The Awakening: Liam (Entangled Covet)

by Niles, Abby

  Without another word, he left in search of the doctor. Liam sat down heavily on one of the leather chairs positioned beside an empty hospital bed, braced his elbows on his knees, and hung his head. Talk about a major kick to the balls. While he should be basking in the afterglow of shifting for the first time in months, he was consumed by the way she’d looked him dead in the eyes and called that kiss nothing more than instinct.

  Bull-fucking-shit.

  Yeah, she’d been scared for her life, but her response to his touch had been more than some damn need to feel something other than terror.

  Goddamn it. She’d made him whole again. While it had been nothing but a kiss to her, it had changed his entire world. Nobody should have that kind of power over someone else.

  How fucking fair was that? Why should he have to suffer, while she was allowed to go about her life as if she hadn’t ruined his?

  Because she didn’t know. Couldn’t know.

  The anger seeped out of his body as exhaustion crashed over him. And he wouldn’t change that.

  If anything good had come from all of this, it was being reconnected to his beast—at least for now. Since she was determined to leave him again, he didn’t know how long that would last. But he’d enjoy each moment he and his beast were in sync until they were forced to part for a second time.

  Liam closed his eyes. Dea, it had felt so good to allow the beast to emerge without a fight. As his body had changed forms, liberating tingles had erupted all over him as raw power filled every crevice of his essence. He’d felt invincible. Worthy.

  Then he’d looked at Ava.

  It’d been the first time he’d looked upon her through his beast’s eyes, and it had been enough to steal his breath. She’d been beautiful, with her body encircled in a halo of gold…his beacon to peace.

  Revealing himself to his mate had been a moment he’d waited a lifetime for. And though he could’ve done without the circumstance behind it, her reaction was what every shifter prayed for when allowing their beast to emerge to their human mate for the first time: acceptance.

  The door opened, breaking into his thoughts, and Brit eased inside with a pair of black nylon jogging pants and a blue, long-sleeved cotton shirt. Wordlessly, Liam put them on. A little tight around the chest and biceps, but they would work until he could get some clothes that fit.

  “What the hell gives, man? Brit finally asked.

  He didn’t want the entire building aware of what had happened, but he trusted Brit enough to be honest. “She rejected me, Brit. Fucking again.”

  Brit’s eyes widened in surprise. “Whoa. I sure as hell didn’t see that coming.”

  “That’s your reaction?” He’d just told one of his best friends he’d been rejected for a second time and that was his lackluster response? Yeah, Brit wasn’t known for being the best in these situations, but damn it, a little more emotion would’ve been welcome, maybe some anger on Liam’s behalf. “Where’s Aidan when I need him?”

  Brit didn’t even flinch, just shrugged. “I know I suck at this shit. Always have. Aidan is better in these situations, but I can’t help that it surprised me. I thought you guys were back together.”

  Startled by his admission, Liam stared at his friend. Brit had never been a fan of the Drall or of Ava, especially after the Dsershon, and he advocated avoidance of both at all costs. This was a huge statement coming from him. “Why would you think that?”

  “Geez, man, she was terrified for you.” He raked a hand through his dark hair and sat down on the chair beside Liam’s. “She was solely focused on getting help for you. It took me minutes even to get her to realize that she was safe.”

  Warmth spread in his chest, but he stifled it before he let his hopes go back up. Maybe Brit was wrong, “How do you know it wasn’t from being chased?”

  “Naw, man. It wasn’t like that. When she realized I had her and tried to stop her from going back in to get you, she attempted to claw my eyes out. Hell, as I dragged her back, she shrieked at the top of her lungs that she couldn’t live without you. That’s hard to misinterpret, Liam.”

  She’d been that afraid for him? Had admitted she couldn’t live without him in the height of her terror? So, why had she just rejected him again?

  He hadn’t realized he’d asked the question out loud until Brit shrugged and said, “I don’t know why. But I can say with complete confidence that the woman has feelings for you. Big-time.”

