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Chapter Two
I shoved Troy, and the jerk didn’t even have the decency to look as if he felt it. He hunched his shoulders forward and wouldn’t turn around.
We’d been walking across this depressing wasteland for hours, ever since waking, and herefusedto acknowledge me. No matter what happened, even when I tried to draw his attention—nothing.
As it turned out, I didn’t care for being ignored, which was funny given how little notice people normally took of me. Maybe that was why it bothered me so much. I’d spent my life being ignored, so how dare Troy—who I couldn’t get to leave me alone before—pretend as if I suddenly didn’t exist.
Especially all because of his own insecurity-driven hissy fit.
I leaned down and picked up a small rock from the path, then chucked it at the large target that was his back. I rather enjoyed the deep thud when it made contact.
He stilled and rolled his shoulders, as if centering himself. “Do you really think provoking a werewolf is a good idea?”
“You don’t scare me, and neither does your furry little friend.”
He turned slowly, and his eyes had that brightness to them that said he struggled with his control. It seemed that after his little run in with that shadow, he hadn’t fully recovered. Still, he didn’t meet my gaze directly. “Yousawwhat I really am.”
“And?”
“And I hurt you. I could have killed you. That should explain to even you why this was a horrible idea from the start.”
“Even me?”
He huffed softly. “You don’t make great choices when it comes to your well-being. You have to realize how dangerous I am now. It’s better for everyone if you keep your distance.” He turned to walk off, as if our conversation had ended.
Ithadn’t.
I grabbed his arm and yanked, but when I couldn’t turn him, I got in his path instead. “What if I don’twantto keep my distance?”
“Too bad. I have enough control for us both.”
I crossed my arms, standing toe to toe with him. If he thought I was afraid, he clearly didn’t know me at all. “That wasn’tyou. It was that shadow.”
“Maybe the shadow made me act that way, but if you hadn’t done whatever you did,Iwould have killed you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I’ve already lost one mate!” The words came out on aroar, one that shook the trees around us. Even if the others weren’t right next to us, no doubt they’d heard.
Anger didn’t make up all that bluster, though. I’d learned that anger was nothing more than fear dressed up all fancy.
He lowered his voice, sounding more defeated that he ever had. I’d annoyed him countless times as his neighbor, but he’d never looked lost before. “I lost one mate because I wasn’t strong enough, Ava. I lost her because I couldn’t protect her, and it nearly destroyed me. I can’t do that again, can’t lose another, especially not you.”
I cupped his cheeks, the stubble on them unusual for him. Then again, it wasn’t as if there’d been time or chance to shave in hell. I lifted his face until I could see his eyes, but he still didn’t look at me. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.”
I shook my head. “Whatever it is we’re chasing,thattried to kill me, not you. It wasn’t something you did—it was something done to you.”
“How can you even stand to touch me after you saw what I really am?”
“I don’t know—I kind of like your wolf. I always wanted a pet.”
Ah, that disapproving look he gave me was everything. It took me back to before things had become so complicated, back when I was his annoying neighbor, and he was the sexy silver fox next door.
Funny how quickly we’d moved past that, that we’d become closer and yet far more confusing. Then again, the more important something was, the more difficult it was to hold on to.
“I don’t like whatIam,” he admitted softly. “For a little while there, I thought I could control it, that maybe I could be whatever you needed, that something between could work. I’m older than I was with my last mate, so I’d thought…” He let out a long-drawn-out sigh before shaking his head. “That isn’t how life works, though. I don’t just become something because I want to be that. I have to be realistic and what happened was the wakeup call I needed. I could have killed you, Ava.”
