Wolf love, p.118
Wolf Love, page 118
A time of need she’d created.
“This is a mess.” She sifted out a slow breath and wished she could have gone in with Erik to see Thomas, but she wasn’t family. Neither was Erik, but apparently he was the closest thing to family Thomas had and was listed as the man’s emergency contact. She’d promised Erik she wouldn’t leave, but now she wasn’t so sure she should stay.
Wouldn’t it be better if she disappeared? How could she have done this to Erik? Make him fall for her enough that he didn’t want to return to Ireland for good? Make him leave his sister? Make him invest himself in her only to learn she wasn’t allowed to stay?
She was a horrible human. Selfish. Erik deserved to find someone like Brandy, Nika, Emma, and Jessica. A nice lass who could love him for the rest of his life. Not someone who lied to him, who pretended to be something she wasn’t just so she could experience love. Someone so self-centered.
And had she really thought this time as a human would get Erik out of her system? That she could love him for a month and then go back to being a goddess who had no one?
Foolish.
She shot to her feet and marched toward the waiting room doors. She’d go now and save Erik an even bigger heartache.
“Where are you going?” And just like that, his voice pulled her back.
She turned to face him, which was a mistake because one look at him all worried and disheveled had her taking the steps toward him to hold him. “I was going to get a drink.”
More lies.
He cuddled into her, his body warm, but for the first time, he seemed small to her. As if someone had taken the fight out of him.
“How is Thomas?” she asked, rubbing her hands along his back.
He exhaled a shuddery breath that broke her heart then took a step out of her embrace. Raking a hand through his hair, he said, “He’s still not awake. The doctor doesn’t know how long it will be until he wakes up... if he wakes up.” His hazel eyes grew glossy, but he cleared his throat and shook his head as if chastising himself for getting upset. “His leg is broken, the one that most bothered him with arthritis. It probably buckled while he was trying to get out of the lighthouse and escape the fire.”
“Did you talk to the police?”
Two officers had come into the waiting room and questioned her, but she hadn’t had much to say beyond mentioning the workers Thomas had fired on her account.
“Aye. They’re going to question Patrick, Donald, Cory, and Richard.” His hands curled into fists at his sides. “It had to be them. No one else would do anything to hurt Thomas. Everybody loves him.”
“That was my thinking as well.”
“I want to go see the lighthouse.” This was said through clenched teeth and Liddy could tell Erik’s wolf was banging around in its flimsy cage.
“Let’s go.” The sooner she got him out of there, the better.
He walked beside her, angry energy crackling around him. When they climbed into the truck, Erik fingered the anchor keychain hanging from the rearview mirror.
“Thomas has to be all right,” he said, his voice tight and raspy. “He took me in, gave me a job, showed me how things work in this time.”
“He fired those jerks because of me,” Liddy said. “He’s a knight as well.” She rested her hand on Erik’s forearm.
“Aye, he is.” He squeezed the anchor before releasing it so it swung like a nautical pendulum. “Normally, I would have been there at the lighthouse with him. I probably would have heard them starting the fire. I would have sensed them, smelled them before they realized it. I could have...” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I should have been there for Thomas.”
“You had no way of knowing that leaving him wouldn’t be safe,” Liddy said.
“Didn’t I? What made me think Donald and the rest of them would just let getting fired from the marina go? They’d been there for a long time. They’d depended on those jobs.”
“They took advantage of Thomas and weren’t nice to the marina’s customers or you. They deserved to be fired.” Liddy couldn’t let Erik blame himself for what happened.
“But Thomas didn’t deserve to end up in the hospital in a fucking coma.”
That was the first time Erik had used such language around her. It sounded strange coming from him, but she understood how upset he was.
Without another word, he jammed the key into the ignition and started the truck. The ride to the marina was slow and quiet. She couldn’t find the right words to console Erik, especially when the things she had to tell him wanted to spill out instead.
Now is not the time to tell him. Not while he was feeling so furious and... guilty.
When he parked the truck in the marina lot and they got their first view of the destroyed lighthouse, a strangled groan squeezed out of Erik.
Liddy reached over to touch him, but he’d already opened the door and begun sliding out of the truck. She hopped out of the passenger side and jogged around to meet him at the front of the vehicle.
But she didn’t touch him. Claws were clearly visible at the ends of his fingertips and rusty red fur covered the backs of his hands and forearms. His fangs slid past his lower lip and his breathing became ragged as his eyes glowed amber green.
Liddy searched the lighthouse area, cordoned off by yellow caution tape snapping in the sea breeze. Police and fire officials milled about.
“Erik.” She did clamp her hand onto his arm now. “Erik, you have to stay human. There are people over there. Maybe we should come back later.”
His bright hazel gaze slid to the lighthouse then his eyes squeezed shut. In a few seconds, his claws and fangs retracted, his fur disappeared, his breathing evened out, and his eyes no longer glowed. “I’m okay. I can do this. I have to do this.”
He grabbed her hand and led them to the lighthouse. What remained of it anyway, which wasn’t much more than a blackened stone carcass. Enough sunlight was left to illuminate the destruction and reveal that nothing inside was salvageable.
