Moonlight

them.”

“So you weren’t even going to give me a choice? You were just going to walk away?”

His words stung. I got up and crossed my arms. “I loved you enough to walk away so you could keep your family. You have the one thing I’ve always wanted. How can I take that from you?”

He shook his head and raked his fingers through his dark hair as he walked over to pat Bruce. “Let me get this straight. I was ready to give up my entire life for you, and you were planning to dump me the entire time.” He looked over his shoulder at me with a disgusted look on his face. “So did you come down here to tell me goodbye, or are you just going to surprise me when you leave?”

“It’s not like that. I didn’t want to hurt you or your family.”

He spun on me. “What part of I love you did you miss? When I told you that, I meant it. You didn’t think it would hurt when I found out you were gone? You didn’t think it would rip my heart out to find you left me while I was a wolf and vanished without a trace? I thought we were a team. I trusted you.” He looked up toward the sky and shook his head. “I should have listened to them.” His eyes met mine and he whispered, “They told me a jaguar could never love me.”

I couldn’t listen to another word. I turned and ran from the barn, his final stab following me out. “After we made love in the barn,” he called after me, “you said you’d love me forever. What an asshole I was to believe you.”

…

Aren leaned against the doorframe while I jammed the few personal belongings I still had into a bag. For a split second I thought it was Adam, but the crutch and wrapped up ankle gave him away. He raised a brow as I zoomed past him in search of my tennis shoes.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I’d spent the better part of the last half hour bottling up my feelings and trying to morph them into self- righteous anger. Adam had twisted everything around. I did love him. I loved him enough to leave him. I was being noble, not hurtful. The bastard.

“I’m leaving.”

“Now?” He straightened up on his crutch. “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here.” I pulled the sides of the bag together and massaged the zipper until it finally slid over the opening.

“What happened?”

I sighed, trying to keep my rage simmering so I couldn’t fall apart. “I know that he told you we were planning on leaving this morning so we could keep Nero away from the Pack, but—”

“He told me he was leaving because the Pack would never accept his mate.”

“Well, I didn’t want him to do that for me.”

“Did you tell him that?”

I sighed. “I thought so. I don’t know.” Tears were threatening again. I took a deep breath and tossed the bag over my shoulder. “My laptop was in Adam’s Jeep when Sasha shot out the tires. Was it still in there when Luke and Logan went over to tow it back?”

He nodded. “Yeah, they left all your stuff beside the sofa last night.”

“Thank you.” I moved past him, noting again the subtle difference between his scent and Adam’s. Adam always smelled musky, like a forest after rain, a wildness to it. Aren’s was similar, but where Adam oozed charm, Aren didn’t. His scent was harder to describe. His scent reminded me of autumn, spicy and intimate, with the aura of winter. Almost as if he had a wall constructed around himself. I shook off the thoughts, picked up my laptop, and went to call a cab.

“So now you’re leaving him, but you’re mad at him for being upset that you’re leaving?”

I sighed and looked up at Aren with the phone in my hand. “I don’t want to go. Not anymore.”

“Then why are you packing?” His brow furrowed.

“Because.” A sob strangled my voice. I cleared my throat and squeaked out, “Because I told Adam I was planning to leave last night so he could stay with all of you and Nero would leave the Pack alone. And now he thinks…” I wiped a tear away. “Now I need to go.”

Aren glanced toward the barn and back at me. “So my new Alpha is an asshole?”

I laughed through my tears. “He’s not an asshole. But he’s not happy with me.”

Aren hobbled over and sat next to me. “Here’s a secret for you, little kitty, and I’ll deny it if you ever repeat a word.”

I wiped my nose and nodded.

“My brother, Adam, is a total horse’s ass when he doesn’t get eight hours of sleep. I’m not saying whether or not you deserved whatever it was he just dished out down there, but we just lost our father and our Alpha. He just got an entire Pack to lead dumped on his shoulders, and on top of all of that, he’s going to be a father himself.” He gave me a little nudge with his elbow. “All that packaged with no sleep, and I bet Adam can’t even stand himself, let alone any of us.”

Placing the phone back on the charger, I took another deep breath and looked at the carbon copy of the man I loved with all my heart. “I love him, Aren. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I didn’t want him to give up his family for me. He doesn’t know how lucky he is to have all of you in his life.”

“The question is, will you give us the chance to have you in our lives? I know you’ve seen me on less than my best behavior, but can you handle an entire Pack? Because in spite of our bad attitudes and fighting, we always know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we need help, we’ve got each other’s backs.”

“But you’re all wolves. I’m…not.”

His mouth curved into a crooked grin. “We’ll still be there for you even though you’re a kitty.”

I elbowed him. “Jaguar. A big, scary black one. Adam showed me a picture. I’m ferocious.”

Aren tipped his head back and laughed. I’d never heard him laugh before, and I felt warmth fill me. I had a brother.

“Glad you find this funny.”

We both looked up to see a very unhappy Adam staring at us. Aren stopped laughing. My smile drained from my face.

Aren pulled himself up on his crutches. “I’ll let you two talk.”

He moved really fast for a guy with a broken ankle.

Adam didn’t move. He stood across the room, pinning me with his stare.

I met his eyes and whispered, “It was because I loved you that I was going to leave.”

“No.” He shook his head. “It’s because you’re a coward.”

“What?” I dropped my bag and my brow furrowed. “I am not. I just wanted you to be happy. I love you, and I was putting your needs before mine.”

“You love me and it scares the crap out of you.”

My jaw dropped, and the volume of my voice rose. “What scares me is that Nero will come back and hurt you and your family.”

“It’s easier to live life on the run, isn’t it? You don’t ever have to worry about getting hurt that way. When things get uncomfortable you just move on to the next city. No one to worry about but yourself.”

“That is so unfair,” I yelled, pointing at him. “I never asked to live like that. I never got to know my parents or have a family. You have everything I ever wished for and you treat it like shit.”

I started to pick up my bags, but he came across the room and grabbed my hand. “And the moment you had a chance to have everything you wished for, you were going to run.” He stared into my eyes, and his expression softened. His free hand came up to cup my face, and I felt all my rage and frustration start to crumble. “I am so sorry I didn’t tell my family about us and force them to accept us right from the beginning. You weren’t the only coward, Lana.”

I pulled my hand free and gave him a half-hearted shove. “I wasn’t being a coward. I never wanted to leave you, Adam.” I stared into his eyes, hoping he could see the truth in my words. “I love you so much. I couldn’t go on if something happened to you because of me.”

“Then we should stay here. We have strength in numbers. We can fight Nero. But I can’t lead the Pack and be the Alpha if I’m worried that I’ll come home from a ride one day and you’ll be gone. If that’s still in your mind I