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“Just be careful, okay?” Marcus said, his voice laced with concern. “If shit doesn’t feel right, get your cute ass out of there.”
Brooklyn tried to reassure his friend with a smile, but he knew that he wasn’t feeling very reassured himself. He didn’t know what to expect, and the fear of the unknown was frazzling his nerves.
After Marcus left him alone, Brooklyn tried to doze off to sleep, but as hard as he tried, he tossed and turned with images of Kieran playing on a loop in his head. “This is exactly what you get for sleeping with a stranger.”
It had to be some kind of payback for sleeping with a guy on the heels of his break-up. Even if he and Blaine hadn’t slept together for months—why would Blaine be interested in Brooklyn when he was sleeping with everyone in town?—and Brooklyn had been horny.
That was the truth. Sure, he’d offered to have sex with Kieran to forget Blaine, but Brooklyn also had a lot of pent-up sexual frustrations that Kieran helped him alleviate.
He looked at his palm. “But at what cost?”
This was so typical of his life. Just when he thought things would get better, bam, he was slapped right back to reality. This wasn’t the first time in his life things had gone to hell, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Unable to sleep, Brooklyn got up and went to the kitchen for something to drink. He brewed himself a cup of hot tea and headed out back to Marcus’s patio. Settling onto a chair, he glanced at the night sky with its countless stars that glittered in the darkness.
All he could do was hope that Kieran would be at the club tomorrow night. If the guy wasn’t, Brooklyn wasn’t sure what he would do. The mark didn’t seem to be going anywhere, and it was driving him crazy not knowing what it meant.
So deep in thought, Brooklyn jumped when his phone chirped. He looked down at the screen and saw he had a text message. Curious, he opened it and groaned when he saw it was from Blaine.
I hope you’re done throwing your tantrum and are ready to come home. This is ridiculous. Stop acting so childish.
“Way to win someone back, asshole.” Brooklyn started to type out a response but stopped himself. Giving Blaine a piece of his mind would do him no good. His ex was so self-absorbed that anything Brooklyn said would be turned back on him.
Blaine had always been good at that. Deflection. Whenever he was confronted with rumors of cheating, he would somehow twist things around to make it seem as if Brooklyn was in the wrong. Or, if he couldn’t twist shit, Blaine would dismiss the accusations, saying people were just jealous because they wanted to be with him.
Now that Brooklyn was able to get away and think about things—without Blaine all in his face—he wondered why on earth he’d stayed with the guy for so long. He recalled their arguments, Blaine’s selfishness, and all the times he had put Blaine first. There had never been anything good about Blaine.
Not a single redeeming quality.
Brooklyn shook his head, trying to refocus his thoughts. He couldn’t go down that road again. He had to stay focused on finding Kieran and getting some answers about the marking on his hand.
He forced himself to put his phone away and take a deep breath. He wasn’t going to let Blaine ruin his night—not again. He closed his eyes and let the sound of the crickets chirping in the bushes soothe him.
That was when he heard it. A rustling noise from the other side of the shrubs. Brooklyn’s heart started pounding as he stood up and crept toward the sound, trying to be as quiet as possible.
As he peered over the hedge, Brooklyn saw a dark shape moving stealthily in the shadows. He couldn’t make out much detail, but the shadow almost looked like an oversized dog. The animal’s head swiveled around, and they locked gazes.
Brooklyn’s blood ran cold as he realized that the animal wasn’t just a regular dog. It was a wolf. A massive, dark wolf with green eyes that seemed to pierce straight through him.
He stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and falling on his butt. The wolf didn’t move, just continued to stare at him through the branches with an intensity that made his heart race.
“Holy shit,” Brooklyn muttered, scrambling to get back to his feet. He knew he should run, but his legs felt like they were made of lead.
The wolf took a step forward, and Brooklyn finally found the courage to haul ass. He didn’t stop until he was safely inside the house, panting and sweating. Since when were there wolves in the city? Was it someone’s lost pet?
Swallowing hard, Brooklyn looked out the door. The wolf was still there. It had moved farther into the yard. It just stood there, staring right at him.
Brooklyn’s hands shook as he clenched them into fists. This had to be a dream. He had to be hallucinating or something. There was no way a wolf could be staring at him from Marcus’s backyard.
But as the wolf stared at him, Brooklyn knew this was no dream. The animal was real. Its fur was dark and shiny, and its eyes glinted in the moonlight. It was a sight to behold, both majestic and terrifying at the same time.
Brooklyn took a step back, feeling his fear like a physical weight on his chest. He had never been so close to a wild animal before. He had no idea what to do or how to react.
His mind raced as he tried to figure it out. His heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it in his throat. He knew he had to do something before the wolf got any closer. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves.
Then he reached for his phone to call animal control, only to realize he’d dropped it on the grass. Brooklyn stared in horror as the wolf sniffed at the phone, then licked it.
Shit. Brooklyn needed his phone for work. He had too many phone numbers, client numbers, and he couldn’t let the wolf either take off with it or bite down and destroy it.
