his presence would remind them of all the ways he’d never helped them.
He accepted his drink from the bartender and cradled it in his hand while leaning back against the bar-top. Across the room, a woman raised her drink to him. Reflexively, he mirrored the gesture. His stomach turned as he lowered his drink.
His time might have been better served staying home. He could have picked up one of the books Teagan had left around the cabin. He could have read the words that meant something to her.
Reece shook himself and tried to expel thoughts of Teagan. Unable to do so, he checked his phone for messages. The beast squirmed uncomfortably under his skin. His phone was devoid of notifications. The beast tried to tell him something, but Reece couldn’t quite hear it. The sentiment was drowned out by the voice of a woman.
“I noticed you when you walked in,” she said, taking the stool beside him.
Reece turned and gave her his full attention despite the beast rioting inside him.
Regret caught up with Teagan that night. She couldn’t look herself in the mirror until she decided to talk to Reece again. He deserved to know that she hadn’t meant the things she’d said. She’d cruelly weaponized her words so that she wouldn’t have to feel the hurt that he’d caused.
That wasn’t fair to either of them. She could see that there was something wrong. They were avoiding a real conversation. If he wasn’t going to make that happen, then she would be the one to start it. Teagan wasn’t going to be afraid.
She did her makeup and donned her favorite denim jacket, the one with the Jane Austen pin on the pocket. It almost made her feel as safe as Reece’s cabin had. She recalled his comfortable bed and expensive sheets and felt a sense of homesickness wash over her. It wasn’t the sheets that she wanted, but the smell that had clung to them.
They could have something real. She knew it deep down. This wasn’t just some childish hope, but a…a premonition. Maybe. She wasn’t really sure what to call it other than confidence.
Teagan fixed her hair in the mirror. She wiped a bit of stray lipstick from the corner of her mouth and practiced her smile. Her heart stuttered when she thought about seeing Reece again. She was going to tell him how she felt once and for all.
Their families could eat shit, for all she cared. Teagan was done living by rules and treading carefully. She wanted to spread her wings and fly. She could do that with Reece. She could be herself once and for all.
The thought excited her. She bounced on her heels as she snatched her phone and her purse. Hope fluttered inside her. She could grasp her own future.
Teagan had shoved one foot into a high heeled boot when her phone vibrated. The sensation of wings brushed against her heart. Her first thought was of Reece. He’d finally reached out to her!
But the number on the screen belonged to her sister. Confused, Teagan opened it and came face to face with a picture that made her eyes burn. Unshed tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. She chucked her phone away from her. It made a soft thunk before falling with a crack.
She paid the pho
ne no mind. Instead, she tore the boot from her foot and threw it with all the force she had in her. Not even that could ease the fury building behind her sternum. Unable to bear it any longer, she dropped to the floor and buried her head in her arms. Tears streamed down her face.
Most of all, Teagan hated herself. She hated herself for thinking that she and Reece had anything. The confusion on his face when she’d surprised him at the aviary should have been enough, but she couldn’t help but be a fool. Reece had gotten what he’d wanted from her, meanwhile she’d been in the throes of foolish love.
Her phone buzzed again.
She almost didn’t pick it up. A part of her that wanted to hurt as if she deserved it made her crawl across the floor and turn the phone over. The screen had shattered, a thick crack running down the center like lightning. Unfortunately, that did little to blur the next photo.
Reece’s head was bent close to a blonde woman’s. He grinned as he whispered in her ear. Their closeness brought another wave of tears to Teagan’s eyes.
It wasn’t meant to be, Ember texted.
Teagan turned the phone over again. She couldn’t look at it anymore. Though, she would look at it several times over the course of the night. It would hurt more each time. The visions of the future that she’d built in her mind fell apart each time she turned the phone over.
Perhaps she had to come to terms with the fact that she had no mate here. She could fly far, far away and hopefully end up in the arms of someone who would love her better than this.
But when she shifted and flew away, she didn’t leave town. Her beast led her down a familiar path. It led her somewhere familiar, even if the sight of it hurt.
14
Reece’s cabin still smelled of the coffee Teagan had spilled. Unable to separate the smell from what had happened, his appetite for coffee had faded. He grabbed an energy drink from the fridge and quickly ducked out of the cabin. Every room, every piece of furniture, it all reminded him of what he’d thrown away.
Wings of Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 5) Page 12