Archer didn’t manage to get the words out before the sound of the front door opening interrupted whatever it was, he was trying to say. Seb exploded through the door carrying what looked like a dozen bags before he yelled “Honey, I’m home!” in a sing song voice. Jen followed closely behind him, and Lara couldn’t mistake her eye roll as she closed the door behind her.
Chapter 22
Fucking Seb Archer thought as he stood on the front porch, leaning on the rails on his elbows and stared at his hands out in front of him. Seb had ruined the perfect moment to explain to Lara who his father was and now, he was waiting for Lara to get changed into her new clothes before taking her back to her home. Brunsville was an hour’s drive away so he knew there would be plenty of opportunity to tell her during the car ride, but first he had a surprise for her.
He rubbed his sweaty palms together before standing up and wiping them on his jeans. Why am I nervous? Archer had prepared a small surprise for her that he desperately hoped she’d like. He wanted to make her happy, he wanted to show her that he cared and deep down, he wanted her as his mate. He just wasn’t sure if she’d want him back.
The front door opened, and Lara stepped out on to the porch. Archer turned and his eyes widened as he took in the image of perfection in front of him. Lara was gorgeous. Jen had done well choosing clothes for her. She was wearing a long black dress and a denim jacket; the dress was slightly low cut which gave Archer a preview of cleavage that he secretly wished he could see more of. Lara’s dark hair was hanging loose past her shoulders and Archer wished he could run his hand through it. As if Lara could hear his thoughts, her cheeks flushed red for an instant before she tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled shyly. “So, what do you think?”
“I know I’ve already said this before, but you really are so beautiful.” Archer replied honestly
“I bet you say that to all the girls” Lara huffed a laugh. Archer knew the self-deprecating way she spoke meant that she lacked confidence. She really didn’t know how beautiful she was. He’d had his fair share of women over the years and none of them came close to Lara’s natural beauty. These women were mostly just after a good time and he got his needs met, he was never serious about any of them. Not like this.
Lara’s smile dropped and she looked lost in thought for a moment “Actually, how many girls have you said that to?” Archer’s stomach dropped to the floor. He had watched enough TV shows to know he had to tread lightly in answering this question.
“Lara –“ He began
“-No, you know what, it’s none of my business. Let’s just forget I said anything” She smiled at him, but Archer could see the strain on that forced smile.
Archer opened his mouth to say something, although he didn’t know what, when Lara took a few steps towards the porch stairs “I’ve already said bye to the others, so I guess I’m ready when you are” Lara said before turning and walking down the stairs, towards his jeep.
Archer swallowed hard. Well, that didn’t go as planned. He felt so confused by Lara, he was receiving mixed messages and he didn’t know how to read them. He was starting to realise that under that brave, hard, beautiful shell of hers there was a vulnerable girl who lacked confidence and refused to let anyone get close to her for fear of getting hurt. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her that she could be vulnerable around him, that he would take care of her but how could he tell her that when she kept putting up walls like this? He just hoped the small surprise he had was enough to put a smile on her face.
He quickly ran to catch up to her and made it to the passenger side door of his car before she could get to it “Ladies first” he said with a smile as he opened it for her, to his surprise, she smiled back at him before she climbed in.
He rushed around to the driver’s side and as he sat in his seat, he heard Lara squeak before she asked, “Are those Original glazed Krispy Kreme’s?” Archer turned and saw her peering over the console into the backseat where a box of half a dozen of Lara’s favourite donuts sat.
“Sure are” he said with a smile as he put the car into gear and drove out the long driveway, “I had Seb and Jen pick some up for us when they went into town this morning”. He glanced a look at Lara before continuing “I thought we’d have that non-date I promised you when we were in the shifter prison, before I take you back to Brunsville” He swallowed hard at the thought of taking Lara home and the possibility of never seeing her again, but he had to push those thoughts aside. Right now, he wanted to enjoy spending some time with her and forget about everything else.
“Non-Date huh?” Lara asked, looking up at him from the passenger seat
“I seem to remember you specifically saying that it wouldn’t be a date, friends only” Archer couldn’t help the playful smile that had crept onto his lips as he lifted one eyebrow at her, challenging her. He secretly hoped she took back the ‘friends only’ part.
“Friends only” She said distractedly as she looked at her hands in her lap. Archer felt a pang of rejection, he wasn’t sure if she was just repeating him or if she was confirming their status but either way, it hurt.
They sat in complete silence for a few minutes before Archer pulled off onto a dirt road that led to his favourite place. The place where he used to go to clear his head. Back when he felt more human than animal, before his lion became uncontrollable and he was forced to shift each night after his stint at the fight club. The dirt road suddenly led into a small clearing that sat neatly tucked away on the edge of a large ravine that seemed to run the entire length of the forest. Archer pulled close enough to the edge to see the view but far enough to make sure Lara felt safe. He put the car in park and looked over to her. Her eyes were wide as she looked out the front window.
“It’s beautiful” she said on a breath, awestricken.