  Before he could dissect her motivations further, the door opened again and Val stepped inside. “Liam, do you have a moment? I need to get a statement.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  She glared at Brit, who pretty much snarled right back at her. A few days together hadn’t fixed whatever issue they had.

  “Don’t you have a ticket to write or something?” she asked Brit.

  “It’s called being here for a friend.” Brit slapped his forehead. “Oh that’s right, I forgot. You don’t have any, so you wouldn’t be able to grasp that concept.”

  Her lips pressed together tight. “In case you’ve forgotten Officer Townsend, you’ve called in sick the last two days, even though your help wasn’t needed.” She tsked. “Oh that’s right, you weren’t any help. You were just along for the ride. Was it nice taking a trip down memory lane?”

  “You know what? Go to hell.” Muttering a string of obscenities under his breath, he jerked to his feet. “Sorry, man, I’ve got to go. I’ve had more of the Sniff Princess than I can take. Three days of her shit is enough to break a saint, and you know I’m no fucking saint.” As he passed her, his face contorted with disgust, he said, “There’s a reason you’re alone, you know? Nobody wants a cold-hearted bitch as a mate. They want soft, supple…sweet. Three qualities you will never have.”

  When the door slammed behind him, Val flinched and closed her eyes. When she opened them, a hint of sadness shone through before she squared her shoulders, and Val Calhoun, hard-nosed detective, was back in the room. The moment of vulnerability from her stunned Liam. “Why do you two treat each other like that?” he asked.

  “If you remember, your boy started it.” She took the seat Brit had vacated, suddenly looking very weary.

  Yeah, Brit had started it. Three and a half years ago when they’d met and he immediately insulted her by asking which pound SPAC had rescued her from. To add insult to injury, he’d muttered it must have been slim pickings that day since all that they’d had left were mangy mutts.

  The tone of their relationship had gone downhill from there.

  The weird thing was, Brit was never nasty to women. He loved them. All of them, no matter their shape, size, or culture. Brit believed women were put on this earth for men to treasure—not that he ever wanted to get saddled with just one—but the sentiment was the same: women were the Dea’s gift to men and should be treated as such.

  “That happened a long time ago, Val. Don’t you think it’s past time to bury the hatchet?”

  She forced a smile. “I thought so at one time. But he has no desire to, and keeps coming at me. I made a vow years ago that I wouldn’t let him see how much his shit got to me. And I’ve learned how to deal with him over the years to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  It was the first time Val had ever acknowledged that Brit’s behavior bothered her. “You went a little below the belt there, though.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “And he hasn’t before?”

  True. Things between those two would never be calm, so there was no reason to kick a dead horse. “You had some questions for me?”

  Val nodded and flipped open her notebook. “Miss Michaels said she didn’t get a good look at her attacker? Did you?”

  “No.”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say,” she muttered. “I guess we’re going on scent only with this one. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’d just go a hell of a lot quicker if I had some idea of who we were looking for. They swept the building and didn’t find a single fingerprint. The guy is good. Thoro
ugh. Even masks his scent, which makes it more difficult for me.” She pinned Liam with her gaze. “Don’t tell Britton I said that, okay? I much prefer it when he believes I’m superior to him.”

  Liam held up his hands. “Far be it for me to interfere with this war you two have going on.”

  “Thank you. I want to be honest with you. I’m good at my job, but even I have my limitations. I found you on your scent, not the other guy’s. He either forgot to cover yours or believed it would be over before we found you. I tend to think he wasn’t expecting a friend to follow you when you went to Miss Michael’s place, much less a cop who would immediately bring in SPAC. Either way, if he’d covered your scent, too, we’d most likely still be looking for you.”

  Her meaning was clear. They’d most likely be dead.

  Swallowing, he realized how close Ava had come to truly dying. If Ava had not escaped when she did, her death would have been imminent. And then it wouldn’t have mattered what happened to him. In fact he would’ve probably welcomed death.