“All of Thomas’s stuff...” Erik’s hold on Liddy tightened and she worried he was about to shift again, but he didn’t. “He’s got nothing left.”
Just like Erik not to worry about his stuff. His home had been destroyed too, and yet, he was only worried about Thomas.
A true knight.
“He’s got the marina,” Liddy pointed out. “His business is still okay.”
Erik nodded, accepting that one kernel of hope as he ducked under the caution tape and sifted through some of the rubble with his boot tip.
“Hey, you two can’t be here. This is a possible arson scene and an active investigation,” an officer announced.
“I live here with Thomas,” Erik said.
The officer’s face softened. “Oh, sorry. You must be...” he consulted his phone in his hand, “Erik Rheagan then?”
“Aye. Find any clues leading to the men Thomas fired recently?”
“Not here, no,” the officer said. “But sometimes with arson, we find the evidence we’re looking for on the perps or at their residences, in their vehicles, that sort of thing.” He gestured to the charred lighthouse skeleton. “It takes a pretty big fire to take down one of these old girls, so the perps could have used chemicals we can trace. We’ll get these douchebags.”
Erik and the officer shook hands. “Thank you.”
“Just doing our jobs. I still have to ask you not to touch anything though until we’ve cleared this site,” the officer said.
“No problem.” Erik craned his head back, looking where his rooms used to be. “Probably nothing of value to pull from the wreckage anyway. It’s a total loss.”
The officer nodded. “Sadly, you’re right. While the outside is stone, the insides of this lighthouse had a great deal of wood so that burned easily.” He glanced at Liddy then back to Erik. “You have a place to stay, man?”
“Aye, he does,” Liddy said. “My boat is docked here.”
Erik gave her a nod, but his face didn’t hold the warmth it normally did when he looked at her.
“Very good then.” The officer gave them a brief salute and went back to his work.
Erik stood quietly in front of the ruins and Liddy wasn’t sure what to do. Gods, she missed being able to read his thoughts. If she only knew what was going on in there...
“You should go.” His voice surprised her.
“What?”
“Go. You should go.” He turned to face her, his gaze blank. “I have some things I need to do.”
“I can help you.” She didn’t want to leave him alone right now. He wasn’t stable.
“No. You can’t help me. Not with what I’m about to do, Liddy.” Again, his hands fisted at his sides. “Go.”
That one word, issued as a command, sliced into her chest. “I will not go. Whatever you are thinking of doing, don’t.”
“Liddy, I must do this.” He clamped his hands on her biceps, his hold tight and rough. “I can’t let them get away with what they’ve done, what they’ve taken from Thomas.”
“They won’t get away with it,” Liddy said, certain her flesh would bruise where Erik’s hands were. “You heard the police. They’ll find the evidence they need on those lads. They’ll pay for this.” She motioned to the lighthouse rubble with her chin. “Justice will be served.”
“But how long will it take? Thomas could be...” Erik squeezed his eyes shut. “Thomas could be gone before the police gather the evidence. Donald and the others could flee. I might never have an opportunity to make them atone for this.”
“And is that what you’re going to do, Erik? Make them atone?” Liddy jerked out of his hold now. “Or are you resorting to an ancient warrior mentality where every act of war must be met with another act of war, on and on, until no one really wins?” Hadn’t she watched this exact scenario play out among humans throughout time? Did no one understand how peace was achieved?
“How can I stand by and do nothing?” His words were laced with growls now, his control slipping faster by the moment. “They destroyed Thomas’s home. He’s fighting for his life because of them, because of you.”
The accusation slammed into her, making Liddy physically stumble backward a few steps.
Because he isn’t wrong...
Thomas fired those lads because they’d been hassling her. There had been other reasons why they had to go, but the inciting event had been her.
“I... I’m...” She couldn’t come up with a single thing to say that would absolve her of the blame Erik had tossed at her. “You’re right. I never should have come.”
She turned and ran, Erik’s voice carrying on the breeze to her.
“Liddy, wait! I didn’t... I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said that!”
Her legs wouldn’t allow her to change direction. It’d been a mistake to take Gwyd’s offer. Goddesses didn’t belong here among humans. They could play with humans’ lives, but they couldn’t live them. She’d only wanted to love Erik and instead she’d hurt a human who meant so much to him. She’d been planning to hurt Erik too by revealing who she was and that she couldn’t stay.
It doesn’t matter now. He didn’t want her to stay. If he had, he could have easily caught up to her with his enhanced speed, and he hadn’t.
She didn’t look back. Instead she ran to her boat, fired up the motor, untied from the dock, and powered out of the slip into the bay. The sunset was gorgeous tonight, pinks, oranges, and purples smearing the darkening sky and wavering on the water’s surface. The distortion of the sunset on the water made Liddy think of dreams coming apart, no longer having enough hope to hold them together. Her dream of being Erik’s soul mate was torn to shreds. It had never been a possible dream anyway.
The worst part was her heart had believed.
****
Erik watched the mast of Wild Thing as the boat slid out of the marina and into the growing darkness. He should have gone after Liddy, but he wasn’t fit to be around her right now. Maybe he’d never be fit.
For her.
