“You took off pretty fast,” Rodrigo said.
Her heart slammed into the ground. She wasn’t ready. She didn’t know what to say to him. Her emotions rose in a torrential whirlwind that overwhelmed her.
He kicked the ground with his foot then paused. She could feel his gaze on her, the way it burned across her cheeks as he studied her. She tried to keep her expression passive, but she wasn’t sure if she was capable of it. When he raised his hand to touch her, she jerked away.
“What happened? Why are you treating me like this now?” His voice was strained.
She wanted to console him, to assure him everything was alright, but she let the urge die because everything was not alright.
“I can’t tell what you’re thinking if you won’t tell me. I’m not a mind reader, just a big dumb shifter.”
A laugh escaped her before she clamped her hand over her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she caught him grinning.
“Is this about Carol? I’m sorry she interrupted us. She’s been living above the bar ever since I found her again.”
Lily’s brow’s furrowed. “Nothing about that statement made any sense to me.”
“Oh, you’re right. It wouldn’t.” He paused, as if pondering his next words. “Carol and I were both changed. Around the same time. A few months ago, she disappeared. We thought she died. The day I heard the howl, that day I pulled you out from in front of the truck…well, that howl was Carol. I brought her back to the pack, but she’s got some scars that are more than skin deep.”
Lily was trying to take all of this in, but she felt like she was still missing some pieces of the puzzle. Rodrigo growled in frustration. At her or himself, she didn’t know.
“She’d not my…we’re not…” He growled again as he tugged at his hair. In the dim light of the doorway, she caught his eyes flash iridescent. “Carol and I are not a thing, but I’m going to need to put some space between you and me for a few days. Okay?”
“No. That’s not okay! I don’t understand any of this.” Lily’s heart beat furiously. She pressed her knuckles to her chest and willed it to slow before it burst. “What does any of this have to do with me? Carol’s disappearance and whatever we have together, those things don’t cross over. They shouldn’t affect one another. It feels like you’re just making up excuses not to see me again.”
Rodrigo looked as though she’d physically wounded him. His face was creased with pain, and a touch of defeat. The iridescent flare over his eyes returned. His shoulder twitched. His beast was resurfacing, she realized.
She took a step back, but Rodrigo stopped her.
“Wait! Here’s my number. Don’t let anyone steal it this time.” He snatched her hand and pressed a piece of paper into her palm before folding her fingers around it.
Lights washed over them. The driver she’d requested pulled up beside her. The guy rolled down the passenger window and leaned toward them.
“Everything okay? This isn’t a place for a girl like you,” the driver said.
She wanted to flip him the bird. Instead, she tightened her grip on the slip of paper and turned away from Rodrigo. Confusion still roiled inside her chest like a cloud of black smoke. Still, she twisted in her seat to look out the back window at the lonely silhouette of Rodrigo.
Everything hurt and nothing was better than it had been before. Her lips ached from where he’d bitten them. The taste of him still lingered in her mouth. If she didn’t distract herself, she could feel his hands exploring her body. He’d made her feel things she’d never known before.
Mostly, a frustrating disappointment.
Even though she didn’t know what any of what he said had to do with her, she still couldn’t let him go yet. So, she plugged his number into her phone before sliding it back into her purse.
The driver dropped her off with another warning not to head back to that bar. She ignored him, still too full of her own feelings to care much about what he thought of her recreational habits.
Chapter Seven
It was her first day off in a while. She didn’t know what to do with it. Had she and Brock still been together, she would have waited by her laptop for him to give her a video call. It was too tempting to call him, even if she knew she shouldn’t.
She yearned to hear a familiar voice, to fall into old habits instead of venturing down new paths. The new paths were untrodden and frightening. Rodrigo was a confusing labyrinth that she didn’t know how to navigate.
She and Rodrigo had…
Well, she hadn’t fucked him. But they’d come close. She’d wanted it so bad. Her heart twisted at the memory of it. The way he’d touched her, so gently even though she could see how badly he wanted her. She’d wanted him just as badly and hadn’t bothered to hide it.
Frustrated, she threw her feet to the floor. Her coffee was almost gone, but she was already yearning for another. The sun outside was bright with the promise of summer temperatures. She couldn’t stay inside all day.
It would suffocate her. Slowly. Painfully.
She marched to her dresser and yanked out her favorite swimsuit. It might be too cold to swim, but if she couldn’t have Rodrigo’s hands on her body, she would substitute the summer sun. The high-waisted polka-dot bikini knotted between her breasts. She paired it with shorts and a fluttering kimono.
With the lone ranger book in her purse, she stopped to grab another lavender latte before heading toward the public pool. School hadn’t let out for the year yet, so there wouldn’t be any children. There was a chance no one would be there. Lily looked forward to the possibility of blissful silence that wasn’t her apartment.
She needed to get a pet or something. Her loneliness was too much to bear. If she could talk to something without feeling like she was losing her mind, then maybe she wouldn’t need to escape so often. A dog or a cat would be nice. She would even settle for a bird, though she was sure Vivian would come over and teach it to say crude things.
A dog, then. It’d be nice to get outside and walk the dog. She could even dress it up in little bow ties and bandanas. Though, she didn’t know how well a dog would get along with a shifter.
