Page 27

Chapter 27

Prowl

I rinsed the last plate and set it on the dish rack.

A growl followed.

“If you don’t like how I stack it, do it yourself,” I said, ignoring Rage’s foul mood.

“Why are you still here?”

“Because I need a place to stay.”

“The fuck you do. Find your own house.”

“We’ve shared less space than this.”

“Not by choice.”

I tossed the wet dish towel on Rage’s bench instead of hanging it.

Did I know it would piss him off?

Maybe. Did he deserve it?

Yes. Yes, he did.

“You didn’t say one word to me yesterday. What changed?”

Rage tilted his head to both sides, cracking his neck.

“You shacking up here instead of pissing off.”

“I told you I moved here.”

“I didn’t know you meant my house!”

“Go back to grunting at me.”

“I will once you get the hell out.”

“It’s a few days, asshole.”

He grunted.

Great. Back to that again.

“Where will you go?”

“When?” I asked, deciding to wipe down his sink.

“When you leave my house.”

“Sarge said there’s an unclaimed cabin to the west of you. He just needs to dot some Is and cross some Ts.”

“Panthers are there.”

“The cabin?”

“The area. Wouldn’t take your woman there.”

“She won’t be coming this side of the fence.”

Another grunt.

“Sorry.”

“For trying to kill her?”

He rubbed his face, his stance loosening for the first time since I arrived.

He’d been less than impressed to find me on his doorstep before he’d even had the chance to do his morning shit.

“I’m protective of my home. I wasn’t prepared for her coming inside. I didn’t think. I just needed to stop her.”

“So me being here…”

“Is a pain in my ass.”

“Noted.”

“She seems nice.”

“Did you gather that from your vast experience with women or the thirty seconds of looking at her before almost killing her?”

“You called her yours, asshole! She’d have to be nice to put up with you.”

“I marked her.”

He stilled, eyes going wide.

“And there’s a chance she’s pregnant. If that’s possible for us.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing here!”

I walked past him, ignoring the question, only to jerk to a stop thanks to the iron grip on my arm.

“I said, what, the fuck, are you doing here?”

“I ended it.”

“Does she love you? Despite what we are?”

“Yes.”

“You wouldn’t have marked her if you didn’t feel the same way.”

“Your point?”

“What brand of insanity would make you give up a single second of your time with her?”

“She can’t stay.”

“So? Follow her home.”

“Right. I’ll just book my seat on the chopper next to her. That’d go down real well.”

“Then climb the damn cliff, jump off and swim to her!”

“I can see the headlines now. Human/animal mutation shot dead on the beach.”

He didn’t just let go of my arm; he shoved me backwards with it.

“You don’t deserve her. Let one of the other hybrids have her. There’s no way in hell they’d quit on her.”

“She’s mine!”

“I don’t see you with her!”

“She wears my mark!”

“You think any of them will give two shits about your teeth having been in her when she’s warming their bed every night?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“No!”

I needed to get out of here.

The walls were too close, and there wasn’t enough air.

I could barely catch my breath.

The bastard followed me outside.

“Would you trade a single one of your memories with her?”

I bent over, my hands on my knees, as I focused on breathing.

“No. Not for anything.”

“You wouldn’t trade the peace of never knowing her for the pain of loving and losing her?”

“No, Rage! What’s your fucking point?”

“My point, dumbass, is she probably feels the same way. And instead of asking her which option she’d prefer, you’ve made the choice for her, abandoning her and wasting god knows how many months of extra memories you could have made together!”

Shit.

It was getting harder to breathe, not easier.

“I fucked up.”

“No shit.”

I fell back on my ass, putting my head between my knees.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Can’t breathe.”

“Calm the fuck down. You’ll be fine.”

“Asshole.”

“Incoming.”

Could I not catch a damn break?

“I’m going inside.”

“Wait!”

“They’re not here for me, and I don’t want a repeat of last time.”

“What?” Breathe damn it!

“Rage!”

“Prowl?”

Yep.

I was well on my way to passing out, and the bastard had left me here, on my own, with someone heading towards me.

“Prowl!”

I looked up to see her bolting towards me, King keeping pace beside her.

Then she was in front of me, her face filling my vision, her scent filling my lungs.

“Angel?”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her small hands fluttering over me.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I’m sorry,” I managed, grabbing hold of her wrists.

“I fucked up.”

“King? He’s struggling to breathe! Help him!”

“He’s having a panic attack.”

She froze, looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

“He’s what?”

“Panic attack,” I repeated, pulling her onto my lap.

“Just need to hold you.”

She melted into me like I hadn’t tried my best to shatter our world yesterday morning.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

I took a deeper breath, the smell of her hair easing the passage of air into my lungs.

“I shouldn’t have walked away.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing for you.”

She patted my chest like she was humouring me.

“I know.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“As long as you move back out of here and undo your termination order for as long as I’m here.”

“Done.”

She patted my chest again.

“Is it wrong to feel satisfied that Helliot’s going to shit bricks over this?”

I kissed the top of her head, pulling her closer.

“No. But we still have a timer hanging over our heads. And he’ll keep trying to separate us.”

“So, we’ll play it smart. Spend our days together, sleep in our allocated apartments, and push like hell to have the first available place in the shared living area.”

“If they approve one.”

“They have,” King said from somewhere to my left.

“Not sure how long it will take to happen, but Tracker said it got the green light. All of Daff’s suggestions did.”

I squeezed her.

“Will you be okay if we do this, and you still have to leave at the end of your contract?”

“We have twenty-three months to keep pushing for change. If others form relationships, they’ll join the push, too. It’s not over ‘til it’s over, and I’d rather go out fighting, loving you so much my heart hurts, than pretending you don’t mean the world to me, and leave here with a lifetime of regret.”

My hand found her jaw, tilting her perfect face up to mine.

“I love you so damn much, Angel. You walking into my life changed everything.”

She met my kiss halfway, gripping me in a way that spoke to my soul.

Because of her, I’d found my home.

My peace.

My family.

And gave us all a reason to hope.