Makenna caught her smiling, but didn’t have time to ask why. Kennedy just shook her head. When they moved to the bedroom, Kennedy saw him there, too. She could so easily envision them laying in a giant bed laden with cozy blankets. From there, they could watch storms roll over town, the best view of Grove through the massive windows.
Little by little, her stomach dropped. Each step caused it to fall another inch until it slapped the ground and dragged behind her. Every where she looked, she could see Wyatt. The possibility of her future with him was in every corner. Only two days ago, she’d been nearly certain of their future.
Then he’d gone and disappeared from her life. Kennedy didn’t know what to do with her thoughts. They spiraled. She thought of the magazine, of the women who were probably clamoring to get to know him. She didn’t want him for whatever money he might have. She didn’t need it.
She wanted Wyatt for, well, Wyatt. For the beast that turned his eyes into molten metal. For the way he growled when he held her. For the way she felt when he was around.
Turns out, he only wanted her for one thing.
Makenna nudged Kennedy with her elbow. She ducked her head and whispered privately. “Hey, are you alright. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Kennedy swallowed, feeling like her mouth was full of cinnamon. It was hot and sharp, dry as a desert at midday. She clenched her fist and tried to fight through the feelings of desperation gnawing at her from the inside. This apartment, this dream of staying in Grove, would mean almost nothing if Wyatt didn’t want to share it with her.
Before the showing was over, Kennedy turned on her heel and ran for the door. She didn’t know where she was running, just that she had to go somewhere. There was nowhere in town that would help her escape from the confusing thoughts inside her mind. No matter where she turned, she was still lost.
Finally, she turned her face toward the sky as if in a last-ditch effort to find Wyatt. She’d thought she had finally found someone who cared about her. Everyone who ever passed through her life had been momentary, fleeting like the leaves that fall to the ground each autumn. They’d smiled and spoken pleasantries, but none had ever offered more feeling than an animated conversation. Not even her own family had cared much when she set off to explore the world.
No one cared when she left. It was that kind of detachment that caused her to drift. In Grove, she thought she’d found an anchor, someone who would care about her in all the ways no one else had.
It turned out, she’d been wrong. Maybe the apartment, as beautiful as it was, wasn’t the right choice. She could find the next stop in her tour of the country. Perhaps she would visit Virginia City and explore the old saloons and underground tunnels. At least there, she could drink away the feeling of emptiness trying to swallow her whole.
Chapter Fifteen
Wyatt ran. His body still screamed in protest. A rib was still disconnected, prodding his insides with each impact. But the beast pushed him. It screamed inside him.
He’d been asleep for three days.
He had no idea what happened in those three days. Kennedy could be long gone by now. His beast panicked at the thought, going wild inside him. It took all his effort to keep the creature locked inside. He could feel his eyes changing, his vision wavering between human and beast. He sucked in a breath through his nose.
The town still smelled of her. It was faint, but he would know that scent anywhere. Hope fluttered in his stomach. He felt lighter on his feet. Would he find her at the diner? The hotel? Maybe she’d gone back to the karaoke bar to drink after his disappearance. He wouldn’t blame her.
After his fight with Jasper, he’d crawled back home to lick his wounds. He’d been more beast than human, functioning on instinct alone. As much as he’d wanted to find Kennedy, she wouldn’t have been safe with him. Both he and his beast understood that and so he’d gone as far away as he could to heal.
Then, he’d left her wondering where he’d gone for three days. Not just that, but he’d disappeared right after they’d made love. It looked horrible and he would have to find the right way to explain to her, a way that didn’t sound pathetic.
Wyatt knew he’d screwed up. He shouldn’t have thrown his phone into the lake. He should have found a way to contact Ashton or Griffin, someone who could tell Kennedy what happened. But, he’d gone off by himself and told no one how badly he’d been hurt.
He wouldn’t blame Kennedy if she never forgave him. What he’d done was cruel.
