by Thalia Eames
Garrett scoffed. “Not for McNamara. He killed us so easily. He didn’t blink. Didn’t flinch. He hunted us down one by one.” Coldness seeped into Garrett’s bones. He shivered against the chill but couldn’t shake it. “Turn on the heat, Cash,” he said.
Lennox stroked his cheek and pulled him down to lie on her shoulder. “It’s the middle of summer, Garrett. You’ll burn alive with the heat on.”
“Oh,” he said. “McNamara was a genius. He’d wait until we’d turned wolfen to kill us. That way he left a long line of missing persons and dead wolves behind. If he’d killed my family in human form, the police would’ve recognized him for a serial killer.”
The arms around him tightened. He wanted to lay in Lennox’s lap the way he used to in college. He shifted, bending his body in an awkward position and pushing Nox and Lennox to the far side of the car, until his head rested against her chest. Close enough. He sighed when she stroked his brow.
“My father disappeared first, then a few cousins here, an aunt there, more and more of us. We knew we were being hunted but we couldn’t find the bastard and we couldn’t turn to the law.” When Lennox looked ready to question him, Garrett clarified. “It’s hard to explain to a detective how a couple of wolves went missing while out on a midnight run. And no matter how many friends we had in law enforcement, prosecution required a trial among non-shifters and shifters alike. We couldn’t risk it.” He took a breath. “Finally only three of us remained. My mother sent my uncle and me away. She wanted me to go to college and she wanted to protect me. She decided to stay behind to manage our holdings. That’s when I started calling myself Garrett Anderson.” He covered his eyes. “Mom told me not to worry, said she wouldn’t go wolfen so the hunter couldn’t get her.”
Lennox patted his chest in a soothing thrum. His Elle. His comfort. “I escaped to college. My uncle stayed on the run, coming to visit now and again.”
“I remember,” Lennox said.
“It worked for a long time. I got married. I graduated. We had Nox, I buried my wife, and what was left of my family settled down to help me raise our son. Then my mother slipped up and McNamara got her.”
He roared. The memory stabbed him in fractured shards. “My uncle and I had to do something. We refused to leave Nox with no sense of his heritage and no one to protect him from the hunter as he grew, so we came up with a plan. We moved into my mother’s home where we knew the hunter could easily find us.” A shudder shook him to the bones. “Every few days we set aside pints of our blood. Then on the chosen night we blood doped, transfusing ourselves to up our red blood cell count. It made us stronger.”
“I don’t understand,” Lennox said. Nox and Cash remained quiet. They’d heard the story before. He didn’t know why Gran remained silent.
“We wanted him to follow us out into the forest. My uncle had already called a sheriff he knew and we timed his arrival the best we could. We figured if we got shot with the extra red bloods cells in our systems we’d be juiced up enough to turn back into humans and heal. Then McNamara, that sadistic serial killer bastard, would be arrested for attempted murder.”
He scrubbed his hand over his thickening beard. He’d forgotten to shave that morning, the same as he’d forgotten his uncle had gotten old back then. “McNamara shot us both that night, me in the side, my uncle in the stomach. But we hadn’t anticipated how difficult it would be to change back after a gunshot wound. We both returned to human form but we struggled with it. I survived. My uncle didn’t.”
Lennox kissed his cheeks, his eyes, his forehead. His Elle. His anchor. “The sheriff and his men arrested McNamara. Our lawyer made the jury believe McNamara had a sick obsession with my family. That he’d systematically stalked and killed most of us. So many Westlakes had disappeared, never to be seen again.” It still hurt, so badly. “Then I testified about the night McNamara had killed my uncle while I watched and that he had nearly taken me out too. No defense attorney could get past my testimony or the pictures of my gunshot wound. The courts parked McNamara’s ass on death row. And I’ll be there whenever they decide to flip the switch.”
“Shh, Garrett.” Lennox’s lips fluttered over his. “That’s enough, my love. You don’t have to go on.”
