“Fuck. No, I would never hit you, Naomi. I would never hit a woman.” He looked at her, pain in his eyes. A world of hurt was painted on his face, and it broke her heart to see him that way. “You don’t know how much I hate the thought of it. What I think of men who hurt the women they’re supposed to lov…” He stopped himself before the word could fully form, this time grabbing the doorknob and pulling. In a flash he was out the door, and Naomi shut her eyes as the latch clicked behind him.
Chapter Nine
Tyler walked home that night. His apartment was miles from Naomi’s, in the Pride’s district. But it didn’t matter to him. He couldn’t take a cab; he couldn’t be around people just then.
As his legs carried him almost aimlessly he thought about what he’d just lost. The perfection of her, every aspect arranged to create his ideal woman. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, not to mention that sex with her was heaven. When she came, she had a way of crying out that made him feel like they were the only two people on earth. And when he was inside her, she looked at him, held his face, commanded him silently with her eyes. They spoke with no words, a deep understanding between them in almost every way.
He’d never cared about anyone like this. And that was why he now had to protect her from his past, his baggage, and his damned mind. That was why he could never see her again.
* * *
“You should talk to him, you know.”
It had been days since Naomi had seen or heard from Tyler. It really did seem as though he’d released her from their “relationship,” by disappearing completely. And now, Naomi found herself on Miri’s couch; the very place where the lion shifter had been when she’d first seen him.
“Talk? He doesn’t want to talk,” she said. Her shoulders were hunched in silent defeat, Miri’s hand on her back, attempting in vain to reassure her. “I pushed too far.”
“Of course he wants to talk. He’s just scared. A big man like that can get frightened just like the rest of us. And it’s easier for him to run away than to confront his fears.”
“The irony is that he wanted to get away before we got ‘serious,’” said Naomi. “Little does he know that he’d already grabbed hold of my heart and tugged it out of my chest. I was really falling for him. Isn’t that ridiculous? How can I fall for someone so fast?”
“It happens, you know. With shifters, especially. We’re good at cascading into a deep abyss of adoration. Anyhow, I’m sorry. I feel responsible for all this.”
“You’re not responsible, of course. It’s not your fault. I chose him, even knowing how complicated he seemed. It was completely my doing.”
“Well, I still think you should find him and have a talk. Don’t pressure him, or yourself. Tell him that he can take his time. Whatever he needs to say to you obviously isn’t easy for him. And don’t forget—I almost lost my relationship with Malcolm over a stupid misunderstanding about his true nature. Don’t let it happen to you.”
“You’re right.” Naomi sat upright, resolve flooding her body. She knew about Miri’s issues with her mate, and how she’d assumed the worst of him rather than communicate directly. And she didn’t want to make the same mistake. “I’m going to find him. He works out in the evenings, I know. Maybe I can find him at the gym tonight.”
“Good girl,” said Miri. “And everything will be fine, whatever happens. Remember that.”
When six o’clock rolled around, Naomi prepared herself for the walk down to the gym where she knew Tyler worked out and boxed in the evenings, wondering if she was making a mistake by hunting him down like this. But she had to. She needed to learn who he was. If he was going to be working out, this was a good opportunity to see him in his natural environment. He was a fighter, and one who hid his troubles behind a sometimes aggressive façade. She wanted to see how he fought; to gain some insight into his character, even if she would never get to be with him again. At least this way she might know what she’d lost.
The gym was several blocks away within lion territory, but Naomi chose to walk, carrying with her a large purse, big enough to hold her clothing. She had a plan, and it involved remaining unseen.
When she arrived, she peeked in through a front window. To one side of the large space was a boxing ring set up. Tyler and another man were sparring, each wearing little more than shorts.
Naomi slipped in through the door while Tyler was turned away and headed to the opposite corner of the gym, towards the women’s dressing room. When she’d entered she put her bag down and shifted before scurrying in ferret form out to the gym’s floor along the base of the wall.
Shifters weren’t new to the area, of course. And the man with whom Tyler was boxing looked like another lion shifter: broad shoulders, a narrow waist and muscular legs, though he wasn’t as large as Tyler. Naomi perched on a bench, trying to remain concealed in the shadows in order not to alert either man to her presence. She wanted to see what he was capable of.
At first, each man seemed to spring around on light toes, sweat glistening on their torsos as they did everything to avoid one another’s gloved fists. It seemed for a while that they simply moved in a tight circle, keeping their eyes fixed on one another. Occasionally one would throw a punch, the other deftly avoiding contact. Not surprisingly, both men were very quick, their reflexes impeccable.
She was glad to see that Tyler wasn’t getting hurt, and that he kept the gloves raised, saving his gorgeous face from a potential beating. Whether she was with him or not, it would be a real shame to see those perfect features damaged.
But his opponent, it seemed, was competitive. And after a few minutes of unproductive bounding around, he moved in, clearly tired of not making contact with Tyler. His movements became quicker. A right hook was followed by a left thrust, one narrowly missing, the other hitting Tyler square in the chest.
