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Chapter Three
Slamming on the brakes as a long, low and threatening howl rocked the cab of her truck, Macy cut the headlights, hit the locks, and took a deep breath. Counting to five as she slowly exhaled, the Vet reassured herself, “Could’ve been a Coyote, or a Momma Wolf lookin’ for her babies. Maybe it was one of the Sampson sisters out hunting a pup that wandered off. God knows that’s happened more than once.”
Another inhale. Another slow exhale.
“Or it could’ve been nothing at all. Maybe just the wind. Or my overactive, completely exhausted imagination. Hell, it could’ve been anything. I swear, I’m losing my mind, and I blame Jack Thorntree. Ever since he showed up – right outta the blue – I can’t think of anything else. Damn him. Strutting back into my worldlookin’ better than a man has a right to. My brain has been mush. My hormones are on overdrive twenty-four-seven. And I couldn’t buy a good night’s sleep with all the Rockefeller’s money.”
Huffing out an exasperated breath, she growled, “Damn that man. Why can’t he just pick up the phone and talk to me?” Another sigh, this one more of a snarl that she absolutely refused to acknowledge. Shaking her head, she mimicked her momma’s voice. “Because, Macy, he’sobviouslymoved on." Hitting the steering wheel with the heels of her hands, she growled, "Get a frikkin' clue, girl. No word. Not a second look. No fuckin' nuthin' for ten long years says it all. Just get a fuckin’ clue and do the same. Stop pining away like some lovesick teenager. Face facts. The man doesn’t want you.”
But she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, no amount of self-talk, new endeavors, or just plain old avoidance could change the cold, hard truth - Macy Jane Lindon loved Jack Thorntree something awful, and that was all there was to it.
No one else would do. It was the kinda love that had reached into her heart and soul, wrapped around every fiber, settled in, and refused to go away.
It grew with every beat of her heart. She didn't have to see Jack, hear his voice, or even get a whiff of smoky mesquite and warm desert to know he was near. That blasted Dragon was a part of her, and she had no choice.
“Oh, well, how about I find a new and exciting way to avoid that problem for the next fifty years or so?” Blowing out a long-suffering breath that raised the bangs off her forehead, she sarcastically cheered, "Hey, look! A whole new problem. I get to figure out what the Big Bad Wolf is doin’ out here in God’s country. Maybe that’ll stop me from heading over to the MacAllen’s, knockin’ on Jack’s door, and makin’ a big, ol’ fool outta myself.”
Turning her head as far left as it would go, Macy opened her eyes wide. Spanning the shadows, she looked for anything – other than the obvious, everyday crap that was constantly blowing in the south Texas wind – that could’ve rattled the windows of her truck.
“Windows, hell,” she contradicted her own thoughts. “It shook the damned molars in my head.”
Eyes staring out the windshield, she contemplated turning the spotlights on the roof of her cab to low. After all, she’d had them installed for situations just like what she was facing.
Reaching for the switch, her hand was left hovering midair when her racing mind came up with another, more daunting and scary thought. “But what if the animal – if it’s an animal at all – is hurt and needs my help? That big ass bright light will scare the poor thing. It’ll jump and try to scamper and just make matters worse. Then it'll be my fault that it's in pain.”
Tapping the tips of the fingers of her left hand on her chin as her right dropped to her knee, Macy slowly turned her head. Looking out the passenger’s side window, all she could think about was how very much she wished Jack Thorntree was in the seat beside her.
"No," she spat. "I am not a shrinking violet. Damn sure not a frikkin' damsel in distress. I do not need saving. I save myself. To hell with the whole Prince Charming BS. I’m just tired of being alone. I want the man I love to love me back. Is that too much to ask?”
Macy didn't want a protector or guardian. She wanted apartner.Someone who shared her hopes and dreams. A man who wanted to grow old with her and believed in the notion of loving each other more with every passing day.
She wanted Jack. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about him every day for the last ten years, or dreamed about when she’d see him again, or imagined what kissing him senseless after so many years apart would be like.
“And then you laid eyes on him. Drove right up to the MacAllen Ranch just as pretty as you please, ready to get some answers, andwham, bam, no thank you, ma’am. There he was.” Clenching her fist, she scrubbed the denim of her jeans with her knuckles. “Shit! I didn’t even know he was back, but there he was. And did the man so much as look my way?” Slowly shaking her head, she growled through gritted teeth, “No. No, he did not. The jerk acted like I didn’t even exist.”
Scoffing sarcastically, she admitted, "Damn, if that didn't hurt. Felt like that time the Marshall’s gelding kicked the legs right out from under me.”
Another huffed breath and more head shaking. “And, now here you are. All alone in the dark. Talking to yourself. Wishing the jerk was with you."
Once again, banging the heel of her hand on the steering wheel, Macy forced out the words she’d said so many times. “Just get over it, Girl. Put the hardheadedness you are so well known for to work and move the hell on. There are plenty more Dragons in the desert.”
Shaking her head and blowing out her hundredth sharp breath, Macy slammed her right hand alongside her left and gripped the wheel as tightly as she could. “How many times have you been told that hehadto leave? It was his job, for cripes’ sake. Did youhonestlythink he would come back and sweep you off your feet, Macy J? Did you think you’d live happily ever after? Come on, Dr. Lindon,” she snarled. “You’re a smart girl. Henevercalled. Not. One. Fuckin’. Time. A man that looks like Jack Thorntree doesnotsleep alone for long.” Pausing for a second, she exhaled slowly before softly whispering, "No matter what he promised or how many times he said he loved me, it's time to move on. Sometimes words really are just words."
Unconsciously rubbing the mark on the side of her neck - the one she'd told Roxy and Lou was a scar from the bite of a Cougar cub - a shiver ran down her spine, and her memories drifted ten years into the past. It was their last night together. The glittering stars in the cloudless sky looked like the world's most enormous Christmas tree.
Everything was absolutely perfect. Macy was so in love she was damned near walking on air. Jack looked good enough to eat, and she wanted to savor every bite for the rest of her life.
“I love you more than I ever knew possible,” he murmured, kissing across her jawline and down her neck."I'm sorry I have to leave, but it will only be for a few days. Boss called and…."
“Don’t worry about it,” she lied, not wanting him to know that he was taking a chunk of her heart and soul with him.
She needed to be strong – or at least act like it. She couldn't let Jack see how hard it was, how she was doing everything in her power not to break down and beg him to stay.
She had to be tough. Had to show him, just as much as herself, that she was an independent young woman who could take care of herself. It was time to reinforce all the conversations they'd had about him moving to College Station and taking care of her while she finished her degree. "I'll be fine. Lou and I have to get back to school, and Roxy will be happy to have me around more. God knows she's bored when there's no one to pick on."
Lifting his head and looking her right in the eye, Jack’s voice instantly sounded more Dragon than man. “You tell that sister of yours to go easy. Nobody messes with my Mate.”
“Mate,” she echoed the word, refusing to let the rest of the memory play out. She couldn’t bear to relive making love to the man she loved with all her heart for the last time, being bitten, and being marked as his very own as she screamed his name to the Heavens.
