by Karen Lynch
It was in that moment that I realized I’d stopped feeling the crushing guilt and shame I’d carried with me for months. I still felt guilt, but it no longer weighed me down. Baring my soul to Roland had forced me to stop hiding behind the fear of someone discovering my horrible secret.
I’d woken this morning with a lighter soul but a heavy heart. Roland’s reaction to my confession hadn’t been as bad as I’d feared, but I’d seen the revulsion in his eyes and watched him withdraw from me physically and emotionally. He’d said he needed a few days, but I couldn’t see how he’d ever look at me the same. I didn’t regret telling him because he’d needed to know the truth, but that didn’t make losing him hurt any less.
I stood and took one last look around before starting back to the road where I’d left the Vespa. No one came down this way much, according to Sara, so I hoped it was okay there. I’d hate to tell Nikolas I’d lost his generous gift.
I smiled in relief when I saw the Vespa where I’d left it. A minute later, I was riding the lonely stretch of road back to the main road. Sara’s bicycle was nice, but nothing was as fun as a scooter. Nikolas might not smile as much as other guys, but he sure knew the way to a girl’s heart.
At first, I thought I was seeing things when a naked woman stepped from the woods a hundred yards ahead of me. I slowed as the tall brunette walked to the center of the narrow road and faced me. When I got close enough to recognize her, I would have sped up to go around her, but she blocked the way.
I lifted the visor on my helmet, trying not to show fear. The last time I’d seen Lex, she’d been in her wolf form and about to attack me. If not for Roland, there was no telling what she would have done.
“What do you want, Lex?”
She put her hands on her hips, completely unabashed by her nudity. “I want what should have been mine.”
“I don’t have anything of yours.” I sounded a lot braver than I felt.
“Don’t play coy, Emma. I don’t know how you got Roland to imprint on you, but if you care about him at all, you’ll end this.”
“I didn’t –”
“Roland will be the next Alpha; did you know that? He needs a strong female wolf by his side, not a weak human girl who will never be accepted by the pack. You’ll only hurt him if you stay. You’ll drag him down and make him weak, and no wolf will respect a weak Alpha.”
Roland, the Alpha? Why hadn’t he said anything to me? There was so much I didn’t know about him and his life in the pack.
My chest tightened because Lex was right. It was one thing for a werewolf to take a human mate, but the Alpha? And then there was my past. The pack would never accept someone who used to be a vampire. When Roland had time to think about it, he’d realize that, too. If he hadn’t already.
Lex’s scowl deepened. “If you’d stayed away from him when I told you to, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Roland and I are friends. I had no idea he felt that way for me or that he could imprint on me. I only found out about the imprint on Sunday.”
Her eyes widened for a second, and then her voice rose threateningly. “Try again. I saw you with him in the tent, remember.”
Fear snaked up my spine. I was alone here with a werewolf who had tried to attack me a week ago. I had to tell her something that would placate her, or I was in real trouble.
“Nothing happened. It rained and we got wet, and Roland put the sleeping bags together so he could share his body heat.”
“How convenient. That worked out well for you, didn’t it?”
I took a steadying breath. “You’re not going to believe anything I say, are you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here? I can’t change anything. I can’t make Roland’s wolf un-imprint from me.”
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Actually, you can. I talked to some old wolves from another pack, and they said a wolf-human imprint is not the same as a normal imprint because humans have no wolf. If you rejected Roland and refused to mate with him, his wolf would eventually forget you and choose someone else, a suitable mate.”
The thought of him with someone else made my heart hurt, but at least he wouldn’t have to be bound to someone he didn’t want.
Lex began to circle me slowly. “Once you mate, it’s forever. Do you really want to tie Roland to you, knowing he’ll grow to resent you eventually? Is that what you want for either of you?”
“What makes you think he will imprint on you if I leave?”
She laughed softly. “I can be very convincing when I want to be, and you won’t be around to distract him. His wolf is an Alpha, and it will soon see I’m the perfect mate for him.”
My grip tightened on the handlebars. “You talk about me leaving for his sake, but you just want to manipulate him into choosing you.”
Her voice was smug. “Oh, please. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman used her wiles to get a man. I promise you he’ll be happy with me…and very satisfied. Werewolves have healthy sex drives, and an Alpha male like Roland needs someone who can keep up with his needs.”
Anger throttled my fear. “You don’t care about Roland or what’s best for him. And you don’t know him at all if you think sex is enough to make him happy. He has dreams and plans for college and the garage. One day, he’ll be –”
Her mouth turned down. “Tinkering with old cars is a nice hobby, but the future Alpha needs a real job, something more fitting for his position, like taking over the lumberyard from Maxwell someday.”
Chagrin filled me on Roland’s behalf. “The garage is not a hobby. It’s his dream, and he’s going to make it happen.”
She scoffed. “Look at you, all starry-eyed. I bet he eats that shit up.”
“You know what, Lex. I might not be the right mate for Roland, but at least I love him for who he is, not what I can make him into. If I leave him, it will be because that is what’s best for his happiness, not yours.”