No. She couldn’t think about that. Rodrigo wasn’t a part of her life. She’d clearly made a mistake the night before. There was no way she could let herself fall for Rodrigo. He was a bumbling mess and putting two bumbling messes together was asking for catastrophe.
She lounged in a chair by the pool and pulled out the lone ranger book. In it, the hero was trying to claim the bounty on an infamous yet reclusive vigilante. The alternating chapters had revealed that the criminal the lone ranger hero was hunting was actually his love interest.
Their banter was sharp and witty, unlike any conversation she and Rodrigo had shared as of yet. That didn’t stop Lily from inserting herself into the story, from imagining Rodrigo’s arm around her waist as they galloped away from a troupe of bandits.
Little by little, her heart clenched until she had to put the book down. She turned her eyes to the sky and wondered why she couldn’t have a fun romance like that. The way Rodrigo had touched her, how it made her feel, was so close to what she read. Yet every conversation fell flat. It was almost like he was intentionally pulling away from her.
She just didn’t understand why.
“Are you alone here, missy?” a gravelly voice called out.
She held her hand over her eyes and scanned the path leading up to the pool. A short man was leaning against the pool fence. She couldn’t see his face well, the sun beating down on them both and casting dark shadows.
“You shouldn’t wander around by yourself. A girl like you is vulnerable these days.”
Lily scowled. Her spine tingled. She leaned forward, trying to get a better view of the man, but he had tipped his hat at her and was already turning away. Chills proceeded to run up and down her spine. Her fingers trembled and she lost the page she’d been holding.
What was that about?
Why did
people have to be so weird? Lily no longer wanted to be alone, so she jammed the book back into her purse, nabbed her coffee, and scrambled out of the pool area. Back in town, where there were people everywhere she looked, she no longer felt like someone was lurking over her shoulder.
She wanted to call Rodrigo. With him, she wouldn’t feel afraid. He’d made it clear that he needed time, though. For what, she didn’t know. Maybe to break it off with the woman he’d thought dead? Lily sighed. If only he’d bothered to tell her more.
If it had been pack business, would his lips be sealed? Would Dante enforce some kind of secret-keeping code that prevented Rodrigo from telling her things? She kind of hoped that was the case. It would mean that Rodrigo might not be pushing her away.
“I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Her blood chilled. Fear stopped her dead in her tracks. It was followed by a strange kind of longing that she hadn’t anticipated. When she turned, the smile on her face wasn’t as fake as she would have liked.
“Brock,” she began. “Why are you…How did you find me?”
He stood very straight, looking down his nose at her. “I just said I looked everywhere for you.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but immediately closed it, thinking better of it. He’d tried to find her. He was putting in so much effort to get her attention. It was almost heartwarming.
“Do you think we could talk? I want to clear things up with you,” he said. “It’s just that we spent so much of our lives together. It would be a waste not to try to work on things. We both have so much growing to do still. Like how to deal with situations better.”
Her teeth grated. She looked around, wishing Rodrigo would appear out of the crowd to save her from Brock. She almost would have preferred the creepy man at the pool to this.
But no one appeared. Brock took her silence as approval and was already leading the way to a brand name coffee shop. They said nothing as he stood in line to order a black coffee. Lily watched the sad employees dump frozen ingredients onto a piece of bread before dropping it onto the toaster conveyor belt.
This wasn’t where she wanted to spend her day off.
Finally, Brock claimed his black coffee and they could sit down. She hooked her purse onto the corner of her chair. Brock eyed the book sticking out of it. He said nothing about it, though from the way he licked his lips, she could tell he wanted to.
Brock reached across the table and took her hands in his. They were sweaty and too hot. “I think we should try to forgive each other.”
“What was that?”
She thought maybe she misheard. It was rather loud, with employees taking orders for the drive thru and the counter. He could have misspoke, too. It was normal to be nervous.
“I was hurt when you left me without bothering to give me a chance to speak for myself. You can’t begin to understand the pain I felt when you walked away. Then you ignored me for days. My grades are starting to slip, and I don’t know how to focus.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line. As mad as she wanted to be, if his grades dropped too low, he would lose the future he worked so hard for. Lily didn’t want to be the cause of his failure. Yet, no words would reach her tongue. Her chest felt empty.
Her own rage simmered still, but it was like the smoke would no longer reach her lips. She couldn’t breathe the flames of her ire, not when he flashed those sad eyes at her.
“I don’t think I was acting irrationally,” she managed to say, voice low.
“We can talk this out. We can discuss what I was missing from our relationship that made me do what I did.”
He danced around the subject, over and over like this was a damned ballet. Had she failed him so horribly that he needed to find solace in someone else? She’d carved herself into the perfect person for him, listing to his every word and painting herself in the image he envisioned. Was that not enough?
No. She wouldn’t let him talk to her like this. It wasn’t her fault. It couldn’t be. He was the one with his dick inside another woman. That was a decision he made himself.
“You could have communicated your needs,” she growled.
She ached for the warmth of the sun again. It was too cold inside. The air conditioning was already on and turned full blast. Goosebumps broke out over her skin. She huddled in on herself and waited for this meeting to be over.
