by Ripley, Meg
The police had already come and gone, and Glacier Bay’s wolf clan’s Search and Rescue team had been deployed, but they wanted all shifters to be familiar with the scents around the scene so there’d be that many more noses to sniff out the cause of the disappearance. I picked up on the scent of at least one female. Possibly two.
Just one missing? I asked.
Yes, he confirmed.
Either someone else had been out there with the MP or it was a coincidence and someone unrelated had been in the area as well. We weren’t too far from the area tourists visited the most, Bartlett Cove. A hiking trail ran just a half mile from us, and the camping area wasn’t too far away. Only adventurous hikers would wander out much further from the set trails to where we were.
Are you picking up on two? I asked Cooper. Two females?
I only smell one.
The other had been fainter. Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe I was so out of my mind with the Kylie thing that I couldn’t concentrate. I felt like a live wire was running through my veins instead of blood. It had been a perfect night, even if I’d messed it all up and made a huge mistake.
I tried to focus, remembering that we were facing a major issue. I took note of what I thought was the second scent just in case something came of it. But after I went back and sniffed again, it was much more faint than the newer smell. Those two people hadn’t been there at the same time.
When we had gathered any evidence we could find and completed our task for the time being, I stopped. Can we shift back for a minute? I asked.
Instead of answering, Cooper shifted. I followed his lead and we did the awkward naked stance where we tried to cover ourselves, sort of.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about,” I started. “It’s been going on for a while now, and I think it’s time to bring it up.”
Cooper took in a breath and narrowed his eyes. “Okay…”
“I…” Dammit, there was no better way to say it than to just spit it out. “Cooper, I’m in love with Kylie. I have been for a while. When she was in that accident, it terrified me. I thought I was going to lose her, and I couldn’t stand it. I realize now that she’s the one for me. I… I think she’s my mate.”
Cooper shook his head, then laughed. “Kylie? Your mate? You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all. This is the most serious I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
“Exactly. Because you’re not serious, Jace. You screw everything that will let you.”
I glared at him and gritted my teeth. “I know what it seems like, but it’s not like that.”
“You are not going to date my sister. Is that even what you’re asking? To date my sister? Because there’s no way. I’ve seen what you do with women. What’s your longest relationship anyway, Jace?”
I answered proudly, “Six months.”
“With the exchange student that was back home for four of those six months?”
I let a low growl rumble in my chest. “It’s not what you think. There’s a reason I do that.”
“It doesn’t matter why; you’re nothing but a player. I’m sorry if you’ve fucked your way through all the women up here or have gotten lazy. Whatever your reason for going after Kylie is, the answer is no. Don’t take this beyond friendship, emotionally or physically. And that’s an order. You hear me?”
It was too late for both. I swallowed hard, hoping he couldn’t see the guilt on my face.
His eyes grew full of rage. “Wait. Did you sleep with my little sister?” He was in my face, gritting his teeth.
How could I answer that? “Look, man, I made a huge mistake, but it sounds worse than it is. Just let me—”
Cooper appeared to have torn his own chest open as he exploded back into his bear form. He took off running before his paws even touched the ground.
Great. That went well. I would have to convince Cooper I was being truthful before I could even think of telling Kylie.
I wasn’t thrilled about Cooper being a dick about the whole thing, but he’d have to settle down eventually. I decided to walk in human form for a while. Let Cooper bear it out and get home, talk to the clan or whomever he was going to discuss it with. Would he tell anyone?
The afternoon sun was bright in my eyes as I walked. We’d run to a part of the park where the forest floor was still coated in ice. My footsteps made a sharp crunching sound as I walked and took in the way the sunlight reflected off the bits of frost and shone through the pine needles.
I laughed at myself. Appreciating the sunlight and sounds of nature was not something I normally did. It must have been Kylie; there was no other explanation for it. I was in love, and my inner bear let out a low purr in satisfaction. It felt amazing. I just needed a way to get Cooper to be okay with everything and figure out how to talk to Kylie about it. I wanted to make it special. Almost like a proposal would be. Something that grand.
I had some time to think and plan. I’d need to wait at least a day or so until Cooper calmed down. I’d talk to him the following day and try to smooth it all out, maybe even run my plan by him when I had one. He’d see that Kylie and I were perfect together—as long as she had some sort of feelings for me in return, that is.
But the kiss—and everything that came with it—was enough evidence for me.
5
Jace
The more I thought about Cooper’s reaction in the woods, the more pissed I became.
Metal slammed together, creating a deafening ringing in my ears as my barbell clanked against the bench press. I pushed myself harder through my anger, attacking my punching bag next. I wanted my knuckles to bleed with the action of repeated punches, to focus the pain there instead.
When I finished my set, I glanced at my phone while sucking down water. Kylie had called, and the sight of her name hit my gut like a punch. How could I talk to her now? With my anger so raw over Cooper? With my mind so worked up about us sleeping together? I knew she wanted to talk about it. What woman wouldn’t? I hated to avoid her, but I’d have to make up an excuse and text her later. I had to get things settled with Cooper first.