Red lights painted the night in flashes. They’d arrived at the hospital. Inside they found Dillon and Ian. Paolo had gone into the OR for surgery. They’d all have to wait and hope. The waiting room chairs made cold comfort. Too many people had worried hours away in them. Too many tears had been shed into the upholstery.
“Dillon,” Gran said. “Lennox is going to need an IV and a bed.”
“What?” Lennox said. “Gran, I’m fine. My wounds are healed.
Gran’s expression made Garrett uneasy. “Get it done, Dillon,” she said. The doctor jumped to it. Gran tapped her granddaughter’s face. “That’s the adrenaline. You’re not fine. Maybe after a few days you will be.”
Lennox stood up to argue, wavered, then collapsed into Garrett’s arms. Out cold. He howled in pain and frustration. Ian’s howl echoed his own. Gran petted them both. “She’s fine, boys. Trust me,” she said.
Dillon returned with a team of nurses and a gurney. Garrett didn’t want to let Lennox go. It took Cash to break the hold he had on her. Then Garrett, Ian, Cash, and Nox watched as Dillon and the nurses wheeled Lennox away.
Gran eased herself into a chair. “I didn’t tell Lennox this because I wanted her to overcome her fear, but Tooth and Claw can’t claim an Averdeen woman. At least it never has. Believe me I’ve tried.”
“What are you talking about, Gran?” Ian inched closer to the elder Averdeen.
“My first husband tried to turn me. Didn’t work. Other women in our line tried Tooth and Claw before us. No change at all. We get terribly sick, sometimes we slip into a coma, but after a few days we wake up the same as before. Averdeen women. Not wolves.”
“That’s not possible,” Garrett said, taking a seat beside her.
“Oh, you impossible creature. How can you say that?” She sighed. “Averdeens, especially the women, have always been stronger and faster than everyone else. You’ve all seen it. That’s why female children keep the family name after marriage.”
“What are you?” Nox asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know how we came to be magical or what trick of heritage made us.” She patted her grandson’s head. “If there’s a reason for it, only our blood remembers.”
Nox smiled for the first time since the gunshot. He settled down beside Gran in her chair. The two lost themselves in their own world, whispering their secrets back and forth.
Cash blew out a harsh breath, rubbing his nape. He and Garrett exchanged glances but Garrett kept his own council. What he’d decided would upset his son. Probably Cash too. They’d get over it.
Now that Garrett knew Lennox wouldn’t need him to help her through the trauma of becoming a wolfen his guilt eased. He wished things had turned out differently for them. If they had, he’d gladly stay and, he didn’t know what, maybe try to be what she needed. But wolf packs were still wolf packs. They brought turmoil and danger. He didn’t want that life for Nox.
Garrett thought his chest would crack and splinter into pieces at the thought of not seeing Lennox every day. His Elle. His best friend. His… No, Nox’s wellbeing had to come before his happiness, before Lennox’s happiness. It couldn’t be any other way.
As soon as Paolo came safely out of surgery Garrett, Nox, and Cash would leave LuPines in their rearview. And he’d do his best never to look back.
She remembered reading that comas are a body’s way of either healing or protecting itself. Trapped within the mists of her own subconscious Lennox recognized the truth of the theory.
She floated within a cloud composed of dream, memory, and present. No part of her thoughts had substance. If she tried to grab a hold of a recollection or a voice it evaporated
.
Snatches of conversation drifted in and out. Jules fussed at her. Ian apologized. Dillon rattled off updates on her condition. Gran cooed. Jules cried. Gran cried. Nox sobbed. Garrett explained.
If they’d all just shut up, she could escape. She could stay within the mist where she’d be safe. If she could cover her ears, she would. No more. She didn’t want to know, didn’t want to hear what they had to say. Shut up, please. Just shut up.
Her body betrayed her. It healed too fast, brought her back to consciousness too soon. She pushed through the mist, eyelids fluttering. Gran yelled for Dillon as the first light of awakening blinded her. Lennox fought away the haze covering her vision. And everything she’d been told while she slept rushed to vivid life. She beat the mattress. She curled into a ball and shook. For the first time since she could remember, she cried. Sobs racked her body, tears soaked her sheets, and she cried more.
