Kodiak Dating Agency

by Haley Weir

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jenny, Tilly, Lori, and Sapphire were waiting in the meeting room when Destiny went down to the bookstore. Her friends looked up as she entered the room and everyone fell silent. She hated the awkward energy because of the falling out with Jenny. Destiny sat in her usual seat and looked around the room. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “It’s alright, we all know you’ve been busy,” Lori said helpfully.

  Destiny opened the book and looked over her notes, trying to see through the tears that burned in her eyes. Tiny droplets smeared across the pages as she sniffled quietly. Sapphire reached over and gripped her hand tightly. “Don’t force yourself, Des. You and Brock have a lot on your plate right now. Some of us have been through this with our mates before.”

  “If you knew the truth, you’d hate me,” she insisted. “All of you would.”

  “What could be worse that you being mated to a murderer?” Jenny asked spitefully. Destiny jumped to her feet and rushed the woman who had been her friend for over seven years. Sapphire caught Destiny by the waist and spun her around before she could land a single punch. She shrieked and glared at Jenny, who looked genuinely surprised by Destiny’s outburst.

  “Brock is not a murderer! He sold photos and videos of himself shifting to conspiracy theorists to learn the truth about their kind,” she snapped. “All he was trying to do was help and Hydra took advantage of him. And if you think what Anders went through was torture, it was nothing compared to what they did to my mate at that facility. It isn’t Brock’s fault that all of this happened—”

  Jenny stepped right up to her. “Then whose is it?”

  “Mine.”

  “You’re not making any sense, Des,” Sapphire said.

  “Corey Reed is my brother. It’s a long story, but we were separated when we were younger. Our father was an evil, vile man.”

  “Hydra…” Sapphire gasped. She stepped away from Destiny as if she were venomous. “Your father is Hydra, isn’t he? I suspected he might be Corey’s father when I was at the camp. Corey was bitter about life, but couldn’t really give a straight answer when I asked why. It was like he didn’t remember anything before taking this contract.”

  “They erased his memory.”

  The other women in the room gasped, but Sapphire just nodded. “Patrick was the closest thing he had to a father all these years. After the soldiers took Brock away, Patrick and Corey followed them to Sector A. But there was something different about Corey that night that I couldn’t put my finger on. It was like he saw Anders as more than a freak for the first time. If he’s your brother, then…”

  Destiny fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around her middle. She shook with the force of her tears as the people she trusted most in the world besides Brock looked at her with bewilderment and betrayal. “So, if you want to hate anyone then hate me.”

  “No.”

  She tilted her head up and looked into Jenny’s vivid stare. “What?”

  “I was the first one of us to meet Corey, remember? The hunters abducted me and took me to their camp. We talked for a long time. He had a twisted logic, but I could tell there was something wrong. There were times when he seemed dazed or something. But there was a softer side of him that I thought I imagined at first.”

  Jenny knelt in front of Destiny and used the sleeve of her dress to wipe the tears away. “You’ve been walking around with all of this on your mind, it’s no wonder you haven’t broken down before this.”

  “Honestly, between getting attacked in my home three times, finding out Brock was my mate, and learning that Hydra was my father...I didn’t have time.”

  “I’m so sorry all of this had to happen to you, Des,” Jenny sighed. “I should have taken the news of you and Brock better, but I couldn’t see beyond my own situation. This...all of this is a mess.”

  “I know, but you have every right to hate me. Corey’s hunters tried to kill you and Dorian. They put Sapphire in a coma and did unspeakable things to Brock and Anders.” Destiny hugged her Jenny close, trying to reassure herself that she wasn’t dreaming. “If all of you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, I’d like for us to be friends again.”

  “It might take a long time for everyone to come around, but I’m sure once Corey explains himself, they’ll be more willing to offer forgiveness.”

  “And what about you?” Destiny asked, looking around the room. “Is the club really over? Are we parting ways like this?”

