Page 20

She snarledbackat him. Bared all her blunt teeth and her five-foot fury, throwing her half of the sign to the ground.

“No, itwasn’t,” she yelled. “That sign sucked! Just like these drafty walls and complete lack of art on this shitty wallpaper and your zero hairdryers and your hole in the roofsucks! Do youwantyour inn to suck? Is this onpurpose,so you’ll have to go out of business and not have to run an inn anymore?”

“Maybe! I wanted to own an inn when I was a dumbass kid, not now. You think I want to be stuck with all these ridiculous chores and ungrateful guests? You think I want all these strangers in my business all the time, telling me what I should be doing, how I should protect my pack?”

He rubbed his chest. The ice was gone, but at what cost? The agony was worth being away from this woman.

“Screw this.” He threw his half of the sign down and stormed toward the front doors.

Luna lingered behind him, clutching the broken wood to her chest. “Where are you going?”

“To get the divorce flower,” he barked, not looking back. “I’m not staying tied to youfor one more day.”

“It’s still snowy,” Luna protested. “And you can’t get too far away!”

Oliver threw the front door open and turned, shooting her a hard smile. “How about we try?”

Then he slammed the door in her outraged face and took off running, ignoring the warmth that turned to ice before he even got down the driveway.

He picked up speed as he cleared the parking lot. His wolf form would get him there faster, but he was still speedy even if he was stuck on two legs. He ran on the side of the road where they had already cleared the snow, not bothering to look at the passerby trying to make eye contact as he sprinted past.

Why couldn’t everyone just leave himalone?

The ice in his chest grew spikes, sending blistering tendrils out through the rest of his body. His feet ached as they struck the wet pavement. His hands shook at his sides. He was starting to sweat in ways that had nothing to do with how fast he was running. His shirt stuck to his back, tiny gasps of pain falling out of him as he got closer and closer to the mountains.

Concrete gave way to snowy grass. His steps became harder like his very bones were protesting the distance between him and the spoiled woman back at the inn who had tied them together.

The mountain loomed in front of him. A few more minutes of running and he’d be at the base, ready to climb.

His vision tunneled. He stumbled, knees hitting thesnow. He knelt there for a moment, spots dancing in the corners of his vision.

“Come on,” he panted, his lips numb. “Come on. Gotta be strong. Gonna—gonna be an alpha.”

Hewas. This past year was just a hiccup. He’d known he was going to be the next alpha since he was a teenager. That wouldn’t change just because Oliver was playing it safe.

He tried to stand. His knees collapsed under him, then his arms. He fell to his stomach and stared up at the mountain, dazed, head lolling. It was still too far away. Even if he made it, it was covered in snow.

Ben is never going to let me live this down,he thought.

Something surprising sprung up amongst the pain: worry. Not his own. The bond was making her stupid emotions leak into his.

Oliver pulled up his walls. Her worry faded, and Oliver felt himself smile.

Then everything went dark.

Seven

Guys had run out on Luna before.

She was alot. In the best ways, obviously. The fun, entertaining ways. Even so, some guys couldn’t handle it. There had been her high school boyfriend who didn’t like that she danced on tables at parties. Then her college boyfriend, who had gotten mad at her foraccidentallythrowing out his granddad’s ashes so she could have a free vase for the beautiful bouquet she bought herself as a half-birthday present.

But she’d never made a guy chase guaranteed agony just so he didn’t have to be in the same room as her. She couldn’t help but feel a little bad as Ben came striding into the living quarters with Oliver hanging over his shoulder, still unconscious.

“Sooo,” Luna said as she stared at Oliver’s limp form. “When you say ‘in pain’…”

“It’s a very vulnerable time,” Grandmother Musgrove said.

She stood back to let Ben get past her. Luna was relieved it was just her, no weird uncles or prying aunts or boisterous kids. She was a little sad Sabine wasn’t around. She’d joked with Luna last night while they were getting clothes from her room. Luna could use some jokes right now to offset the annoying and baseless guilt. It wasn’t her fault,obviously. But she couldn’t help but feel a little bad as she watched Oliver’s limp body bounce against Ben as he carried him to their quarters.