I lowered my visor and moved past her, slowly picking up speed. Glancing in my side mirror, I saw her standing in the road where I’d left her, glaring after me. I looked at the road ahead of me, and when I checked the mirror again, a white wolf stood in her place.
It wasn’t until I rounded a bend in the road and lost sight of her that I let out a trembling breath. That girl was crazy and delusional. She truly believed Roland would want her if I was no longer in the picture. And she had no scruples about removing anyone who got in the way of what she wanted.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize I was no longer alone until a growl split the air. I looked at the side mirror and let out a small scream at the sight of the snarling white wolf bearing down on me.
My pulse sped up as I hit the gas. The Vespa shot forward, but it wasn’t enough. Lex’s stride lengthened, and she began to close the distance between us. I was less than a quarter of a mile from the main road, but it might as well have been ten miles. There was no way a scooter could outrun a werewolf.
The Vespa shuddered as it ran over bumps and ruts in the old road, and my heart lodged in my throat when I hit a rock and almost lost control.
The mistake caused me to let off the gas for a few seconds, allowing Lex to gain more ground. I could hear her claws scraping over the gravel as she ran me down like a big cat hunting a deer.
Don’t look back, don’t look back, I chanted in my head, needing all of my attention on the road ahead. One more slip and it was all over.
Lex growled again, much closer this time.
I darted a glance at the mirror, and a cold sweat broke out over my body at the savage determination in her yellow eyes. She wasn’t trying to scare me anymore. She was going to kill me.
A whimper fell from my numb lips when the wolf’s hot breath touched my back. Blood roared in my ears, and darkness touched the edges of my vision.
Fifty yards ahead, a car flashed by on the main road. Hope spiked in my chest a second before claws raked the back of the cargo box.
The Vespa swerved
dangerously close to the trees, and I almost spun out on the grass at the side of the road. I somehow managed to get back onto the road, but Lex was waiting for me.
I gunned the scooter again in a last desperate attempt to get away. The main road was so close now. I just had to hold her off for a few more seconds.
A claw nicked my thigh and slashed the seat behind me. The scooter jerked precariously to the side, and I screamed as the road came up to meet me. Tires screeched and a horn blared. I felt the sharp pain of impact.
And then nothing.
Chapter 23
Emma
I came to slowly as sounds filtered through the dark haze around me. Nearby, something beeped steadily, and farther away, a phone rang.
Where am I? I thought sluggishly, trying to think of the last thing I’d done. Why couldn’t I remember?
I moved my hand and moaned as pain shot from my wrist to my shoulder. Tears sprung to my eyes as I opened them to stare at a white ceiling.
Something moved to my right, and a familiar blond head appeared next to the bed, her blue eyes filled with relief.
“Hey, good to have you back, chica.”
“What are you doing here?” I rasped, my throat as dry as sand.
Jordan smiled. “The hospital called me when they couldn’t get ahold of Sara, and I hopped on the first flight out of LA. Good thing you had both of us listed as emergency contacts.”
“Hospital?”
Her brows drew together. “You had an accident. You don’t remember?”
I blinked, trying to clear the cobwebs from my mind, but it was hard to think past the pounding in my head. The cliff. I’d left to drive home and I saw…Lex.
It all came flooding back, and I jerked when I remembered the Vespa going down and my shoulder hitting the pavement. I inhaled sharply and another wave of pain went through my ribs.
“Easy there. You’re pretty banged up.” Jordan laid her hand on mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a truck hit me.”
“Close. A minivan almost clocked you, but he managed to swerve. You were lucky.”
I coughed. “Lucky, yeah.”
Jordan went to the table at the foot of the bed and poured water into a plastic cup with a straw in it. She came back and held it so I could drink. The water was room temperature but felt wonderful to my dry mouth and throat. Too bad it didn’t do anything to relieve my headache or my other aches and pains.
I fought the tears welling up inside me. “How bad is it?”
“I’ve seen worse. Your right arm is broken, and your shoulder was dislocated. They fixed the shoulder and put a cast on your arm. You have some cuts and bruises but nothing serious. The doctor said the helmet saved your head, but you have two cracked ribs.”
I grimaced. “That explains why it hurts to move.”
“I think I can help with that.”
She pulled a small metal can from her pants pocket. As soon as she opened it, I knew what it was. Gunna paste was a medicine the Mohiri used for pain relief and healing. I’d never tasted it, but I’d seen Sara’s expression when she had to take it after training.
“This will deal with the pain and help you heal faster. Open up.”
I dutifully opened my mouth and let her place a glob of the green paste on my tongue. As soon as I closed my mouth, a dry, bitter taste filled it and I had to fight the urge to spit it out. But I knew how potent Mohiri medicine was, and I really wanted to be able to take a deep breath without feeling like there was a knife in my side.
It took about a minute for the gunna paste to kick in, and I sighed as the pain in my head and my right side began to ebb. The Mohiri could make billions if they ever decided to market that stuff. Not that they needed more money.
Once I felt like I could move without pain, Jordan raised the head of the bed so I could see her better. She gave me some more water and fussed over me until I made her stop.