He went reeling backwards before gathering himself, even as the hidden ferret recoiled in fear. But she could see that he was all right, regaining his balance as the man kept coming at him. Naomi looked around to see if there was anyone else in the place who was keeping an eye on them to make sure things didn’t get ugly. Everyone, though, was occupied, seeming to ignore what was happening as though it were commonplace.
Tyler threw out a fist, nailing the man in the jaw before taking a punch himself, hitting him square in the face. A moment later, the other man, his impatience growing, kicked at him. Now, surely that had to be against the rules. This wasn’t some kind of no-holds barred Ultimate Fighting thing. This was boxing. Weren’t feet forbidden?
But instead of chastising the man for breaking the rules, Tyler seemed to rise up, his aggression growing as his opponent’s did. Naomi could feel his rage, his desire to pay the other man back in kind. But as he landed a few punches, the other shifter smiled—not the smile of one who was enjoying himself, but a nasty grin, meaning, “Oh, yeah? Well, I’m going to show you.”
A second later, Tyler still stood in the ring in human form, even as his opponent shifted into his lion, a thick mane surrounding his large face. His cat form was as muscular as his human one, and daunting.
Was this a new thing? Shifters moving back and forth between human and animal in the ring?
Tyler shifted too, knowing that he couldn’t take on a cat in his human skin. Naomi heard the familiar popping of bones, the growl rising from her former lover’s throat. His lion was larger than the other man’s, his black-tipped, beautiful mane flowing as he moved, his body sculpted, lean and deadly.
The other lion leapt, its massive jaws shooting wide open as it went to clamp down on Tyler’s neck, but the bodyguard was quicker, rearing up and thrusting his claw-riddled paws at the other lion’s chest, knocking him reeling backwards. And then he too leapt, his teeth sinking in.
Okay, thought Naomi. This is no longer just sparring. What the hell? Why isn’t someone stopping it?
“Hey!” A deep voice shouted from across the room. Naomi saw a large man run at the ring. “Break it up, you two
! No shifting allowed in the ring, you know that.”
Tyler’s teeth were still deeply embedded in the other lion’s neck, even as his opponent submitted by rolling his body over. Two streams of blood revealed themselves at the place where Tyler’s canines had met his flesh.
“What the hell are you doing?” asked the big man, leaping up and into the ring. “There’s no biting in my gym, for fuck’s sake. This is a boxing ring, not some playpen for idiots who can’t control their tempers.”
A moment later, two naked men stood before him, one with two deep puncture wounds in his skin.
“Sorry,” Tyler said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sorry.” He turned away, not asking if his bleeding opponent was all right, even as the gym’s owner handed him a piece of gauze to apply to his wound.
Tyler, still naked, grabbed his shorts off the ring’s floor and stepped between the ropes to leap down.
Naomi looked at him. There was an expression she hadn’t yet see—his eyes were red, bloodshot. His chest heaved, but not from exhaustion. This was something else, a madness temporarily set in. Why was he so angry?
“Tyler!” the gym’s owner shouted. Tyler turned to face him. “What?” he growled.
“I don’t know what’s up your ass this last week. But one more of these outbursts of yours and you’re out. I’ll see to it that you never fight in this town again.”
Without a word, Tyler made his way to the change room. He didn’t see the small creature who still sat, confused, on the bench against the opposite wall.
* * *
Naomi slipped into the women’s locker room after Tyler had disappeared. For a moment she contemplated leaving, escaping that look that she’d seen on his face. Much as she’d known that something was inside him, hidden, secret and dark, she hadn’t anticipated this. To the untrained eye it might have appeared to be a simple killer instinct, as though he was nothing more than a boxer—or shifter—out to win a bout. But Naomi had talked a lot with Miri about this—it was what Miri had feared in Malcolm before she’d come to understand his protective nature. This, she knew, was something else entirely. A dark, bitter rage that sat in him. But a rage at what?
She shifted and dressed, deciding that she’d get to the bottom of it. Maybe there was no hope for their relationship, but if that was the case, there was no real risk.
At the other end of the locker room was an emergency exit; the sort that claims with a warning sign that the building will implode if you open it. Naomi decided to take her chances, to push it open and slip out into the alleyway. Somehow, she couldn’t imagine that Tyler would like knowing what she’d just seen. Sure enough, no alarm sounded.
She let the door close gently behind her and trotted down the alley towards the sidewalk. It was now closing in on 7:00 and the sun had already all but disappeared, leaving only a faint orange glow in the distance.
Slipping around the front of the gym, she breathed deeply as she waited for the door to open.
And a minute later, it did. As soon as he saw her he smiled, that gleaming, friendly grin of his, concealing everything that had just occurred; everything she’d witnessed inside. He approached her even as she considered walking the other way.
“How are you doing?” he asked. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I’m fine. Just fine. But more importantly, how are you?” She winced as she asked the question, which revealed too much. It sounded like she cared, damn it.
“I’m fine. Shouldn’t I be? All the better for seeing you.”
She felt the endorphins make their way through her body. He was charming her again, as though everything that had happened was unimportant.
“Tyler,” she said. “What the hell was that in there?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was in the gym a few minutes ago. I saw you fighting.”
“Ah.” His voice was expressionless, his features blank.