  Lori shook her head. Tilly smiled and wrapped an arm around Destiny’s shoulders. “We’re with you till the end, sweetie. Just think of this as one of our books. There are hunky bear shifters and broken women learning to love again. We’re only in the middle of our book, let’s not lose sight of what’s important.”

  “Friendship,” Jenny clarified. “Nothing should come between us again. I really am sorry that I behaved so childishly, Des. Fate is just testing everyone. We have to rise above these challenges or else it was all of this pain and suffering has been for nothing.”

  “It would really mean a lot to me if the others could forgive Brock. He really has been through enough. He needs friends just as much as I do right now. Dorian has already made peace with what happened, but Anders and Michael…”

  Sapphire rolled her eyes. “I’ll handle my husband. Anders isn’t the type to hold grudges for long anyway. Michael can’t be convinced of anything. That stubborn bastard has to figure things out on his own.”

  “She’s right,” Lori said. “Tilly has been trying to get Michael to donate funds to the school since she arrived in town and he won’t budge. I know I’m late to the club, but I think of you ladies as family. The least we can do for these men is to make sure they don’t ruin the friendship they’ve had since they were kids.”

  ***

  Brock returned home that day and kicked off his boots. It was strange thinking of Destiny’s apartment as home so soon in their relationship, but if fate decided that they were meant to be together, how could he question that? He hung his oversized coat up next to Corey and Destiny’s much smaller ones before he made his way into the kitchen. The atmosphere was tense. “Ugh...I take it you didn’t have a good day?”

  Corey gave him a sympathetic smile and then quickly left the room, leaving Brock in a rare state of confusion. He turned to ask Destiny if everything was alright between her and her brother, but was cut off by a slight raise of her hand. He arched a brow at that, causing her cheeks to flush. She dropped her hand as well as her gaze, but stayed leaning against the counter. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong or should I just punish you for withholding something from me?”

  She let out a little squeak and Brock watched her eyes flicker back and forth over his body hungrily. “N-no, I...I want to tell you, but I can’t seem to find the words.” Destiny moved closer to him and rested her hand on his chest. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about since our first date, but it hasn’t really been an issue since you’ve gone back to work. Bringing it up has been difficult.”

  Brock rubbed his hands up and down her arms and pressed his forehead to hers. He was happy when Destiny sighed heavily and let herself be held while he waited patiently for her to speak. “Take your time.”

  “I have a fear of fire,” she blurted. “I’ve struggled with it since a fire at the hospital that nearly killed me. So you can imagine that I was a wreck inside during all the forest fires. It’s the reason I didn’t visit Sapphire when she was in the hospital. I knew Anders saved her before she could get burned, but I dreamed such horrible things…”

  He took a few steps back. Destiny had always known that he was a firefighter. Anyone who knew Brock Wasting understood that his work was his passion, that he wanted to become Fire Chief someday. He tried to be considerate of her feelings, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around a few things.

  “Why even start this if you knew I was a firefighter? You can’t have a fetish for the uniform and not respect the job that comes with it,
Dezzy.” Brock felt like an ass when he saw the hurt in her eyes, but it was quickly followed by what he thought was perhaps...guilt? “What else aren’t you telling me?”

  “The only reason I contacted the agency recently was because of Logan.”

  “What does he have to do with this?” Again, that guilt flashed across her expression and Brock got the feeling that he wouldn’t like the answer. “Destiny, I’m going to need you to answer my question because I’m one wrong word away from walking out that door and not coming back until I’m ready to talk to you again.”

  “I was so determined not to fall back into bed with Logan that I lied and told him I had a boyfriend. There were a few dates here and there over the years, but nothing that was ever serious,” she confessed. “I contacted the agency and did my orientation. The next day, they told me I had a match. I just wanted to feel in control again, to feel like I had a choice and that I didn’t have to run back to him—”

  “You were going to use me to keep yourself from sleeping with your ex?” Brock tried to hide the anger and the sadness in his voice, but if the pitying look on her face was any indication, he had failed miserably. “How bad does your self-esteem have to be for you to stoop to such low levels just to prevent yourself from having sex with a man who tried to kill you?”