  “Miss Michaels also mentioned your captor injected her with something to make you believe she was dead.”

  “Twice.”

  Val shot a look at him. “Twice?”

  “He knew too much about Dsershon, Val. He might have tortured Ava, but I believe it was all staged to get at me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I can’t find another explanation. I even goaded him at one point, to buy Ava time to escape, and told him it wasn’t my fault his mate Dserted him. He went fucking ballistic and screamed that it was my fault.”

  “He blames you because his mate left him? Did you ever come between a shifter and his mate?”

  “Never. So I can’t figure out who or what he was talking about.”

  Val shifted her body toward him in the chair. “I hate to ask this, Liam, but what about the woman you hit with your car a few years ago? I wasn’t around back then, but I’ve heard tidbits about the accident over the years.”

  That night was always there in the back of his mind, reminding him that life was precious and could be taken in a minute. And now he had a new reminder, one that hummed in his blood. He never wanted to feel it go silent again.

  “It couldn’t be because of that. She was human. Married to a human man, and had two very small human children.” He glanced at the floor, remembering the family that had been devastated by one senseless act, the two little girls that clung to their daddy while he talked to Liam with red-rimmed eyes. “I went to them to ask for forgiveness. The husband didn’t blame me. Said I’d been lucky to survive myself, from the look of the car. Little did he know, right? Had I been human I would most likely have died from my injuries, too, but I was completely healed twenty-four hours later. It’s unfair that I survived while she had to leave her loved ones behind.”

  “What about the drunk driver? Was it a female? Maybe a mate to a shifter, and he blames you for getting her locked up?”

  “The she was a he, and he was also human. He also didn’t get locked up. Had himself a kickass attorney, no prior record, and a prescription for the Xanax in his system. He blew under the legal limit, so it was the cocktail of beer and drugs that caused him to pass out at the stoplight and then coast into the middle of the intersection. He pled guilty to driving while impaired. The involuntary manslaughter charges were reduced to a DUI and he pretty much got a slap on the wrist.”

  “And you can’t think of anything else? A bar fight? Flirted with the wrong woman?”

  “Geez, Val, for the last eight months I’ve been dealing with Dsershon. Before that I was with Ava. And before that…no, I wasn’t a saint, but I didn’t go looking to cause trouble, either, especially with a bonded female.”

  Val grimaced. “Sorry. I’m just trying to figure this out.”

  “Trust me, I am, too, and I’ve got a big fat nothing.” Which meant Ava was still in danger. “What about Ava?”

  “What about her?”

  “You guys are going to send her somewhere safe, right?”

  Val was silent for a moment. “She’s refused a safe house.”

  Liam froze. “Excuse me?”

  “She didn’t take the news that her sister wouldn’t be allowed to go with her very well. She was adamant that if her sister couldn’t go, she wouldn’t go.”

  “You couldn’t make an exception, Val?”

  “Of course I could. However, the High Council doesn’t. You know as well as I do how strict they are about SPAC following the laws. Britton didn’t and he’s now serving a twenty year sentence. I might not have a beast, but I like the perks of being a half-shifter. I don’t have plans to do something to lose that.”

  Liam blew out a breath. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”

  “We’re going to keep a detail on her, though. You won’t have to worry.”

  “I know I won’t, because I’m going to be with her, too. Whether she likes it or not.”

  …

  As the SPAC officer turned the car into her subdivision, Ava inhaled a shaky breath. A part of her was ready to get home and away from the madness, while the other dreaded walking into that house again and reliving the night she was taken.