“That’s it?” she asked. “Ah? So you’re not going to explain to me why you looked like you were going to kill that guy?”
Tyler began to pace along the sidewalk, strain showing once again on his face. “I fight. I box. It’s what we do.”
“Yeah, well, presumably when you box you don’t do it in the form of a lion whose teeth could eviscerate a blue whale.”
“It got out of hand,” he growled.
Naomi stood. “That wasn’t out of hand,” she said. “That was psychotic. That other guy was playing dirty, I’ll admit, but the mature thing would’ve been to stop the fight.”
“Mature? Stop the fight? You think a man can just say, ‘Hey now, play fair,’ and another man will stop being an asshole? Is that what you think?”
His voice was raised now, the rage returning. Naomi moved away, stepping out of arm’s reach. “I’m leaving. I’ve heard enough, I think.”
Tyler’s hands balled into fists once again before he released them. “I’ll take you home.”
“It’s fine. I’ll walk.” She turned away and began the trek.
“Naomi,” said the deep voice behind her.
“What?” she asked, turning to him as the tears burned her eyes.
“You deserve every good thing in the world. You don’t deserve a jerk like me.”
“Good to know.”
She spun around and walked as fast as she could in the other direction.
Chapter Ten
Over the next two weeks, Naomi focused on finishing her novel. Its plot kept veering off course, the hero screwing the heroine around at every turn, and Naomi kept forcing herself to change the dialogue to make him sound less like a bonafide asshole.
She heard nothing from Tyler, and had managed to avoid chatting too much with Miri about him. What was there to discuss, anyhow? He was a self-proclaimed bastard, though the title seemed more like a shield than reality. Whatever was in him, that wild, aggressive animal, needed taming. But he didn’t want to let the lion tamer in. And so there was no hope.
At nine o’clock on a Wednesday night, she was sipping a glass of white wine, reading the finished rough draft of her novel, when a frantic knock sounded at the door. She sprang up to open it.
“Miri,” she said. Her friend stood in the hallway, a worried look on her face. “What’s going on?”
“We have to go,” Miri said, grabbing Naomi by the arm. “It’s Tyler—he’s in the hospital.”
“What? Why?”
“He got badly beaten.”
“What? Another boxing match gone wrong?” Naomi scoffed. She wasn’t sure she wanted to support his violent nature.
“No. He was defending Lucas. It seems that the Pack ambushed him when he was out jogging. Tyler was with him, but they were alone and five wolves came down on them. Tyler did his best, but he took a beating before he could shift.”
“Oh my God.” Naomi’s heart felt like it might explode if it beat any faster. “Is Lucas…”
“Lucas is fine. Tyler took every blow and bite. Malcolm’s in the hospital working and called me just now. He said Tyler’s in pretty bad shape. There’s a cab waiting. Come on.”
Naomi grabbed her coat and dashed to the door with Miri. The two didn’t speak much on the way to the hospital; they didn’t need to. Naomi knew exactly how she would feel if something happened to Tyler: devastated.
When they arrived, they were directed to a private room, where Lucas sat in a chair next to his employee. He stood when he saw the women. But as he approached, Miri headed into the hallway.
Naomi froze, her eyes solidly fixed on Tyler. His eyes were shut and his neck, head and shoulder were bandaged so that he looked as though his entire shape had changed.
“How is he?” she asked, not daring to move closer.
“He’s going to be okay, they think. A little battered and bruised. But there’s no serious damage.”
“Thank God,” she said. Her eyes went to Lucas for the first time. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, thanks to this guy. He didn’
t let them near me. He’s a good man, you know.”
“I know.” It was the truth. Somewhere, deep inside, she knew perfectly well just how good he was.
“Listen, there’s something you should know. I realize that Tyler wouldn’t want me telling you. But since you two went your separate ways, he’s been a mess. I’ve never seen him like this. I mean, the guy’s often in a dark mood, but he’s been well beyond dark. I’ve wanted to slap him silly more than once.”
“I wouldn’t do that. He’d take your hand off.”
“Don’t I know it. Anyhow, you deserve to know why he is the way he is. And if he won’t tell you, screw him. He’s a fool for hiding it.”
“What do you mean?”
Lucas pulled out his phone and typed something into the search engine before handing it over.
“Read it,” he said.
It was a newspaper article, dated over a decade earlier, about an incident of domestic violence in which a man had tried to kill his wife.
“I don’t understand,” Naomi said, looking at the Sovereign once again. “What is this?”
“Keep reading.”
The teenage son attacked his father as he attempted to stab his wife for the third time,
it read.
The boy managed to take on the man, who died instantly. The boy’s mother died later in hospital. Because he’s a minor he cannot be named.
“This…this boy was Tyler?” she asked.
“Yes. He tried to save his mother, and ended up an orphan. He’s never forgiven himself for failing to save her, or for killing his father, even though the guy deserved a far worse fate.”
Naomi stepped towards the bed, and took Tyler’s hand in her own. It was cold, so much life drawn out of him. But he was breathing, his intakes of air shallow between parted lips.
Naomi and Tyler (Plenty of Shift Book 2) Page 8
