by Crissy Smith
What Melissa had done still haunted her.
She rose and, instead of going back into the bar, headed around the building. She couldn’t face anyone at the moment. These were Trent’s friends. No, he had called them his family. While she’d been trying to take on the entire LAPD, he’d been only hours away, hiding in Brookside.
Melissa couldn’t get over the pain she’d seen in Trent’s eyes the moment he’d spotted her.
Just seeing her again had hurt him.
She’d screwed up.
Her hand shook as she pulled her car keys from her pocket. All she could do was think of her next step. Melissa didn’t know if she should even remain in Brookside. Trent didn’t want her there.
But if she could explain?
Prove to Trent she wasn’t the same person who’d betrayed his love?
They might never get back together. Hell, for all she knew, Trent could be married by now. But, in order to sleep at night, she needed to at least say she was sorry, and when he was listening. Not being freaked out after seeing her again.
Melissa yanked open her car door.
She had no clue where to go from here.
* * * *
Trent walked for an hour before making his way back toward the bar. He spotted the tree Annabelle had climbed the night three hunters had been shooting at her. He dropped down on a fallen log and hung his head. That was as good a place as any to try to figure out what the hell was going on.
Melissa Bishop. In my town.
He felt as though he’d fallen down a rabbit hole. And damn, Melissa looks good. Just like he remembered, all the nights she came to him in his dreams.
“Oh, God.” He managed to choke back the sob trying to force its way out. He wouldn’t give her or anyone from his old life the satisfaction of ever breaking down again.
“I thought I might find you here.”
Trent jolted. He hadn’t heard Annabelle approach. No one ever snuck up on him. But with his mind on Melissa, he hadn’t been keeping track of his surroundings. That was dangerous. “What are you doing out here?” He was glad his voice was even.
“Checking on you,” she replied. “You have a lot of people worried.”
“I’m fine,” he snapped. Trent didn’t want anyone to worry about him. He wasn’t a victim. Trent wouldn’t ever be a victim again.
Instead of leaving like he hoped, she came around and peered down. He wanted to growl and demand she leave him alone, but he couldn’t. Not to Annabelle. She was like his little sister.
“Trent,” she said softly.
“I can’t,” he whispered. He couldn’t talk about Melissa right then. Not with her surprising arrival so fresh.
“You don’t have to.” Annabelle came forward before dropping down between his legs. She laid her head on his leg. “I just want to sit with you.”
Trent ran his fingers through Annabelle’s silky hair. She was the first person who’d ever seen him as anything more than some unhinged shifter. She also had never been afraid of him. Even though she was the size of a house cat in her shifted form, she still didn’t react negatively to his hyena.
Annabelle also didn’t know anything about his past. She knew he was an ex-cop, but not from here. Trent didn’t like to talk about Adam or what had happened with the LAPD and she hadn’t pressed. That meant the world to him.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” Trent murmured.
Annabelle didn’t reply.
“But fuck, she looked good, didn’t see?”
Still nothing.
Trent smiled. “I bet you’re dying to know what’s going on.”
She turned her cheek on his knee and looked up at him. “Don’t leave us.”
“What?” Trent frowned.
“If you run, I’ll never see you again.”
“You think I’ll take off on you?” he asked. Not that she was wrong. He’d been thinking that while he’d walked. He could be out of this town in an hour.
After he’d left LA, he’d traveled around quite a lot. The first year, he’d been unsettled and angry. It hadn’t mattered where he’d gone or how much trouble he found. Trent couldn’t let go of the injustice of Adam’s killing and cover-up.
He’d been headed back to LA to take out every single officer who’d refused to come to Adam’s aid that night. A stop for a drink at The Den had changed his life. Mac had seen the pain Trent had been in. When Mac wanted to make someone part of his family, it was almost impossible to resist.
A bed for the night had turned into another, then another.
When Trent had been ready to walk out of the door, a case had come in. Trent hadn’t had any idea about the underground network Mac ran from the bar. But seeing the young teenage boy shaking in fear from the humans who had been threatening him had stopped Trent in his tracks.
He’d had a decision to make. Go forward with his plan on revenge or help someone who needed him. Trent had chosen to stay with Mac. He’d been there ever since.
Now he was considering leaving his home because of a woman.
A woman he’d once thought he’d spend the rest of his life with once.
Annabelle had her eyes closed, but he knew she wasn’t asleep. If he even so much as twitched, she’d respond. “Did you love her?” she asked.
“Yes.” He didn’t have it in him to deny what Melissa had meant to him.
“But she hurt you?”
“Yes,” he said again.
“Then I hate her.”
Trent chuckled. “I don’t want you to hate her.”
“Too late.”
“She’s not a bad person,” Trent said. “And it was a long time ago.”
“Doesn’t matter. I hate her and will never talk to her again.”
Trent pulled on a strand of her hair. She was a brat and he loved her for it.
“No one gets to hurt you,” Annabelle declared. She opened her eyes. “I saw your face when you spotted her.”