  The last twelve hours had been a whirlwind of crazy. After her EKG and MRI came back normal, Dr Bradley had surmised the drugs wouldn’t have any long-term effect on her heart. To be on the safe side, she was scheduled for follow-up tests in a couple of months, and if she started having any shortness of breath or heart palpitations she was to immediately come back to the center. With those instructions, Dr. Bradley had given her a sedative to help her rest before they’d transported her to Carnal Ridge Hospital. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting when they “moved” her, but the elaborate lengths to which they’d gone to cover their tracks would have been laughable if it hadn’t meant she had to put her bloody, tattered clothes back on. They caked her nails and body with dirt, and re-gnarled the hair Liam had so gently brushed out, in order to make her story believable. When she looked in the mirror, her stomach had twisted.

  A lady friend of one of the SPAC officers drove her to the hospital with the lie that she was the one who’d “found” Ava barely conscious on one of the trails. Ava figured the use of a woman was a calculated move on the detective’s part to keep any suspicion off the person who brought her to the hospital. A woman was less likely to have inflicted the bruises.

  Once her identity was known, the chaos had started. She’d been rushed back to the ER where she had to pretend to be barely lucid. After a round of more x-rays and blood tests, the ER doctor had been befuddled on how she wasn’t dehydrated, but said she’d been lucky to escape without any major injury. He’d wrapped her ankle and said they would keep her overnight for observation, to be on the safe side.

  After all that, she’d finally been allowed to shower. And God had she. Just having shampoo and conditioner and fresh clothes had done wonders for her spirit.

  Then the two police officers had arrived. They’d fired one question after another at her, their eyes locked on the bruises around her neck. She knew they didn’t believe a word she said, had even used the “he could hurt someone else” tactic, to try and force her to tell them the truth. She stuck to the detective’s story, though, and eventually they’d left.

  Liam had been a no-show over the last twelve hours. Every time the door opened to her hospital room, her heart had jumped into her throat—part of her desperate to see him, while the other part dreaded inflicting more pain on him. In the end, it had always been someone else who entered the room.

  When the SPAC officer turned onto her road, Ava’s lungs constricted, making it difficult to breathe. She exhaled slowly. Emma wouldn’t be there. She had made sure of that. When they’d spoken on the phone, she had convinced her sister not to come up to the hospital. Maybe it hadn’t been so difficult because she hadn’t wanted to come. Had readily agreed to stay with Jessica until Ava got home.

  Whatever the reason, she had been thankful
her sister wouldn’t be here. She didn’t want Emma to witness her first steps back into the house. Didn’t want her to see the fear.

  Because she was chock full of it.

  Hopefully by the time her sister arrived, she would have dealt with her demons and Emma would only see her clumsy older sister, be relieved she was okay, and go about her day-to-day life as though none of this had ever happened.

  Ava wouldn’t be able to move on as easily as her sister, though. He—possibly they—was still out there. Even after he was caught, Ava worried she’d never feel truly safe again.

  The officer parked the car in front of her house. “Ready?” he asked, looking over at her.

  No. Not even close.

  The house looked the same. Innocent enough. From the outside, no one would know that two days ago a horrific event had taken place inside. That lives had been changed forever because of it.

  Nerves compressed her chest until she felt as if she were suffocating. She forced an inhale between her lips, and slowly exhaled.

  It’s just a house. Your home.

  Still she could not move.

  Maybe she should’ve called a friend to bring her home. But she hadn’t. On top of the fact that she didn’t want anyone to see how afraid she was, she also didn’t want anyone to see her bruised and swollen face. The fewer questions she aroused, the less lying she’d have to do. What if one of her regular customers from the cafe asked a question she wasn’t prepared to answer? What if she told one person one thing and got it wrong with the next? She was a crap liar.

  Though she longed to get back to her coffee shop, she couldn’t chance it. She wasn’t sure about the backlash from SPAC if she screwed up her story.

  So she’d made the difficult decision to take a week off from work to heal. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her employees to handle things while she was gone, she did, but that coffee shop was her baby, and with her best friend Jimmy out of the country, it was a lot harder to place her baby in someone else’s hands.

  Thankfully Jimmy was out of the country, though.