The hotel came into view, her scent leading back to it. He burst through the doors, already careening toward the stairs when someone called out to him. The voice was shrill and sent a blade of ice slicing through his stomach.
He stopped.
“Darling! Wyatt. There you are.” She touched his shoulder and turned him around.
He looked down at her angular face, skin pale and painted with a thick layer of make-up to hide any imperfections. Nicole smiled at him, sweet an innocent as though she’d never thrown a five-thousand-dollar ring in his face.
“W-w-what are you doing here?” He looked over his shoulder, hoping Kennedy didn’t appear. He didn’t know how to explain this to her. Hell, even he didn’t understand what was happening.
Nicole hitched her bag higher on her shoulder. A rolled magazine poked out of the top of it, crumpled and fraying around the edges as if she’d opened it over and over. “I’m here for you, silly. I told you over the phone that I wanted to apologize. When I called back and there was no answer, I figured you wanted me to apologize in-person.”
To see Nicole was the last thing he wanted. Every memory of what they’d had together was forgotten, cast aside in favor of something that was truly real. Now, when he looked at her, at the perfectly straightened blond hair that fell to her shoulders, he knew they never would have been happy.
He knew that Kennedy was his mate.
The beast growled low, annoyed at Nicole’s presence. He wanted to tell her to go away, but she’d come all this way. He figured he could honor the money she spent in travel expenses and hear her out. There was no way to fix what they’d broken, because it had been doomed from the start. What he could do was move forward with a fresh start, clearing all the loose ends dangling behind him.
Nicole misread his intentions. Her smile spread wider and she stepped into him, placing a hand on his chest. He reached to remove her hand when he heard a soft gasp behind him. The world froze in an instant. He knew who would be standing behind him. Already her scent enveloped him. His beast leapt for joy, but his heart sank.
From the outside, his interaction with Nicole would appear to be something else entirely. He spun around. An explanation was on the tip of his tongue, but Kennedy was already heading toward the door. She waved a hand behind her, effectively blowing him off.
He wasn’t ready to let go. Not yet.
Wyatt turned to chase after his mate, but Nicole held onto him. He couldn’t use his supernatural speed. Nicole knew nothing about that side of his life. It could also hurt her, if she insisted on holding onto him.
Wyatt cursed. His lips curled.
“I don’t know why you’re still mad at me,” Nicole pouted. Her eyes glazed over with unspent tears. “I thought we could reconcile and pick back up where we left off! I know now that I was a fool to leave you. I was caught up in my own problems at the time. I acted without thinking.”
Wyatt gently pushed Nicole back. In a split second, her face changed. What had been a plea became spite. She wind-milled her arms and shouted, making a show of falling to the ground. His heart gave one, heavy thump. Everyone in the room had turned to look at them. At the spectacle Nicole created.
It was all a lie, though. Wyatt had never lifted his hand against her in anger. That wasn’t the kind of man he was. He looked from face to face, silently asking them to believe in him. He couldn’t read their faces, their thoughts.
“I don’t understand,” Nicole screeched. She a
ttempted to push herself up and dramatically collapsed onto the floor, as if her arm was broken. “Someone, help me!”
No one in the hotel lobby moved. People went back to their jobs. Others shook their heads.
Wyatt noticed the magazine at his feet, fallen from her purse after she threw herself to the ground. He paused for a moment, looking back at the open door and wondering where his mate had gone. She was out there. All he had to do was find her and explain himself.
But, first, he had to deal with Nicole. He bent and picked up the magazine. Immediately, it opened to a dogeared page. He couldn’t help the incredulous laughter that escaped him. Nicole, when he glanced back at her, was frowning so hard he thought her face would remain that way forever.
“So, you realized I had more money than I let on,” he said. “If I’d told you from the beginning that my family owned Aurum Bank, you never would have given my ring back. You would have done everything in your power to keep me even though you didn’t actually love me.”