“How long have I been here?”
“They brought you in yesterday afternoon. It’s a little after 8:00 a.m. now.”
She pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. “You want to tell me what happened? The police said you were doing about seventy when you hit the main road. And the minivan driver told them he thought he saw a big white dog chasing you.”
I shuddered at the memory of hot breath touching the back of my neck. “It was a werewolf.”
“What?” Her eyes narrowed. “You better tell me it was a game of tag gone wrong, or I’m going to kick some furry butt.”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
She let out a stream of swear words that caused a passing nurse to shush her sternly. Quietly, she shut the door and came back to the bed.
“Tell me.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
I hadn’t told Jordan or Sara about my relationship with Roland or him imprinting on me. As far as they knew, he and I were only friends. And if I’d told either of them about Lex’s aggressive behavior toward me, it would have upset Sara.
“The beginning is usually a good place.”
I sighed. “Okay, but you’d better sit again.”
Starting with the night I met Roland and Peter, I explained about how I’d kept my distance from the werewolves in the beginning because I’d been afraid they’d find out about my past. When I told her about the two werewolves at the cove and the huge black one who had driven them off, recognition flickered in her eyes. Of course, she knew what Roland looked like in his fur; she’d seen him enough times.
I went on to tell her about Roland coming to see me and how our friendship had grown from there. How I’d felt attracted to him but knew we could only be friends. Then I told her about the party at the lighthouse.
“Hold up, sister.” She held up a hand when I tried to gloss over certain parts. “You kissed Wolf Boy? Was he any good?”
“That’s not important. And he kissed me.”
She grinned. “I bet you kissed him back and it was hot. Oh, yeah, I can tell by that twinkle in your eyes. Give me the details.”
“It was really…nice.” Nice was an understatement when it came to Roland’s kissing, but I didn’t want to think about that. After our talk the other night, I might never see him again.
“Nice?” She scowled. “You’re just like Sara. You never want to share the good stuff. Go on, tell me the rest.”
A minute later, she interrupted the story again, her eyes flashing angrily.
“That Lex chick threatened you?”
“She tried to bully me, and I told her I wasn’t giving up my friends for her.”
Jordan crossed her arms. “What happened next?”
I told her how I’d been determined to keep Roland in the friend zone, but every time I saw him, it was harder to resist him. I talked about the black wolf showing up at my place, night after night, and how I’d come to see him as a friend without knowing he was Roland.
Her voice rose. “That mangy mutt. Wait’ll I see him again.”
I hesitated a moment before I told her about the camping trip. I left out most of what happened in the tent, skipping ahead to the next morning when Lex showed up. Jordan’s expression went from livid to shocked when she heard about Roland imprinting on me.
“Wow,” she uttered, finally at a loss for words.
“I didn’t know what to do when he told me. I was so happy he wanted me, but he didn’t know about my past. I couldn’t keep that from him, and I didn’t know how to tell him.”
“He doesn’t know?”
“I told him everything Friday night, and he didn’t take it well. Not that I blame him. He said he had to go away for a few days, and I haven’t heard from him since.” My throat started to close up. “I don’t think he’s coming back.”
Jordan rubbed the back of my hand. “If he loves you, he will. Plus, he imprinted on you. I doubt he’ll be able to stay away.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want someone who’s with me because he has no choic
e. He could barely look at me when I told him.”
“He was in shock. Plus, he’s a male and a werewolf – an imprinted werewolf. The odds are stacked against him handling this well.”
She stood and gave me more water. “Now tell me what happened yesterday.”
It was hard to talk about my confrontation with Lex, but I managed to get it all out. By the time I got to the accident, Jordan was pacing the room in short angry strides.
“I’m okay, Jordan.”
Her nostrils flared. “She tried to kill you. That’s not okay, and it’s against pack law. The Alpha will hear about this.”
I remembered what Lex had said about the pack not accepting a human mate. Would they even believe me if I told them what she’d done?
“It’s her word against mine.”
“You’re forgetting the driver who saw her chasing you. And she tried to attack you last weekend in front of witnesses. Trust me, that bitch is going down.”
I trembled, physically and mentally exhausted. This past week had been a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows, topped off by nearly being killed by a jealous werewolf.
Suddenly, New Hastings didn’t feel like the safe haven I’d thought it was, and I was forced to think of the possibility of finding a new home. Maybe I should take Marie up on her offer and stay with her for a little while until I figured out what to do next.
“I’m supposed to work today. Can you call the diner for me and tell them I had an accident and can’t come in? Let them know I’m okay.”
“Sure.” Jordan pulled the blankets up to my chin. “Get some rest. We can worry about everything else later.”
I grabbed her hand. “Please, don’t tell Sara. There’s nothing she can do, and it’ll only ruin her trip.”
“I won’t if you don’t want me to, but she’s going to be pissed when she finds out we kept this from her.”
“I know.”
She smiled. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, though, you need sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up – to give you some more of that yummy gunna paste.”
“Great,” I muttered, closing my eyes so I didn’t see her smirk. “Thanks for coming, Jordan.”