Why couldn’t she hold on to the men she loved? They all slipped away. Whether they chose to go or were forced, she lost them time and again. And after she lost she mourned.
Paolo had died in surgery. Garrett and Nox were gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
One Year Later
“Dad,” Nox said. “The invitation says the same thing it did the first three hundred times you read it. It’s been months. It’s not going to change just because you wear the ink off.”
Cash laughed from the opposite seat when Garrett curled his lip at Nox. He stuffed the invitation into his chest pocket. The thirteen—nearly fourteen—year-old version of his son had a death wish. Most days either his mouth or his behavior begged Garrett to put him out of his pubescent misery once an hour.
“Can we get out of the car?” Nox continued. “We’ve been sitting here for four hours. The driver probably has to pee. And I want to see my mom.”
“Get out, you little bastard,” Garrett gruffed. Nox made an I’m-out-of-here face, popped the door open and slid out. Garrett aided his son’s exit with a foot to the ass.
“Hey. Watch it, old man.” The teenaged alien dusted himself off. “I look good in this suit.” While Nox primped in the sedan’s blackout windows, Cash shook his head.
“Are you sure you don’t want to do something about this?” the newly named VP of Zephyr Studios asked.
Garrett inhaled long and slow. Of course he wanted to do something about it, but he’d been selfish for long enough. He waved his hands in crisscrosses in front of him. “It’s Lennox’s turn. I won’t stand in her way. Like I’ve always said: You’re born once, die once, and marry once—because you love only once.”
Cash flopped back onto the leather seat, exasperation clear in his expression. Nox poked his head inside. “How can that be true, Dad?” The teenage terrorist pounded on the roof of the car to punctuate each word. “How can you say that when you’re in love with Lennox?”
Garrett froze looking from Nox to Cash and back.
“Dude, you love her like whoa.” Nox slammed the door. The words, “I’m going in to see my godmom before she marries the wrong guy,” carried back to them from halfway across the lawn.
Thunderstruck. Only word for it. Garrett hadn’t thought about that possibility. Of course he loved Lennox, adored her. But was he…?
“Cash, am I in love with Lennox?”
A chuckle met his question. “I’m starting to feel the way Nox does,” Cash said. “Dude, are you an idiot?” The smile left his friend’s face as quickly as it came. “Think about it, Garrett. We could die at any time for any reason, in a pack or as loners. We could be killed with a family or without one. Death doesn’t hold back for circumstance.” A long pause. “Wouldn’t you rather live the life you have with the woman you love? Even if she’s the second woman you’ve loved. And, in the meantime, raise your son to be proud of everything he is?”
A warm gust blew into the car as Cash opened the opposite side door. When the door closed Garrett sat alone.
Maybe his fears truly were holding Nox back. He and Cash had taught his kid a lot over the last year, but it couldn’t replace growing up with friends the same age. Camaraderie meant something in a boy’s development. As a kid Garrett had friends and cousins to mess up and grow up with. So had Cash.
Garrett took a mental step back to ponder his relationship with Lennox, as well. Since he’d left LuPines he’d dedicated himself to making A Theft of Shadows. For the last thirteen months he’d driven himself relentlessly. Things had gone well. There’d been a request for an early screening at the Cannes Film Festival—where the closing credits ended with the dedication:
To Elle, who dreamed with me.
When reporters asked him about it he said his longtime dream drove him to complete the adaptation. Lies. He’d used the film as a means to forget caramel curls and haughty glares that dissolved into laughter. Now he remembered it all. How much it hurt when her wedding invitation arrived; how much he missed her; how hard it had been to leave her; the amazing sex; the first time he’d seen her again after thirteen years; their original separation; the day they met and he’d… Holy shit.
He leaped out of the car and made a run for the backyard. Averdeen Manor looked good after the rebuild. Garrett felt good about that. He’d done it for Lennox because he loved her. He had fallen for Lennox Anjali Averdeen.
The first refrain of the wedding march stopped him cold. Too late. Garrett walked up behind the proud groom on his left. Sheriff Stan stood on the right, ready to officiate, and guests dressed in pastels and creams filled the yard.