  Destiny flinched. “He wasn’t always just a man who tried to kill me. Logan was my only friend for a very long time and he took care of me. Trusting him seemed easy in a town where everything was falling apart. But that was before—”

  Brock punched the kitchen cabinet, breaking the wood to pieces. Corey came running out of the room, ready to hold him back if he lost control. Brock shook his head and peeled the splinters from his knuckles. “He wasn’t your friend, Dezzy. Your father groomed him to manipulate you. I thought…” his voice cracked and he realized continuing wasn’t worth the embarrassment. “Nevermind.”

  Destiny and Corey called after him as he stomped down the stairs and slammed the back door. Though Brock wasn’t much of a drinker, he headed down to the local pub. Heads swiveled to get a good look at the town failure as he saddled up to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools. Brock hung his head and ordered a full glass of whiskey, slapping a handful of money onto the counter. “Don’t stop pouring until the money runs out or I’m on the floor.”

  “Bad breakup?”

  “You could say that.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sapphire White stood just inside the door of the pub and watched her best friend toss back another glass of dark liquor. She shoved his shoulder and took the seat beside him, not bothering to hide her disappointment. Her hand gripped the bottle before the bartender could refill the glass and gestured for him to run off and serve someone else. “Destiny called me and said things didn’t go well when she told you about her fear,” Sapphire said. “Want to talk about it?”

  “If you came here to lecture me, I’m not interested.”

  “Don’t be stupid, Brock. We’ve been friends a lot longer than I’ve known Destiny and the others. If my loyalty is anywhere, it’s with you. But that doesn’t mean I have to watch you throw something away out of foolishness.” Sapphire spun his stool and forced him to meet her gaze. “What’s wrong?”

  “It wasn’t about her fear. Sure I was upset, but we could have worked something out by talking through it,” he said dryly. “But it was what she said about Logan that made me walk out.”

  “Logan?”

  “I joined the agency looking for love, you know that. But she only used the services when she wanted to prove to herself that Logan didn’t control her anymore. She used me to play her little games and I fell for it.” Brock licked his lips and grimaced. “The sad part is that I actually fell in love with her. I gave her everything she needed to hurt me and—”

  Sapphire let out an exasperated sigh. “I’ve heard this all before.”

  “Where?”

  “Jenny and Dorian,” Sapphire huffed. “He literally handed her the key to his heart and told her to keep it safe. Next thing he knew, she ghosted him—she wouldn’t answer his calls or texts. But I didn’t hold by when I told her how stupid she was being and I won’t hold back with you either, Brock.”

  Sapphire remembered that night with an unnatural clarity. She had visited Jenny with Destiny after days of not hearing from her. Dorian’s visit to Books & Baubles had triggered something within Sapphire that she hadn’t known existed: unbridled rage. Hearing that one of her friends had been treated like a glorified booty-call didn’t sit right with her. “Don’t you know that I would have loved for a man to look at me like that? How many women in the world would love to be looked at like that?”

  Jenny swiped her tears away. “It isn’t real.”

  “You don’t get to decide that!” Sapphire snapped. “You don’t get to tell someone how they feel, Jen. My entire life, I’ve been your ugly friend or your weird friend, trailing behind you guys like a sad puppy you all took pity on. I’ve never had a boyfriend, but I’ve had a best friend. And I would never wish what you did to Dorian on my worst enemy.”

  “Saph, you aren’t our ugly friend or our weird friend. We love you.”

  “Would you do that to me?” she asked. “If I treated you differently and stopped calling you an Ice Queen, would you shut me out and never speak to me again? Would you tell me that you don’t trust me anymore because I’ve showed you kindness or would you just stop all contact?”

  “It isn’t the same.”

