“Hey.”
Well, this wasn’t awkward at all. “You’re out of bed. You must be feeling better?”
He nodded. “I am. I’ll be leaving soon.”
I stiffened. “Leaving?”
“Don’t you think it’s time? The shifters don’t like outsiders within their walls. I’ve been here long enough. We should all do our best and get on with things.”
I made a sound of agreement. He was probably right. It would send the wrong message if he stayed much longer. But even knowing that, I was hesitant to see him leave, especially given that he was still recovering. At least here, the Pack healers could see to any complications he might still have with his recovery.
“You’ll go back to Sanborn Place then?” Inarus had been staying in the apartment above our offices prior to the injury. It was convenient and I’d gotten used to seeing him each day when I went into work.
He lifted his shoulders and adverted his gaze. “I don’t know.”
I jerked my head towards him, searching his face. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”
Inarus’ eyes pleaded with me to understand. “I think space might —”
“No.” I shook my head, my eyes smarting. I knew this was going to happen. I never should have agreed to pull him out. We should have waited a few days. Then Dia could have done it and then we wouldn’t be here.
His forehead wrinkled. “Aria, you know this isn’t good for either of us. I’m not going to delude myself into believing staying here is a good idea.” He turned as if to walk away from me. “You shouldn’t either.”
I grabbed for his hand, a hitch in my voice. “We’re friends.” I threaded my fingers through his, silently begging him to let it be enough. I’d lost too many people. My parents. Mike. I couldn’t lose someone else I cared about. I couldn’t lose him. Not when I knew we could fix whatever this gaping hole between us was.
“You know I care about you.” I was going to go to hell for this. “Can’t that be enough?”
He looked away.
“Please.”
His eyes landed on mine. I saw hesitation there and decided to jump on it.
“Just wait a little longer. If you still want to go once things settle down, I won’t stop you.” It was a lie and guilt tugged at me, but I pushed on anyway. “You’re still not at one hundred percent. Wait. At least until you’re fully recovered.”
He paused and seemed to mull my words over before he inclined his head. “Okay. I’ll wait.”
I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Thank you.”
A growl had both of us turning to find Declan looming in the doorway. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at our joined hands.
I slowly withdrew from Inarus, a blush creeping up my face, and walked towards Declan, putting myself between the two men. “I’ll come check on you later. You should try and get some rest.”
Declan let me pull him from the room and despite his silence, I knew anger churned inside of him; I could feel it through the bond. But he wouldn’t say anything. Not here where everyone within earshot could hear.
Instead, his anger simmered as we walked deeper into the Compound and toward our shared room.
Once inside, Declan stalked to a side table hosting an amber bottle of liquid and a few glasses. He poured himself two inches of whisky and tossed it back before staring down at the glass in his hand.
“It wasn’t what it —”
The glass in Declan’s hand shattered. I jumped but otherwise stayed where I was. With exaggerated calm he set down the remaining pieces still in his hand and ignored the blood dripping from his palm. The wound was shallow, the flesh likely already knitting itself back together thanks to the lycanthropy virus—also known as Lyc-V—running through his veins.
I didn’t ask to see it. He wouldn’t show it to me now anyway. He was brooding and angry and if I were being entirely honest, he was hurt. I hated that it was me that put that hurt there.
“It wasn’t what it looked like.” I tried again.
He leveled me with his Alpha stare. Detached and inscrutable. But his gold-filled eyes gave him away. Declan was hanging on by the thinnest of threads. The man wasn’t in the driver’s seat—his animal was ready to take over.
“Truly.” I tried to reassure him.
His nostrils flared but he said nothing, so I waited.
I didn’t know what to say next. How to explain that I was damaged. That I refused to lose anyone else in my life. That I knew keeping Inarus around hurt him but I still couldn’t let him go.
We all had baggage. This was mine. And we would either hash it out—right here and right now—or I could walk away. I’d give Declan some space to cool his jets.
I could go back to my old room and hope whatever he was dealing with blew over by morning.
It would give me time to sleep. To get my head on straight. I knew I was a wreck. Melody was missing. Inarus was talking about leaving. My world was falling apart and the few people I cared about were going along with it.
But if I did that, the small foundation we’d built would crumble.
I needed to put my big girl panties on and deal with this. Declan meant too much to me to throw it all away over a misunderstanding. It was awkward and uncomfortable but Inarus was just a friend.
