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“I’m not sure what Aves is up to, but Lo and Sloane are in IT, and I can’t take you there for obvious reasons,” he murmurs in reply. “Can’t compromise security, I’m sure you understand.”
“Yeah, for sure,” I mumble, keeping my tone and expression neutral.
At least he provided confirmation that she’s alright. Lo is probably just buried in work- she’s told me how she has a tendency to get lost in a project from time to time. And with as much as we’ve been seeing of one another, maybe she’s just fallen behind.
“We’re getting the council together at the end of the week for the vote, though,” Madd continues. “So I might have good news for you soon.”
I force a smile to my lips, nodding. “Hey, that’d be great. I’d be happy to meet the others, speak on behalf of my pack. Whatever might help sway them.”
He nods stoically, probably wondering why I’m not more excited about his update. Hell, I’m wondering the same thing. Wasn’t this what I wanted? To entrench myself in their inner circle, to gain their trust and confidence so they’d grant my pack a place here?
Instead, I’m just thinking about Lo, hating that we’re under the same roof right now and I can’t even see her.
Madd steps past me to head for the door to exit the gym, and after saying my goodbyes to the others, I follow him out. We don’t run into Lo on our way out of the squad complex, though, and when he dumps me off at the gate and points me to the parking lot again, I can’t shake the sinking feeling of disappointment as I trudge toward my truck.
I’ve almost reached it when my skin suddenly prickles with the awareness of someone else’s presence nearby. I immediatelyfocus in on my heightened senses, courtesy of my tracker genes- sight, scent, sound- but no one else is in view, and the direction of the breeze isn’t carrying any distinctive smells to me from up ahead. I dohearsomething, though. Just barely, I can make out the sound of someone breathing.
My pulse picks up speed and I hustle faster across the parking lot toward my truck.
What are the chances that Lo’s hiding out by it again, waiting for me?
But when I eagerly round the front of the truck to go to the drivers’ side, I’m surprised to find a different blonde standing there, leaning a hip against my door.
Avery.
I grind to a halt at the sight of her, blurting out a startled, “Hey.”
Her gaze lifts to meet mine, and when I register the angry scowl on her face, my confusion only multiplies.
“I don’t know what you did, but you need to fix it,” Avery snaps.
My brow furrows, eyes narrowing on her in question. “Fix what?”
She pushes off from the side of my truck with an exaggerated eyeroll, stepping closer to me. “I know…” she leans in, dropping her voice low, “I know about you and Lo, okay? And whatever you did to hurt her, you’d better un-do it.”
I flinch back in surprise, shaking my head. “I didn’t do anything…”
“Don’t play dumb,” Avery fires back, cutting me off. “The only thing stopping me from shifting to my wolf and ripping your dick off right now is the fact that my friend cares about you. For her sake, I’m giving you a chance to do the right thing.”
“Dowhat?” I whisper-shout, now thoroughly confused and a little rattled. “The last time I saw her, everything was fine! What did she say?”
“She didn’tsayanything, but I caught her crying this morning, so you obviously fucked up somehow,” Avery mutters, stepping closer and stabbing a finger into my chest. “Fix. It.Or so help me, I’ll make good on my threat. You don’t want to fuck with me or my friends, Javi. I guarantee you’ll regret it.”
From the venom in her tone, I have no doubt. Though that still doesn’t answer the question ofwhyshe thinks I’ve upset Lo. My heart beats a riot in my chest as my brain scrambles to catch up to this wild turn of events.
“Well can you call her? Tell her to come out here?” I ask, trying not to sound half as desperate as I feel right now. “I can’t fix it if I don’t even know what I did!” I add, throwing up my hands in exasperation.
“I’m not gonna ambush her like that,” Avery scoffs. “Clean up your own damn mess.”
“How can I do that if she won’t answer her phone? I don’t suppose you’ll let me go back into the complex and look for her?”
At this point, I’m unable to keep the bite out of my tone, and Avery hits me with a glare in response, shaking her head and folding her arms tightly over her chest.
“Not a chance,” she grumbles. “But if you can’t figure things out with her, then don’t bother coming back here.”
Avery abruptly turns on a heel and struts away, leaving me absolutely fucking reeling with bewilderment.
I shove my hand into my duffel and dig around for my phone, pulling it out and hitting dial on Lo’s contact. It rings and rings, but just like before, there’s no goddamn answer.
