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“Ah, Rena,” he says, reaching out to snag one of my loose hairs, curling it around his finger. “That’s fitting, though I think Lost Girl might be better.”
He winks at me, and I can’t control myself anymore.
Reaching out, I move to bat his hand away, but I never make contact. Instead, his hand disappears, and he drops my hair as he literally vanishes right in front of my eyes.
Well, this isn’t normal. Maybe I fell and hit my head, and this is a dream.
I turn in place, looking around for any sign of him, but I see nothing.
“Oh, definitely not from here, Lost Girl,” he whispers from behind me. He’s so close I can feel his breath against my neck, but when I turn, I find nobody, nothing, just open space.
“How did you do that?” I question, trying and failing to keep the awe out of my words.
“Didn’t you say ‘fuck you’?” He chuckles. The insult sounds strange as he tries it out. “It would appear that might not be in your best interest right now, huh?”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” I snap, no longer enjoying this game.
“Magic.” He pops back into view right in my face with a smirk that lets me know just how much he’s enjoying this. His sudden appearance startles me, and this time I step back before I can stop myself. His smirk melts off his face as I stumble, and instead of watching me fall again, he reaches out, gripping my arm and pulling me back toward him.
It’s a nice gesture, except for the fact that he’s freakishly strong. Instead of keeping me on my feet, he pulls me right into his chest. The air leaves my lungs with a whoosh as I slam into him. I honestly think hitting the ground might have been softer.
Neither of us move for a moment, and with my face pressed against his chest, I hear the steady beat of his heart. It’s almost soothing in a weird way until I hear the rumble that begins to build. His grip on my arm tightens as he pushes me away, back into my own space, before he drops his hold on me.
“What kind of magic?” I press, shrugging off his strange behavior in favor of trying to get some answers.
His lips pull down a bit, but before he can answer or I can continue to press him, a high-pitched whine sounds in the distance, and his eyes harden—all signs of playfulness and fun shatter, my question is forgotten.
“Let’s go. It’s not much farther,” he says, nodding back toward the direction we had been going before. He doesn’t give me a chance to answer, turning and leading the way again. I don’t argue as I fall back into a light jog to keep up.
Whatever that was, has him on edge, and I don’t have to know him any more than I already do to know that means I want no part of it. Even more so now that I can’t seem to find any connection to my beast. Shadow Man might be confident in his ability to handle himself, but I can’t say I share that confidence right now. No, right now, I’m even more prey than I was as a rabbit shifter. Right now, I’m no more than a clumsy sitting duck.
The need to stay busy rides me hard as I review the paperwork our city requires us to fill out to be a pack. I’ve looked at it so many times over the last few years that I know most of it by heart at this point, but I need something to keep me occupied—something to keep me from heading down the hall to Serena, where I know she’s studying in the little library we built for her.
Fuck.
The mere thought of her shatters my concentration, and I lose my place reading the fine print… again.
Frustrated, I toss the stack of papers across my desk. It’s not enough, though; I want to shred them to pieces, destroy the room, and maybe even the house. My anger and frustration build to the point of bubbling over, and it’s not often that I get like this, but when it does happen, it’s never good.
What I really want to do is go back to Pike’s parents’ house and tear his father apart, and not just verbally.
Physically.
I want to tear him limb from limb for the way he talked about Serena, the way he’s treated her for years. Serena is ours, mine, and nobody gets to disrespect her like that.
Unfortunately, that’s not an option. It’s not what she would want, and no matter how mad Pike might be with them, I doubt he would love it if I were to murder them.
With a deep breath, I count backward from ten, desperately looking for some sense of calm. I reach one and still feel no better, so I try again.
I try three times before I give up, slamming my fists down on my desk. A snarl builds in my chest as my beast presses to the surface, just as angry as I am with all of this, maybe even more so. I swallow the sound, pushing my beast down and snatching up the stack of papers once again.
As much as I might want to let my beast out, let him take the reins, and wreak havoc on whoever he sees fit, I know better. It won’t help anything. Hell, I’m sure someone would find a way to blame it on Serena, and I won’t let that happen.
Not to mention, I wouldn’t make it far. I’m shocked she hasn’t heard my little temper tantrum and came down here to yell at me as it is. Not that I would mind right now; she would be a welcome distraction. Plus, if she came to me, I wouldn’t be the one seeking her out.
I toy with the thought of letting my anger out enough to bring her down here before I push it aside. As appealing as that sounds, I have things to do—things that, with any luck, might actually help us. With that in mind, I return to the paperwork, find my spot, and start searching for packs without mating bonds.
It’s unheard of, which is probably why I’ve never found anything useful. Regardless, I have to try, though, now more than ever. Pike needs a way to sustain a pack outside of his parents, or there will be consequences, and something tells me he’d rather face them than go back to them right now.