“It is” he said before looking out to the scenic view “I used to come here to clear my head. It’s so peaceful and quiet up here, it’s makes you forget everything, you know?”
Her eyes met his for a moment before she looked back out at the view “Yeah, I know. There’s a lot that I’d like to forget right about now”
“Hey” Archer instinctively curled his fingers under her chin and lifted her face, leaving her with no choice but to meet his gaze again “I’ll always be here for you. I want to be here for you, Lara. You need to know that.”
Lara’s eyes were tearful, he released her chin and wiped away the rogue tear that had run down her cheek. She sat back and wiped the back of her hand against her eyes. “Sorry, it’s just it feels like a long time since anyone has been there for me”
Archer was longing to pull her on to his lap and wrap her up in his arms. He wanted to comfort her, to take away those tears and make sure she never had a reason to cry, ever again. Friends only, her words circled in his mind like a non-stop spinning wheel. He needed to respect her wishes to have space, to piece her life together and to be friends only.
“Lara, I will always be here. You may be in Brunsville and I may be in Riverstone, but I promise you, my thoughts will never stray far from you” Instinctively, he had moved closer to Lara without even noticing, they were so close now that he could almost lean in to kiss her. There was a chemistry in the air now, tangible electricity pulsed between them as Archer could sense her heart beat faster. He dropped his gaze from her eyes down to her mouth, her lips were parted in invitation as he leaned in a little closer but then the thought struck him, would kissing her destroy the trust she had in him since she had just said they were only friends? He wouldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk it.
Ignoring his instinct, he quickly pulled back and leaned over the console to pick up the box of Krispy Kreme’s from the backseat before handing it to her. She looked confused for a moment but smiled at him as she opened the box, offering him a donut. They sat there in silence as they ate the donuts, neither one mentioning what almost happened. Archer had seen Lara lean into him, inviting a kiss, he was sure of it, but then again, some
times he could read her so easily yet other times…he felt she was a complex puzzle that could only be solved by putting in the time and effort.
After they had polished off the box, Lara sat back against her seat, placing her head back on the headrest and patting her stomach “That was amazing, thank you so much”. The smile of genuine satisfaction on her face told him that he’d succeeded in making her forget everything that happened. Even if only for a brief time, he had put that smile on her face.
“We should probably get going to Brunsville now, that is unless, you haven’t changed your mind and want to stay at my place with the others?” He cocked his eyebrow up and smiled, in a last-ditch attempt to convince her to stay.
She smiled back at him but shook her head slightly “I really need to do this, for me.”
Archer could feel his smile wavering, but he managed to drop his gaze to the gearshift before putting the car in reverse and turning around, heading back out the dirt road.
“I completely understand” He meant it. He did understand that she needed to put her life together, he just didn’t understand why she wanted to do it alone.
Chapter 23
As Archer’s car merged onto the freeway, a feeling of dread welled in the pit of his stomach. This is it, he thought, he was going to take her home and he’d never see her again. It would crush him, but it wasn’t his decision to make.
After a few minutes, Lara’s voice broke the silence “You know, when Dr Seville was trying to make me shift in that exam room… I didn’t shift because I was being brave like you thought, it was because I couldn’t shift, didn’t know how and come to think of it, I still don’t.” Archer took his eyes off the road for a split second and looked at Lara, she was looking down at her hands that were currently wringing, something he’d come to realise she did when she was nervous.
“That doesn’t mean you’re not brave. Dr Seville wanted you to shift so that he could hurt your panther. It’s a good thing that you didn’t shift. How come you don’t know how to shift?” Archer asked, both hands on the wheel since he was resisting the urge to reach over and comfort her.
“My memories came back to me when I was….when Dr Seville used electrodes on me” Archer heard Lara’s voice tremble. He didn’t want to interrupt her but the lion inside of him was roaring in anger at what happened to her. It made him regret leaving Dr Seville unconscious and not dead, he resisted the urge to turn the car around and go back to finish the job. He kept his gaze on the road and gripped the steering wheel harder until his knuckles turned white. Lara continued “It was like a rush of memories from the past few months, but they didn’t make sense at first. It was like trying to put together a puzzle without having all the pieces. In the end, I managed to get enough pieces to know what the puzzle looked like. I figured out I became a panther the night my parents died and I… I think I was stuck that way for the last couple of months, until I was almost hit by a car. At the last minute, I managed to jump out of the way, but I hit my head, hard on some rocks by the side of the road and somehow, I shifted back to human without willing it. Not long after that I passed out and woke up in shifter prison.”
Archer took his eyes off the road again and looked at her. She was looking out the window and he saw her lift her hand to her face as if she was wiping away a tear. He couldn’t hold back the need to comfort her now. He returned his eyes to the road and reached his hand over to her knee where he gently squeezed it “I’m sorry you went through all that” He meant it. He wished he could take away all of her pain and suffering. He knew she had been through a lot, but this took it to a whole new level, it just proved his point even more, that she really was brave and strong.