I picked up my hand weights and crushed a set of biceps curls, but my anger built instead of waned. I shouldn’t have worried about Cooper; that was a courtesy step. I didn’t even need to have told him to begin with. My justification circled around my mind, growing hotter with each pass, and I set down my weights. Making that call could not wait. I snatched my phone up and called Cooper. My rant played through my head, and when his voicemail came on, I let it fly.
“You know, man, you don’t even have the right to be mad, okay? I came to you and told you—first—as a courtesy because of our friendship. I know what my past looks like, but it’s not what you think. I would never hurt Kylie. I’ve loved her for years. Just… don’t be such a dick about it all. Let us be happy together and see that we’re perfect for each other. But I’ll tell you what, I’m going to be with her, regardless of what you think. I’m not going to let you and your possessiveness mess up a good thing for us.”
I hung up and realized that yelling at him was probably not the way to go. If I wasn’t careful, I’d lose them both. Maybe I’d even get booted from the clan. It needed to be handled just right. But the deed was done. I considered calling back and leaving another voicemail, but it would’ve probably only been throwing fuel on the fire at that point.
I went back to my weights and my tangled thoughts. I’d been in so many relationships over the years, and every single one of them was meaningless—though, I guess I hadn’t been in that many relationships as much as “situations.” One or two-night stands weren’t exactly considered as relationships to most people. It wasn’t until later, as an adult looking back, that I realized the reason I never wanted to be nailed down to anyone was because of Kylie. I wanted to be free in case things fell into place where something could happen with her.
And at the rare times when I would get into a relationship, the motives were all wrong, either wanting to
make Kylie jealous and have her come running to me, or to have convenient sex. Hell, even my playboy reputation came as a result of wanting Kylie. I bounced from woman to woman because no one ever measured up to her. I’d searched for years to find someone who came even close, and I never found that person. The moment I knew she wasn’t hitting Kylie level, I let her go. No point keeping a lady waiting for something that was never going to happen. My seemingly playboy ways were years of me trying to find a Kylie clone. And my grand scheme hadn’t worked.
But now, without a doubt, I knew why. There was no substitute. I loved her, the one and only Kylie Hurst. There was no doppelganger, no person I could pretend was her. And there was little reason to pretend any longer, or so I had hoped. She kissed me back. She slept with me. And she was still talking to me, calling me. She had to feel something for me. That, at least, didn’t seem to have been ruined. But my friendship with Cooper, on the other hand, who knew where that would lead.
The only thing I could do was find a way to convince Cooper that my intentions were pure. He had little reason to trust me, given my history with women, but I knew the truth. Now, I just needed him to see it.
I figured that time would help, too. He would see that I wasn’t going to toss her aside, that I wasn’t going to use her and move on. But I’d waited for her for so long—even for the mere possibility of being with Kylie. Now that I had the chance to finally make her mine, I didn’t want the drama of fighting with Cooper or hiding our relationship from him to overshadow our happiness. I didn’t think I could hide it anyway; it wasn’t in my nature. I’d be with whomever I wanted to be with and didn’t care who said what about it. I didn’t want to lose Cooper as a friend, but even more so, now that she was so close to being mine, I didn’t want to lose Kylie.
In the end, it might take little more than Kylie talking to him. Surely, his sister could get through to him and make him see. I’d admit my fault for sleeping with her too soon and sneaking out. But I wasn’t going to be ashamed of the fact that I loved her and wanted to be with her.
6
Kylie
I moaned and rolled onto my side, but it didn’t help ease the pain. I’d been trying to do without my pain pills. I knew I’d never get cleared to return to my regular work as long as I was on opioids, so I didn’t get my prescription refilled when it ran out. I’d been doing fine. Until then.
I didn’t want to admit how difficult the day had been on me. With rushing around in the morning and forgetting my lunch, with sitting all day but also not being able to get up much. My leg was aching, and I needed my prescription refilled. The problem was, I was in too much pain to get in the car and drive to get it.
I called Jace first. He was always great for that sort of thing. I could always count on him to help me. But he didn’t answer. I sent a text:
Please call ASAP.
Even in response to that, nothing. I called for the third time and left a message explaining what I needed. He probably thought I wanted to talk. Normally, I might have, but I was in no position for serious conversation at the moment.
When Jace didn’t return my calls or texts and I saw that the time was getting late, I called Cooper.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted when he answered.
“Why?”
I sighed. “I’m trying to give the newlyweds some time to themselves.” I couldn’t hide my groan.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need my prescription from the pharmacy, but I’m in too much pain to get it.”
“Which pharmacy? I’ll go right now.”
“Are you sure? Is Alexis okay with that?”
“Kylie,” he said. “Of course, she’s okay with it. You’re my sister.”