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Trent confessed. “I never thought I’d see her again.”
“But she works here now. With Magnus. Logan says she’s dedicated to helping with the hunting issues,” Annabelle said.
Trent snorted. Melissa helping shifters? Melissa despises shifters.
“Do you think she followed you here?” Annabelle asked. “I’ll have Magnus arrest her. Or Logan. He’ll put her in federal custody.”
He had to smile. Annabelle would be a pain in the ass to Magnus or Logan if they didn’t do what she wanted. “They have no reason to arrest her.”
“They could make one up.”
“She works for Magnus. I don’t think he’d lock up his own deputy because you told him to.”
“Then he’ll fire her, make her go away.”
No one defended him like Annabelle. He wished she’d been in LA. Or no, he didn’t. Annabelle belonged in Brookside, safe and protected. “I don’t want her fired.” Or at least not until he did some recon for himself. “And I don’t want you to hate her, so be nice.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine.”
“I bet you know where she lives, though,” he said.
Annabelle beamed. “Can I go with you?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on!” Annabelle whined. “I want to see, too.”
“Not this time,” he told her.
Annabelle huffed. “She’s renting the Windham place.”
Well, shit. Melissa was less than a fifteen-minute walk from him. “Okay.” He motioned for her to move.
“You promise you’re coming back?” she asked.
“Yes.” Trent helped her to her feet. “I promise.”
“If you don’t, I’ll have Magnus or Logan arrest you,” she threatened.
“Okay.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back later. Tell everyone else I’m fine.”
“And to leave you alone?” she asked.
Trent nudged her toward the bar. “You better get back before Logan starts to worry.”
She dragged her feet but started forward. “One more question.”
“Just one,” he said.
“Why did you come here?” She pointed toward the tree.
“To remind me why I’m still here in town.”
“Okay.” Annabelle walked away and Logan watched until she was out of sight. Yeah, she was the sister he’d never had. It would be hard to leave her. But if Melissa was there to stay, how could he?
Trent pulled off his clothes and wedged them under the log. He set his boots on top to hold them down. Then he crouched, so he could call forth his hyena form.
The transformation was instant.
One minute, he had toes and fingers, and the next, his body was covered in fur.
As a spotted hyena, Trent had often been mistaken for a dog in the past. But around these parts, with other shifters, most knew what he was. He had never gotten respect growing up because of what he could shift into. Here in Brookside, for the first time, he could transform without the worry of being attacked.
He didn’t shift often, still not comfortable after years of being bullied, but every once in a while, he let his hyena free.
Trent knew where the house Melissa was staying was located.
He trotted along, not following the path. He knew a shortcut that would take him to the back fence of the Windham house. It felt good to stretch his legs and put on some speed. He didn’t get the same thrill as Annabelle did from running in this forest, but he still enjoyed it. Trent’s favorite part of letting his hyena free was the solace he found in the quiet trees surrounding him, as though the branches and trees protected him.
Trent slowed as he reached the first house in the neighborhood. Melissa’s place was four houses down the street, or alley, like he was strolling down. It was still early enough in the night that there was a chance he’d run into someone. Mitzi Phelps lived next to Melissa. Mitzi had been one of Trent’s one-night stands. On the other side of the street was the Johnson family. Their oldest had been visiting last Christmas and Trent had spent an evening keeping her warm.
The interactions he’d had with the women in the area might be an issue, at least for Melissa. Trent didn’t have any regrets. She’d been the one who’d left him, after all.
Trent liked this part of town.
The houses were two stories and well taken care of, the yards big with plenty of room for kids or shifters to play in. There was also a good deal of space between the residences, so even with shifter hearing, there should be privacy allocated to the home owners.
Trent slowed, passing Mitzi’s house until he was right at the edge of Melissa’s property. He stopped before lying on his stomach. Melissa sat on the back steps with a glass of wine. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. She was crying.
An ache grew in his chest.
Even after how they’d ended things, he didn’t want her upset. He thought he’d at least have fallen out of love with her, Melissa’s betrayal had cut so deep. But watching her, Trent had to wonder if his feelings would ever go away.
She was still so beautiful. Melissa used to wear her dark-brown hair pulled back most of the time. It was only at night, when they were wrapped in each other’s arms that he could play with her long strands. Now, she sported a cute short bob.
Melissa’s hair had been down the night everything had fallen apart, when he’d gone to her apartment with Adam’s blood still coating his clothes. He could still see her fresh from the shower wearing a robe and her hair still wet.
“What are you doing here, Trent?” Melissa had asked.
“I needed to make sure you’re okay.” Trent had tried to take her in his arms, but Melissa had side-stepped out of the way.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Melissa had stated.
“Adam…”
“I know about Adam,” she’d said. Tears had gathered in her eyes. “Everyone knows about Adam.”
“They let him die,” Trent had yelled.
“Did they?” she’d shouted. “Or did you?”