The sweet fragrance of peaches and brown sugar, the same scent he knew as intimately as his own overtook Garrett’s senses. Lennox appeared from the woods behind her house, as though the queen of fairies had decided to grace them with her presence. She glided more than walked down an aisle made of flower petals in shades of dark pink and warm orange. More flowers in the same colors adorned her hair. Her now much longer curls cascaded around her shoulders. A gorgeous bare décolletage gave way to white silk, cinched at the waist and flowing to the grass.
Too late. He’d figured it out too late.
Lennox looked incredible. More than that she shone with happiness. He’d have to let her go. Garrett lowered his gaze to protect himself from seeing the woman he’d finally realized he loved marry another man.
The music stopped. Garrett lifted his head to find Lennox frozen mid-step, halfway down the aisle, her eyes locked on him. Her lips trembled as she mouthed his name. “Garrett.”
He barely had the strength to stop himself from running to her, snatching her up, and carrying her away.
Ian turned on him. Disbelief, anger, and finally an expression Garrett had never seen his rival wear crossed the other man’s face. With a snarl Ian stalked over to Lennox.
Garrett started after him, unsure of what he might do. Having reached Lennox, Ian yanked her by the arm. She protested but Ian dragged her toward the alter anyway. Garrett intercepted them halfway.
“Wait,” Ian growled at Garrett. “Wait your turn.” He looked to Lennox, pulling her close, his expression softened. “Oh, sweetheart. I love you too much to break your heart by marrying you.” Ian’s look turned wistful. “I wish you loved me enough not to break mine.”
Ian kissed her softly, sweetly; she clutched her chest when he let her go. Garrett wondered how many of Ian’s bones he could break before the rest of the gathered pack attacked him.
Pressing his palm to the small of her back, Ian guided Lennox the few remaining steps to Garrett. They stood in a small triangle for a while. The anticipation almost killed Garrett. He’d heard what Ian said but had no idea what his rival planned to do.
The alpha of the LuPines pack growled low in his throat. Grabbing him by the cuff of his suit, Ian lifted Garrett’s hand and placed Lennox’s smaller one inside it.
“Take care of her, Wolfman.” Unshed tears filled Ian’s eyes. Gravel toned
his voice. “Take care of them all for me. Just for a while. You owe me that.”
Without another word Ian ran for the woods. He shredded his clothes as he moved until his wolf disappeared into the undergrowth. Some of the pack followed. Others seemed to ache for him but decided to leave him to his grief.
Lennox started to run after Ian. Garrett caught her around the waist. “If you don’t let him go now, he’ll never let you go.”
She shook free, fury darkening her face. “Why are you here?”
“You sent me an invitation.”
Her left eye twitched. “No. I didn’t. I wouldn’t.”
He didn’t have time to wonder who sent the invite and why. He had a woman to claim and a life to build. “What the hell did you think you were doing marrying Ian?”
She stared at him, incredulous. “You don’t have the right to ask me that.”
“Tell me anyway,” he growled.
“He’s always been there for me. He chose me. He stayed.” She poked herself in the chest. “I want a man who loves me. I want a life. And babies. Fat furry babies like Nox.”
“I’m not fat,” Nox yelled out from the front row.
“You were,” Lennox shouted back. “You were chubby and beautiful and perfect and I want three more just like you.”
Garrett let the moment take him. He forgot about philosophies, proprieties, doubts. “Marry me,” he said before his perpetual idiocy got the better of him.
Lennox tossed him the darkest glare he’d ever seen. “Drop dead.”
“You can’t be with Ian. He knows that. You’ll never belong to him as long as I’m around.”
Her bridal bouquet hit him square in the head. “Did you not hear me? Drop dead, Garrett.”
He winced, half blind and spitting out petals. While he sputtered, his Elle balled her fists and turned on her heel to storm off.
A burst of red exploded in her face. Lennox threw her arms up and Garrett leaped to protect her, before he realized the only danger Lennox faced came in the form of her finger-wagging, umbrella-wielding grandmother.