***
Rodrigo felt like he hadn’t slept in days. He needed coffee. A giant one. Preferably black. Maybe all espresso. Had he been in his hyena form, his tail would have dragged along the ground. He was still no closer to finding this kidnapper.
Carol had come out with him. She was doing better, though the nightmares still plagued her. He got nothing from them. When she regaled him with the details, he found them vague and fuzzy. He didn’t blame her brain from trying to spare her more trauma, but frustration from being unable to do what he promised was mounting.
He left Carol outside and shoved open the door of the franchise coffee shop. The clerk behind the counter looked frazzled, quaking in his boots as he stared up at Rodrigo.
Rodrigo dug a few dollars out of his pocket and then paused. A familiar scent tickled his nose, faint but persistent in the sea of burnt coffee. He looked around, finding tables of elderly patrons and high schoolers who were probably skipping class. There, in the corner, he saw her.
Lily.
His breath caught.
“Ex-ex-excuse me, sir?” the boy croaked. “What can I get for you?”
Rodrigo saw who sat across from her and a growl trickled up his throat. The same guy who’d accosted her at the bar the first night. That must be the ex she told him about. Rodrigo wanted to go over, but when he saw her hands in the other man’s, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Are y-y-y-you going t-t-t-to order?” The boy stumbled over his words.
Behind him, the line had grown long and rowdy. Construction workers glared at him with their arms crossed over their chests. Rodrigo placed the order for his giant coffee and quickly slid aside, one eye still on Lily and the man.
What would she do if he went over and broke up the reunion? Would she thank him? He didn’t want to imagine that she wanted to get back together with the guy. Rodrigo’s beast snarled impatiently. It wanted the man’s blood, his head on a platter. The beast would drag him out onto the street and teach him a lesson.
His gaze was glued to Lily as he fought back the beast. It was a losing battle. The beast heard nothing Rodrigo had to say. No argument would sway the fire burning inside his monster. He needed to grab his coffee and leave, get back to the task at hand, move on with his life. If Lily couldn’t wait for him, then it was never meant to be.
But it wasn’t that simple. He couldn’t move. His beast wouldn’t turn away from the man sitting across from her. It wasn’t right. She didn’t belong with him.
Before he knew what he was doing, his feet were in motion. He dropped into a seat at the table and grinned at the confused party. Lily’s brows shot upward, her lips parting into a small O. Her ex, on the other hand, looked less than pleased. A bit of recognition flashed across the man’s face.
“We’ve met before,” Rodrigo supplied. He held out his hand. “At the bar a few nights ago.”
The man seemed hesitant but took Rodrigo’s extended hand. Rodrigo grinned, feeling his canines sharpen. He squeezed the man’s hand in his grip, feeling bones pop and muscles protest. The man let out a weak yelp.
Lily cut Rodrigo a side eye before looking around the coffee shop. There were too many people around. This wasn’t the place to show off his inhumanity. Shame rose inside Rodrigo as he looked down at the handshake. Quickly, he jerked back and grabbed the edge of the table. He needed to hold onto something or else he would wrap his hands around the man’s throat.
“What are you doing?” Lily’s voice was flat.
It pained him. He’d hoped to hear excitement, affection, anything other than that flat tone. When he turned to her, her ex
pression was guarded. He couldn’t read anything past it. There was no way of knowing how she felt about him.
He tried to let a bit of his own emotions show. Maybe, if she could see that he wanted her…No, he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until the threat was taken care of. He didn’t even know what he was doing here. He shouldn’t have sat at this table.
His nails bit into his palms as he clenched his fists.
“Is this your rebound?” the man asked Lily.
Rodrigo’s head shot up. Rebound? That’s not how Rodrigo would treat her. He would make sure a woman like her knew she was loved, no matter what. His love wouldn’t depend on her dressing a certain way or keeping her hair a certain length. His love would be unconditional.
No matter what.
Rodrigo realized he couldn’t wait. He couldn’t let her get back together with this guy. There was no pulling away from Lily, because if he didn’t tell her how he felt now he might never get another chance.
“No!” Lily shouted, as if scared. “We haven’t…I wouldn’t! Not so soon.”
The man shrugged. “I wouldn’t have blamed you. Do what you need to do to feel better. It is only fair that you get your romp, too.”
“Brock, I didn’t…” Lily tried to argue.
Brock held his hands up. Rodrigo wanted to throw him out a window, to listen to the satisfying smack as he hit the ground. None of the windows in the coffee shop were high enough, though. Brock would only fall about five feet. If that.
Chapter Eight
Lily spun on him. “I didn’t need your help back there!”
Rodrigo took a step back, startled by the venom in her voice. That was not what he expected. Not what he wanted. He tried to form an apology, but nothing felt right. Not when he didn’t know what he’d done wrong.
Brock was clearly not the right guy for her. Rodrigo didn’t know if he was the right guy, but Brock certainly wasn’t. No man should cheat on his lover and get away with it. Yet, it was like Lily was ready to sweep the pain under the carpet just for a chance to move forward with her life.
The Hyena's Hope Page 6
