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“She is,” Lev agreed heartily. “But she’s become quite isolated. She stays with us, of course, but she doesn’t have many friends outside of us.”
“So she never mated?” Noah had to ask Lev again. He had to be sure.
“Never. And maybe, now that you’re back, you can go see her again. Clear things up.”
“I doubt she wants to see me.”
“She wants to see you. You can trust me on that.”
“Have you spoken to her about this?” Noah turned to Lev. The drink had been stronger than what he was used to, and the liquid burned on the way down his throat.
“I don’t need to speak to her about it. I’ve never had to. I just know.”
There was a sense of finality in Lev’s voice. But for some reason, Noah couldn’t believe that Becca would actually want to see him.
“She owns the ice cream shop in town. And since it is still the busy season, she’ll be there right now.”
He shouldn’t have told me where she is. I’ll never be able to resist now.
The bear was pacing again, having woken up at the sound of Becca’s name. It growled, and Lev smiled at the low rumble that sounded from Noah’s chest.
He downed the rest of his drink and then went inside. Lev didn’t follow him.
No one seemed to notice that Noah had set down his backpack and walked out the door. Or maybe Lev and Kiera had warned everyone to be quiet about the subject of Becca. He wouldn’t put it past them.
You really should have driven,Noah thought as he started walking down the long driveway. He broke into a brisk pace as he left the clan’s property and was practically running to get into town.
A dark, sparkly evening had fallen across the sky, and Noah had no doubt that Becca would be closing up shop soon. He had to see her. She was a major part of the reason he had come back. He couldn’t resist.
Becca. Becca. Becca.Her name pounded in his ears, falling in time with his feet against the ground. He probably wouldn’t approach her tonight. He’d just get a glimpse of her, and hopefully, that would be enough.
Until he got up the courage to actually speak to her, of course.
Noah had arrived in the middle of the town before he knew it. No one batted an eye at the large man just running down the street. When would he find the courage to speak to her?
He would have to. Becca would be furious with him. She had been furious with him just after he left. He could still remember the dozens of angry and heartbroken messages and voicemails she had left him.
He couldn’t tell her then that he had left town to keep everyone safe. He went away to ensure a war didn’t break out.
But that wouldn’t matter to her. All Becca knew was that he had left her.
TWO
BECCA
The sunlight filtered in through the frosted glass windows. For a second, Becca was suspended in time, frozen by the sunlight. The light created a glowing pool around her until she became unfrozen by the insistent five-year-old waiting for her ice cream.
The five-year-old’s mother paid and smiled at Becca, though the smile was wary. Maybe she had looked crazy or something.
The sunlight wasn’t fooling Becca, though. She knew it was near closing time. She could feel the dusky evening drawing closer and closer, and she was almost excited to step outside.
Usually, Becca would close up shop during the day and take a walk. But today had been so busy that she barely had time to breathe.
One of her two best friends, Sara, slipped into the store just as the five-year-old was learning to maneuver her ice cream cone. As the mother and daughter pair walked out of the store, Sara came behind the counter and leaned on it.
“Do you know why I’m here?” Sara asked Becca as soon as they were alone in the store.
Becca had known that Sara would show up sooner or later. She also knew exactly what the purpose of her visit was.