Somewhere in the lobby, someone gasped as if they’d been watching this unfold like a television show. Wyatt shook his head. If he’d been honest and open with Nicole, if he’d told her everything, he could have locked himself into a loveless relationship.
Yet, somehow another woman had come into his life and unveiled each and every one of his secrets. Instead of using them against him, she’d come to love him for them. She loved the beast inside him, not the money his family gave him.
“I have to go find someone who will love me for me,” he told Nicole. “You’re welcome to stay in town as long as you want. I don’t care what you do with your life as long as it no longer involves me.”
Nicole looked around the room. She must have seen the way everyone ignored them, as if neither she nor Wyatt were there, and realized that they would not give in to her performance. Everyone in Grove knew the Drake boys. They’d grown up with generations of Drakes, protecting this town. They knew a lie when they saw it.
***
Kennedy let her head fall against the bar top. The karaoke bar was blissfully empty at this time of day. The man behind the counter looked down at her with pity. She could do nothing, couldn’t even smile. He set another drink before her and disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a plate of sushi.
She leaned back and claimed that she hadn’t ordered it, but he informed her it was on the house. All she could do was offer a semblance of a smile in thanks. It was a simple vegetable roll, a safe choice. And a cheap one.
Her stomach heaved at the thought of anything that wasn’t alcohol. She knew why Wyatt had disappeared for two days. Nearly three. And the truth hurt more than anything she’d ever felt, and that was saying something because she was not the most graceful person. Kennedy had experienced plenty of pain.
She should have known. Wyatt had been straightforward with her. He’d told her about the woman who’d left him only recently. Kennedy never should have let herself believe that wound was closed over, that she was anything other than a rebound.
It’d felt so different. What she and Wyatt had hadn’t felt like a one-night stand. It’d dug deep inside her and made a home there. Now she carried the empty space everywhere she went. It echoed with the wails that she swallowed down and drowned in heavily alcoholic hurricane drinks.
There was no going back. She’d already signed all the papers. The apartment that looked out over Grove officially belonged to her. In the morning, she would talk to someone about shipping her meager belongings to Grove. It wasn’t much, but it would have to fill the space for now. The space she would have filled with Wyatt.
“He wasn’t hiding from you,” Makenna said, taking up a stool beside her.
Kennedy searched the bar for Ashton but didn’t see Makenna’s mate anywhere. It allowed her to let out a breath of relief. The copper dragon was a bit of a windstorm, one Kennedy didn’t know if she could handle right then.
Makenna reached out, as if she might touch Kennedy’s shoulder, but pulled back. She turned away and put her elbows on the counter. “Wyatt wasn’t with Nicole the whole time. Jasper didn’t tell anyone at first, but he hurt Wyatt pretty bad three days ago.”
She sighed and nearly crumpled in on herself. “We’re a messed-up bunch trying to get ahold of ourselves. Every day we get up and try to make the best of what we have. Some days are harder than others. Some days…well, everything goes to hell.”
Kennedy leaned back. “Why are you here?”
Wyatt had made it clear. She didn’t care where he’d been or why. Kennedy knew that she was no longer what he wanted. All he’d done was fill the space with her until Nicole, his ex-girlfriend, came back.
“I guess I wanted to say that even if things look awful from the outside, they’re usually fine. I’ve known the Drake boys all my life. They’re nothing like some of the other shifters who prowl for an ass to hump at night.” She tapped the bar, eyes distant. When she finally returned to the present, she gave Kennedy a wide smile. “I hope you get a chance to talk to Wyatt. I think…I think you’d be a great addition to the family.”
Kennedy had to do everything in her power not to scowl at the woman beside her. She didn’t know what to say. The only words that came to mind, she quickly shoved back. Makenna didn’t deserve the venom that filled Kennedy’s heart. Makenna hadn’t done anything wrong.
So, Kennedy hung her head. The conversation was over, and Makenna slowly retreated back to whatever she’d been doing before she appeared. Her words only served to further confuse Kennedy.