For anyone.
Reardon and the others had found their soul mates and from everything Erik had witnessed today, they were perfect matches. Even Dylan and Kylie, so young, but so connected, so... destined. He’d felt that way about Liddy, but what could he offer her? Reardon and the other lads appeared to have their wolves under control far more than he did. Maybe it was because of what Shawn had said—that being around the pack and shifting to run and romp regularly in the woods as wolves kept the beasts at bay—but he had responsibilities here in Rhode Island.
And in Ireland.
He couldn’t dismiss his sister. She was his only family and she needed him, like Thomas needed him. If he hadn’t been so selfishly wrapped up in what he wanted, what he desired, Thomas wouldn’t have gotten hurt tonight. They wouldn’t have lost their home either.
I was right to send her away. It was the best thing for everyone. Avenging Thomas could quite possibly be his something worthy and then he’d gain a trip back to his Ireland, to Rianne, to the life he’d already had in progress before Reardon turned him into a monster.
Monsters didn’t get to have it all. Although the other members of the pack appeared to have found it all, Erik was certain he wasn’t meant to. This past week had been a trick. He’d been happier than he’d ever been in his life, but it wasn’t real. Liddy wouldn’t be able to pledge herself to him no matter how accepting she’d seemed. It wouldn’t be fair to ask her to be his. Not when he planned to unleash his fury on Donald and the other lads.
With a last glance at Liddy’s boat as it cut noiselessly through the water, Erik turned and walked away from the smoky remains of the lighthouse. He stopped into the marina’s steel building and grabbed a length of pipe which was the closest thing to a sword he could find. Those lads would never see him coming.
He tried each of their homes first, but none of their vehicles had been in their driveways. They were hiding out somewhere together which confirmed their guilt in Erik’s mind. You only hid if you believed you were being hunted.
And wolves loved a hunt.
Erik gripped the steering wheel of the truck tightly until his knuckles glowed white in the streetlight beam slicing through the windshield. Think. Where would those bastards gather to celebrate the successful destruction of the lighthouse? Closing his eyes, he pushed thoughts of Liddy and the pack from his mind, cleared his brain of everything except finding those bastards.
At first his head was totally empty, aside from the rage building to dangerous levels the more he pictured any one of those lads lighting the spark that had ravaged the lighthouse. After a few moments, however, the blurry edges of a vision solidified behind his eyelids. The high chain-link fence. The broken down shack. The rusty water tower. He knew that place, about ten minutes from Patrick’s street where Erik now was.
They’d no doubt collected there to ditch any supplies they may have used, to gloat in their success, to revel in paying Thomas back for firing them, to applaud that they destroyed where Erik lived as well.
Well, he’d take great pleasure in crashing their celebration.
Erik took the truck back to the marina then ran on foot with the length of pipe in his grip to the one lane dirt road that led to the abandoned water tower. When he was three-fourths of the way to the tower, he shifted to almost full wolfman, leaving him human enough to still talk and easily use his hands. He anticipated the fear he’d see on the lads’ faces when he pounced on them. He knew Reardon and the others wouldn’t approve of what he was about to do.
He knew Flidae wouldn’t either, but where had she been anyway? Had she seen him with Liddy and stopped checking in on him? Had she been upset that he’d been with Liddy? If she had been, wouldn’t she have punished him in some way? Didn’t she have the power to do just that?
He couldn’t worry about where Flidae was or what she would do. If he’d angered her—or was about to—he couldn’t help it. Thomas needed him to do this. He needed to do this.
Good thing I sent Liddy away. She was worthy of so much more than he could give her. That revelation hurt him, but the truth of it was rock solid. He was an animal with selfish desires and little control over himself.
He neared what he believed to be the glow of several flashlights and listened to whispered conversation.
“How long do we need to stay here?” Richard asked.
“Another few minutes, then we’ll get on to the actual camping trip we told our families we’d be on this weekend.” Donald rumbled with laughter and the others joined in.
“Never underestimate the power of a good campfire,” Patrick said, eliciting more laughter.
“The geezer got what was coming to him,” Cory said. “Thinks he can fire us and get away with it. Moron.”
“Too bad Rheagan wasn’t at home though,” Donald said. “Would have been nice to get Thomas and his favorite employee to run out of that burning lighthouse.”
“Can’t we plan a little something for Potato?” Patrick asked. “I mean, this all went according to our design. Why couldn’t we initiate a Phase 2, if you will?”
Donald jostled Patrick by the shoulder. “Excellent thinking, Patty. What’s stopping us?”
“Me.” Erik growled and leaped out of the shadows to land in the middle of their circle, brandishing the pipe like the sword he wished he had. Flashlight beams nearly blinded him, but he managed to keep his gaze focused on his prey.
“What the hell...” Cory’s flashlight thumped to the ground as he backed away from Erik.
“Fuck...” Richard held his hands up as if to defend himself.
As if you could defend yourself, Erik thought before baring his wolfman teeth, advancing on Richard and swinging the pipe so it caught Richard square on the shoulders, a horrifying bone crunch echoing through the night.
The man crumpled to the ground, howling in pain, and Erik whirled around to face the other three.