Something Lara had said stuck in his mind “What do you mean you became a panther the night your parents died? Do you mean that was your first shift?”
Lara replied softly “No, I mean I only became a panther that night. I was bitten”
Archer let out an inhuman growl, his lion was in his mind trying to claw his way out and find who had bit her. They had no right to do that to her, to take her choice away, to force her to become a shifter and not even teach her anything about it.
Suddenly Archer was stuck with a thought “I could help you, I could teach you everything you need to know about shifters. I may not be a panther, but let’s face it, we’re both pretty much just overgrown cats, right?” Archer smirked at her, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. A glimmer of hope trickled into his chest, maybe this could be the excuse he needed to change her mind about leaving.
Lara smiled but shook her head “You’ve done so much for me already. Besides, I think I’m going to focus on getting my human life back together before I worry about how to control being a shifter.” Archer felt like his stomach was left behind on the side of the road, that last bit of hope he had of keeping her in his life dissipated before his eyes.
“Well, you know where I am if you need me” Archer forced a smile at Lara, but he knew she could probably see through it, he wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions.
“So, tell me about you, where did you grow up? Do you see your parents often?” Archer knew Lara was only trying to change the subject, but she couldn’t have picked a worse topic - or maybe it was the best. This was the perfect opportunity to tell her about his father. Archer knew he was only about ten minutes away from Brunsville, so he’d have to make it quick if he wanted to break the news to her before she left his life for good. No matter how she reacted, he wanted to make sure she was okay before he left. He didn’t want the news of his father to reopen that wound she was starting to heal, only to leave her having to start the process all over again.
Archer swallowed hard “I grew up in a small town called Aston, my mother was a human. She left when I was young, and I haven’t seen her since.” Archer took in a breath before continuing, his eyes glued to the road in front of him “My father pretty much brought me up, if you could call it that. He was a powerful lion, but a crappy human being. He drank too much, too often and when he’d come home after each bender, he’d take out his anger on me.” Archer heard Lara gasp, but he couldn’t face her now, emotion was rolling off him as he relived the way his father treated him. “That happened more than I’d like to admit, until I shifted for the first time. my lion couldn’t handle taking his beatings and wanted to fight back. I was 13 years old when I shifted for the first time and when I did, I attacked him. Obviously, his lion was stronger than mine and I…I barely survived that night. It took about a week to heal and once I did, I left. I didn’t see my father again until…recently” Archer swallowed hard and mentally prepared himself for what he had to say next.
“Oh Archer, I’m so sorry” Lara had turned her body to face him. Tell her now he thought, but as he opened his mouth to speak, her voice broke the silence first. “Oh… um, turn right here, my place is at the end of this long driveway” she said as Archer swallowed down the queasiness that was quickly building. He wasn’t sure if he felt nauseas because his time with Lara was coming to an end, or because he had lost his chance to tell her the truth, but either way his stomach felt like lead as he turned into the driveway.
Archer drove up the dirt road that Lara had called a driveway, there was no gate to be seen and the only sign that there was a home nearby was a mailbox sitting at the entrance that had unopened envelopes pouring out of it. The entire length of the road was surrounded by forest that continued until they came to a clearing and Archer caught a glimpse of Lara’s childhood home. As the they drove closer to the house, Archer took in the sight in front of him. Lara’s home was single story, it had a small porch at the front and a garden bed to the side with perfectly lined flowers. It sat in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the same forest they drove through and stretched as far as the eye could see around the property. There was something unusual about these woods, Archer didn’t know what, but he could feel the lion inside him begin to sit up and look around intently with piercing gold eyes.
“Well, this is me” Lara’s voice snapped Archer out of his thoughts.
“I’ll make sure you get inside okay” he said as he turned off the engine and opened the car door. He wanted to drag out his steps, take as long as possible to get her inside before he’d have to say goodbye and never see her again.
As Archer stepped out of the car, his lion stood and let out a growl. There was an unfamiliar scent in the air. He knew Lara and her Panther’s scent enough by now to know it wasn’t her he could smell, but something in the surrounding woods smelled like shifter.
Archer looked around the forest, it was still daylight so he would have no trouble seeing if there was any movement out there, but there was nothing. He flared his nose and scented the air again, this time he could tell it wasn’t just any shifter, this was a cat shifter, but the scent was old, like it hadn’t been here in a while. Maybe it was just Lara he was smelling, after all, his feelings for her had been confusing his senses since the first time he met her.
Archer shook his head, breaking himself out of the thoughts. He ran to catch up to Lara who was now climbing the stairs of the porch. When she reached the door, she knelt down and lifted up the edge of the doormat before picking up a small key from underneath it and using the it to open the door. Archer noticed that the inside of the house was as immaculate as the front of the house. Everything was tidy and had its place. Everything except a half-finished cup of coffee and saucer that were left on the small table in front of the TV, a magazine that was sprawled across the lounge and a blanket that looked like it had been thrown to the floor. If Archer didn’t know any better, he’d say it looked like the last time Lara was home she had left in a hurry.
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