  “Fine. But how is it different?” Sapphire demanded. “Your friends are the exception to the rule, I get that. But why do you only love people who don’t deserve it?”

  “I don’t know,” Jenny sighed in defeat. “Maybe I can’t love someone that I know I’ll disappoint. Dorian is perfect, Saph. He’s too good for me and I know that.”

  Sapphire threw her hands up in the air. “If you believe that ridiculous excuse, then maybe you shouldn’t be with Dorian. Just admit that you’re scared of being loved. You believe in love, Jen, and that’s ok. But now there’s someone out there who was hurt because of you, someone who didn’t deserve it. You’re no better than Zach.”

  “That’s unfair. I haven’t even known Dorian for that long.”

  “I didn’t come here to be fair. Love doesn’t have a timer on it, Jen. You can’t tell someone that they aren’t allowed to love you,” Sapphire said. “I’m not here to comfort you or anything like that. I’ve seen what kind of person you are now and I need some time before I can decide if I want that person in my life.”

  She was tempted to order a drink for herself, but decided that at least one of them should be sober. “Anders and I were the opposite. He was the one with all of the secrets and the lies, the one with everything he needed to hurt me. And he did.”

  “I wanted to kill him,” Brock growled. “He treated you like some plaything he could use and then put back on a shelf. I could barely stand the sight of him.”

  “That’s not fair. You weren’t there when we were alone...you didn’t get to see the sides of him that I did. For some reason it’s like none of us can get far enough ahead of our past before it pulls us back down.” Sapphire grabbed his hand and pulled him outside, leading him down the sidewalk to get some air.

  “How did Dorian and Jenny move past it?”

  “I don’t think they ever did,” she admitted. “There are times when she calls me after a big fight, but a few days later everything will be fine. They have their own flaws and insecurities that they’re working on. Everyone does. Relationships don’t have a finish line unless there’s a breakup. It’s always a race to get nowhere except straight ahead.”

  “Part of me wants to go back, but I don’t want to say something I might regret.”

  “You know what’s best for you,” she stated plainly. “Even if you decide that what’s best for you isn’t Destiny, I’ll be here whenever you need me to be. That’s what friends are for.”

  Sapphire walked her inebriated f
riend to his hideaway that strangely still smelled like Destiny. She glanced around and found the remains of a familiar black dress along with a lace lingerie set. Brock flopped onto the bed and buried his face in the pillow while Sapphire cleaned up. She hadn’t seen him in such bad shape since he first returned from Sector A. “Get some sleep, you big bear. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  ***

  Brock woke up to the smell of Sapphire’s cooking and struggled to remember the night before. A blaring headache made itself known behind his eyelids as the room began to spin dangerously. Brock squeezed his eyes closed and crawled from the bed. Sapphire came out of the bathroom and pointed to the small table beside the fireplace. The smell of food increased the closer he got to the steaming plate and his stomach rumbled loudly. “Have I told you how much I love you lately?”

  “A few days ago, but it wouldn’t kill you to say it more often.” She walked over a popped a sausage link into her mouth before sitting on the edge of the bed. “I had to go all the way home to cook that by the way, what kind of place is this?”

  “It’s my—”

  “Kinky sex dungeon?” Sapphire teased. She pointed to the bra folded up beside the. “No, really. What is this place?”

  “I used to come here when my neighbors would complain about my night terrors. The building is big and unused. Michael owns it, so it wasn’t hard to get access. I just need an escape and...I was afraid the memories and bad dreams would trigger a rampage. Didn’t want anyone getting hurt because I’m so screwed up.”

  “Have you had any of those bad dreams lately?”

  Brock thought hard about that. “No, not since I started sleeping next to Destiny.”

  “So, that has to mean something, right? Fate wouldn’t shove you two together for no reason, Brock. Destiny is in a really bad place right now. What she did was wrong, but is it unforgivable?”

  “I can forgive her,” he said. “But I need time. Falling in love with Destiny and then hearing that she was going to use me like that was...it hurt, Saph.”