“I don’t actually owe you anything,” he argued. “Contrary to what you believe, the world does not fucking revolve around you.”
“What are you talking about?” I yelled. “My whole life has been about taking care of you, making sure you’re happy, giving you everything. Fuck, I wanted you happy so much that I shared my lover with you. And it still wasn’t enough.”
“Cole, I’m not doing this. I can’t. There’s too much going on right now for you and me to play show-and-tell.”
“Sunset is hours away,” I pointed out. “What the hell else do you have going on?”
“Typical,” he said. “There was something out in the woods with us last night. Everyone felt the presence, but we couldn’t find it. I was about to go look again when your annoying ass showed up.” He climbed to his feet and glared down at me. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go protect my cats.”
“That’s fucking rich,” I said, getting up, too. “You left them all behind, not caring what happened to any of them. Then you called them up here to you, and suddenly, you’re the big, bad alpha again. There’s got to be over twenty shifters out there. Are you really worried there’s anything in those woods that could get the jump on them? No. You’re just looking for more ways to avoid me.”
“Actually, dickhead, in case you’ve forgotten, not that long ago, a bunch of witches got the jump on a shit ton of wolves. So yeah, I think there could be something out there endangering my cats. And I didn’t leave them alone. I left Bastian and Darla in charge. And if you’re so fucking keen to talk, come with me. I could use an extra set of eyes.”
Well, that was unexpected. I’d thought he was just running away again. It had never occurred to me that he’d invite me along. I followed him up the beach toward the woods, bumping him with my shoulder and handing him my beer as we went.
He raised the bottle to his lips, and I knocked it away again.
“You’re going to have to come back here, and pick up all that glass,” he said.
“Worth it.” I shrugged. “You’re an idiot.”
“And you’re an asshole,” he said.
“So, what do you think is out here?” I asked softly as we entered the dense forest. “Do you think it’s more Sisters of the White?”
“Maybe. Hell, I don’t know. Last time, they wanted to harness the power of the full moon to steal the wolves’ souls. Tonight is going to be one hell of a lunar powerhouse. It would make sense that they’d show up here. The perigee is closest to this lake tonight, too. That’s why so many other clans were drawn to the area.”
“You didn’t see anything last night?”
“No, but to be honest, I wasn’t looking too hard. It was almost dawn before I realized someone else was out here. By that time, all the cats were tired and looking for places to crash for a few hours before sunrise. I wandered around for a while, but then I had to sleep, too.” He stopped, holding up a hand in warning then pointing east.
I pulled my gun from the back of my jeans and flicked off the safety, pointing it at the ground, so I didn’t accidentally shoot Bryce or anything else. The bears get so big in this part of Michigan that getting hit by a .45 would just piss them off.
Bryce nodded to the left as he took point on the right. I struggled to sense anything out of the ordinary, but I didn’t have Bryce’s supernatural senses. All I heard were birds and a breeze through the trees.
We stood still for a minute, Bryce watching the trees and me watching him. He looked good. Living in the woods for the last couple months had given him a ruggedness he hadn’t possessed before. His five o’clock shadow seemed a little closer to midnight, and I wondered how long it had been since he’d shaved. His brown hair had grown shaggy, bangs hanging down into his eyes in a fashion that made me really want to brush them away. His body had more definition, too. The muscles in his calves and forearms were sharper than they used to be.
“What?” he asked, startling me from my inspection. Apparently, whatever he’d heard hadn’t been anything because he’d turned back to me and now stood with his hands on his hips and a stony expression on his face.
“Nothing,” I said quickly, stowing my gun back in my waistband. “Just noticing how much you’ve changed.” I nodded toward the trees. “Nothing out there?”
“No.” He blew out a sigh and looked up. “These woods are so fucking big. I’d imagine if it’s the witches I’m sensing, they’d want to be close to the lake. Crazy ass bitches.”
Witches, especially Sisters of the White, drew power from the elements, but I’d also read that if they got swept up in running water, it grounded them out. It was a delicate balance needing to be close to, but not actually touching, the water to get its full benefits. Crazy was right.
“If it’s not witches, what else could it be?”
“Fuck, dude, I don’t know. It could be anything. It could be ghosts or wolves or just humans. I. Don’t. Know.”
“Can’t you smell them or something?”
“No,” he growled. “Since you got here, all I can fucking smell is you, okay? Maybe, we’ll get some of the other shifters to do a quick sweep before nightfall.”
“Great,” I said, leaning against a trunk and crossing my arms. “That gives us plenty of time to talk.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No. See, what I don’t understand is why you slipped out in the middle of the night. Why didn’t you just tell me you needed some time away?