He’d felt like he’d been slapped. “What?”
“You knew how everyone felt,” she’d screamed. “And you still let him be your partner. You did this!”
“No!” he’d howled. She couldn’t think that about him. Melissa wasn’t like all the others. “I loved Adam like a brother.”
“Well, now your brother’s dead!”
He’d staggered. He couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d been shot. A year and a half. They’d been together for a year and a half. In all that time, it had only been in the last three months that anyone had known he was a shifter. Trent had been one of the first to come out to the LAPD as being a shifter. He’d figured with the public support, the men and women he’d worked with would accept him.
And his naivety had cost his best friend his life.
Now, not only was Adam gone, but Melissa had looked at him with hate in her eyes. Trent barely managed to keep a howl of rage from escaping. He shook his head to clear away the memory. He’d left Melissa’s apartment and she hadn’t tried to stop him. Out of everything he’d lost that night, Melissa’s face as she’d screamed Adam’s death was his fault had stuck with him.
He backed away. He needed to return to his family. There was a lot of thinking he had to do. This time Trent raced from Melissa, but he wasn’t letting the despair and anger lead him. No, he had people who cared about him. They might be shifters, monsters to the LAPD, but they were his family. He fit with them.
Trent made it back to the log in record time. He skidded to a stop in front of Mac, who held his clothes.
“That didn’t take long,” Mac said.
Trent shook his entire body.
“Annabelle told me where you were going. She also said you wanted to be left alone.”
Trent began his transformation. It wasn’t like he could respond to Mac as an animal. “This is you giving me space?”
“No, this is me checking to make sure you come back.”
“I promised Annabelle I would,” Trent snapped.
“And I know you wouldn’t break your word to her,” Mac said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t worry, about both of you. Annabelle needs to be able to trust your word. If you hadn’t been able to keep that promise, I needed to know so I could protect her and make her understand you weren’t abandoning her.”
“Doesn’t it get tiresome always watching over us?” Trent asked. He’d often wondered but had never dared question Mac. He needed Mac to push him and be his friend.
“No, it’s what I need to do.”
Well, that makes sense. Mac’s need to control the environment his family was in stemmed from the death of his sister.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Mac offered.
“And say what? The woman I wanted to marry and who blames me for my best friend’s death just showed up in town and I’m okay with it? Because I’m not.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be.”
Trent grabbed his clothes from Mac and pulled them on. He sat on the log to get his boots on but stopped and sighed. “I thought I was done with that part of my life.”
“I know you did,” Mac said.
“It’s not fair.”
“No, but life is rarely fair. We both know that,” Mac replied. “Magnus had no idea. He knew she was from LAPD, but not that you were.”
“I know,” Trent said. “It’s not his fault.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
Trent peered around the forest. Could he find another home like this one? He doubted it. He sighed. “I have no idea. No fucking clue.”
Chapter Three
Melissa paused with her hand on the doorknob of the sheriff’s office. As much as she’d wanted to call in sick, Melissa wasn’t a coward. Everyone had to know her past with Trent by now. Melissa would look them in the eye, even if Sheriff Magnus fired her. At least she’d have the weekend to figure out what to do next.
She pushed open the door and—no surprise—ever
yone turned to her.
“Hey, Melissa.” Fabian was the first to greet her.
“Hey.” She looked around. Magnus and Logan were in their offices but had glanced up at her entrance. Fabian, Fredrick and Carl were sitting around the desk, hanging out, it appeared. Magnus motioned her to him.
Melissa didn’t bother to drop off her bag. She went directly to her boss’ office. “You wanted to see me?” she asked from the doorway.
“I did. Close the door.”
Magnus never wanted his door closed. “Yes, sir.” She followed his order, then stood and braced herself.
“Sit down.”
Well, shit. If Magnus was going to fire her, she’d rather be on her feet. She opened her mouth.
“Relax, Deputy,” Magnus said. “I merely want to talk to you.”
“Sure.” She sat in the terrible chair and peered at him.
“I owe you an apology,” he said.
“A what?” Melissa had no idea what was going on. An apology for firing her? Well, at least Magnus had a heart. She had no idea where she’d go from here. Sure, she was only renting her house, but Melissa didn’t have anywhere else to go. All the bridges she’d burned to get here didn’t leave many choices.
“I didn’t know who Trent was. I don’t run the people Mac takes under his protection unless they cause problems in town. It’s a deal we have. Mac does good work and the men and women who come to him are usually running from something. As long as they keep their noses clean, I leave them alone.”
“You had no way of knowing,” she said. “None of us could have.”
“Still, I’ve managed to put you in a pretty uncomfortable situation.”
She nodded.
“And I don’t mean to sound callous, but I need to know if you’re going to stay.”
“Stay?”
Magnus sighed. “I understand if you don’t want to remain in your position. I’d hate to see you leave. We were finally making some leeway on the illegal hunting. You’re a smart investigator and with the other deputy still not here, you leaving would set us back.”