“And she’s your wife.”
“And you’re her sister-in-law. She likes having you around, you know. She misses her sister terribly. She likes spending time with you.”
“That’s nice to hear.” I’d never really thought she liked me much for some reason. Maybe I was seeing things wrong.
“I’ll be right there. Do you need anything else?”
“No, but thank you. Tell Alexis I said ‘hi.’”
In order to distract myself until he could get there, I thought about time. What time the call ended, how long it would take him to walk out to his car, to drive to the pharmacy, to wait in line. I visualized the whole thing, and I was pretty impressed when there was a knock at my door just about the time I’d pictured Cooper turning onto my street.
“Come in!” I called from the living room.
The door closed. Footsteps.
“Hey, sorry.”
“Jace?” I pushed up on my elbows to see over the couch. “Oh. Hi.”
“Hi. Were you not expecting me?”
“You didn’t call me back or text. I didn’t think you got my messages.”
“I did.” He opened the pharmacy bag and set the bottle in front of me. Then he set an iced coffee—toasted almond, my favorite flavor—beside it.
“Thank you, thank you.” I grabbed my phone to text Cooper, but I knew it was probably too late. Unless my earlier visualization was way off, he’d be walking in the door at any moment.
I swallowed a pill and took a long sip of the drink. I just had to wait for it to kick in.
“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” I asked. “Or my texts?”
He looked at me, then his gaze cut to the left, toward the door. I heard it open and the sound of footfalls followed. I hadn’t even texted Cooper yet.
“Hey, Coop!” I called out.
He walked into sight and looked flustered, red-faced with his hair tousled. “What the heck, Ky? I went over there and they said the prescription wasn’t there. You didn’t answer your phone, either. And this asshole is here?” He gestured toward Jace and glared at him.
What the hell? I wondered what was behind that stare of his.
I looked at them both. They were glaring at each other.
“Why are you even here?” Cooper demanded. “She’s my sister and I’ll take care of her.”
“Obviously.” Jace crossed his arms. “That’s why you were the one who brought her prescription.”
“I got there like two seconds after you did.”
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” I interjected. “What’s the deal with you two?”
Jace’s expression looked more like a warning. I didn’t understand any of it.
Jace got to his feet. He walked to me, bent to kiss my head, and let his hand rest on my shoulder as he said, “Call me or text if you need anything. I’ll have my phone by my side all night.”
“Thanks for everything,” I said.
He winked and bumped into Cooper’s shoulder hard on his way to the door. The door closed and Cooper punched his fist into his hand.
“Since when are you and Jace fighting?” I asked.
“I’m so sick of his crap.”
I laid my head back on the couch. The pill wasn’t kicking in yet, and I found it difficult to keep up with what he was saying.
“The way he treats women,” Cooper went on.
My stomach tightened. Did he know?
“The other day,” Cooper continued, “he tried to tell me that he’s in love. And also that he made a huge mistake the night of my wedding.”
“A mistake?”
“As usual, he can’t keep his dick in his pants.” He gritted his teeth and glared at the wall.
My stomach dropped. Jace was in love? Who was this woman? And now he was saying that sleeping with me was a huge mistake and not only that, but he cheated on her with me? How could this be possible?
“He’s always been a player, Ky. You know that.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. But I never thought he would drag me into his revolving door of women. I’d stupidly assumed that I was different. I was the one he grew up with, who he was close to. I was supposed to be the one he ended up with.
“You feeling any better?” he asked.
“I am.
Finally. The pill is starting to kick in a little.” But my heart felt so much worse. Whatever I’d been hoping for with Jace had vanished in an instant. Not only was he with someone else, he was in love with someone else. Maybe he’d even get married. Have kids with her. I choked on my tears and looked away.
Jace had made me the other woman, and I felt sickened by it. I would never have willingly entered that position. He knew that and conveniently didn’t tell me about his true love, this wonderful woman who came to take his heart from me. But no. I never had his heart, did I? And now he’d forced me into this dark place in his life; this secret, shameful thing he’d done. This huge mistake. He’d never look at me the same again. And I could never face this new woman.
7
Kylie
The next day, I packed my pills to take to work. I hated to do it, but Jace had been right. What was the point in not taking them to keep a clear head if I was in too much pain to think straight? I made sure I had my lunch and left in plenty of time.
I’d barely been there five minutes when Jace walked in.
“Hey,” he said.
I didn’t look away from my paperwork.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay after last night,” he went on.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not in any pain today?”
“I’m said I’m fine, okay?” I snapped. “You don’t have to stop in here to check on me.”
“Um, okay?” He gave me a hurt and confused look. “What’s with the harshness?”
“I’m not being harsh, I’m just busy. Everyone’s constantly asking me how I am. I’m fine,” I seethed. “I don’t know why people can’t accept that.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to show my concern and see if you needed anything. That’s all.”