A big part of her refused to believe Wyatt would do anything like that, that he would make love to her and leave her the next day. Kennedy thought she’d understood what kind of man he was, but the signs all pointed in a new direction. He’d duped her. It would only make sense that he had the rest of his family duped, as well.
Someone claimed the stool beside her again. Kennedy pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Go away, Makenna. I don’t need you lecturing me about how good your Drake boys are.”
“Who’s Makenna? I don’t know her.” The blonde from the hotel lobby, the one Wyatt had been holding, sat beside Kennedy.
Immediately, Kennedy’s eyes dropped to the ring on her hand. A whimper crawled up her throat, but she kept it back. All Kennedy wanted was to be left alone. She didn’t understand why people had to keep searching her out. Couldn’t she drown her sorrows in peace?
Kennedy scanned the bar for Makenna, as if she could summon the woman back to drag this one away. But there was no Makenna. It was just Kennedy and this woman.
“Look,” Kennedy said, raising her hands in defeat. “I won’t bother you if you don’t bother me. All I want is to be left alone for a while. Maybe I’ll cry into a margarita later. It’s none of your business.”
“That’s good,” Wyatt’s other woman crooned. “I see you’re a woman of logic and respect. You won’t butt in where you aren’t welcome. Someone in my shoes could easily be threatened by the other woman, but I’m not as petty as that. I know what you and my fiancé had. It’s over now. You’re never going to see him again.”
Something hot and furious unfurled inside Kennedy. The heat filled her mouth and tightened her jaw. It was a beast of her own, a new voice that claimed Wyatt. Before it could lash out at the woman, Kennedy gripped it tight and held it back. She let herself hunch over the ferocious voice inside her. She became smaller.
Fight, it told her.
Kennedy didn’t know what to fight for. What she’d seen, between Wyatt and this woman, had been obvious. If he didn’t want her, then there was no reason to give in to the voice.
He belongs with you, it purred.
And while Kennedy agreed, she didn’t know what she could do to change the situation.
“I hope you’re happy,” Kennedy muttered. She meant to say she hoped they were both happy, but the words became bitter and aggressive.
She recalled the story Wyatt told her wh
ile they were painting the mugs. It seemed that he’d realized his relationship with Nicole had been doomed from the start. Kennedy had thought that meant he was ready to love her, instead.
Not that he was thinking of ways to fix what he had with Nicole.
Kennedy felt like such a fool. She wanted to bury her face in her hands, but didn’t if only because she wanted to save her pride. Breaking down in front of Nicole would be ugly. She would wait for the woman to leave. Then, Kennedy would crawl back to her empty apartment and drink the rest of her feelings away.
The woman leaned back in her seat, eyes narrowed on Kennedy. For a second, Kennedy thought she would fight. The hit never came, physical or verbal. The woman jutted her chin in the air and spun away from Kennedy.
Her hands curled against the countertop. Fire licked along her skin. It was the heat of anger, of frustration. She wanted to push it away, but there was a current beneath it. One that whispered to her, claiming a falsehood. Kennedy swiveled on her seat to watch the woman leave.
Wyatt had loved this woman so much that he’d gone down on one knee for her. Yet, Kennedy couldn’t shake the feeling of something being wrong. The waiter returned with another drink, and she chalked it up to her own dejection. She was seeing trouble where there was none, wishfully imagining a wedge between Wyatt and the woman.
Chapter Sixteen
“They said I might be able to find you here,” Wyatt said in the open doorway.
Kennedy sat on the floor of the empty apartment, feet splayed out before her. She didn’t look at him, didn’t even acknowledge his presence. He noticed the bottle at her side, nearly empty, and sighed.
She was drowning her pain. He did his best to protect her, from dragons and freak accidents, but he couldn’t protect her heart. Not from confusion and pain, from betrayal. He could only do so much. There had not been a moment to explain to her what really happened, or how he really felt. The single moment had happened, like a snapshot carved in time.
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