Page 28

AVERY

I stood by the window, watching Cole’s truck head down the road until it was out of sight.

My head was still spinning from our afternoon together.

How was it possible that we had been connected all this time?

A thread of our bond holding us together between miles and years.

Was that what had kept me from hating him the moment I saw him?

Maybe. As a human, I didn’t have all the answers when it came to what basically amounted to magic.

“Are you okay?” Ashton asked.

Snapping out of my reverie, I turned back to him. “Yeah. I’m fine. Why?”

“You’ve been staring out the window at nothing for a while.”

“I’m going to go to my room. I need to call Stormy,” I said. That was the only person I could talk to about all this at the moment.

“Cool. Can I watch TV?”

“That’s fine,” I said absently as I walked to my room, my mind still processing the events of the day.

I called Stormy as soon as I closed the door.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Stormy said as she answered.

“I kissed Cole,” I blurted.

“The fuck ? What are you talking about?” Somehow, she sounded flabbergasted, disappointed, and excited all at the same time. “You kissed him?”

I told her what had happened at the diner, and then our drive together. When I got to the part about Cole never severing the bond, I thought she would lose it.

“That piece of shit!” she shouted into the phone. “How could he do something like that? The audacity and selfishness to?—”

“It wasn’t on purpose,” I cut in before she had a stroke.

“He really thought it would stop once we were apart for a while. I think he was just as surprised as I was by it all, but the connection is still there, Stormy. I felt it the moment I saw him on my front porch, and I felt it even deeper when we kissed.”

“So, you’re okay with this? Because I’m telling you right now, if you’re okay, then I’m okay. If you aren’t okay, then I’ll go up to that damn alpha house with some scissors and make sure Cole Garrett has to pee sitting down for the rest of his life.”

“I don’t know what you mean by okay . Like, do I hate him?

No. Even when I tried as hard as I could to hate him, it was all sort of half-assed.

Do I want to be with him again? I don’t know.

I’m still on the fence about that. Deep down, it feels like I want to, though.

Does that sound crazy? It sounds crazy when I say it out loud. ”

Stormy heaved a dramatic sigh. “This is not like when you were kids. When you fell in love back then, life was different. Cole was on track to be alpha one day, you were going to college, and you both thought you had life figured out. Now? A lot has changed. Ashton being the main difference.

“I know you loved young Cole,” she went on. “What you have to ask yourself is, do you love this Cole? Because regardless of how pretty he probably still is, he’s different, too. Can you picture yourself spending your life with the man he has become?”

Good question. Was there an answer to that yet? I didn’t think so. Everything was still too raw and new and emotional. It wasn’t a good idea to make a massive decision like this unless I was absolutely sure about it.

“A better question,” Stormy said. “How is Ashton taking all this?”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “He’s basically worshipping Cole at this point. He’s really taken to him. I mean, he’s not calling him Dad or anything, but I’m pretty sure he’d be ecstatic if we got together again.”

“I suppose that’s good. At least if you decide to pursue this, it won’t affect that relationship.”

“Right. What do you think I should do, Stormy?” I asked, desperate for some kind of guidance in a situation I had no clue how to navigate.

“My opinion? Ugh. I have no clue. But…” she drifted off for a few seconds before speaking again, her voice tinged with sadness.

“I know that if I had even a one percent chance to be with my Marcus again, I’d take it.

Most people don’t get second chances, Avery.

I know that better than anyone. I can’t tell you what to do, because this isn’t my life.

All I can say is, if you think it’s something you want, then you better fucking grab it and run with it. Because tomorrow isn’t a guarantee.”

That was a gut punch. And she was right. Things had changed quickly with Cole back in the day. I’d thought we’d be together forever, and then he vanished. But unlike Stormy’s husband, Cole had reappeared, giving us a second chance. Maybe .

Stormy would never have another opportunity to be with the man she’d loved. Could I really turn my nose up at the thought when it was all she dreamed of at night? I wasn’t sure I could.

“I’ll let you go,” I said. “I need to figure out something for dinner.”

“Okay. See you soon. You guys should come over this week.”

“We will. For sure. I know Ashton misses Shiloh.”

“Have a good night. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” I said.

For a long time, I sat on my bed, staring out the patio doors.

Again, my eyes fell on the ancient swing that swayed in the breeze.

Back and forth, back and forth. I could almost imagine my own thoughts on that damn swing heading first one way, then the other.

Be with Cole. Don’t be with Cole. Be with Cole.

Don’t be with Cole. Which direction did I want to get off on?

Whatever happened, I’d go into it with an open mind.

Maybe I wouldn’t like this new Cole. If that was the case, I supposed I could end things easily by rejecting him outright.

That would sever our bond and leave us both free to find love somewhere else.

Though, that thought pained me more than I ever would have dreamed.

Unwilling to delve deeper into my mind and all the questions swirling there, I headed out to find Ashton.

He was on the couch, watching some superhero movie.

For me, all the colorful suits blended together, and I couldn’t keep them straight.

If it wasn’t Superman, Batman, or Spiderman, I had no clue who was on screen.

“You want me to order pizza for dinner?” I asked. “I know it’s a little early, but?—”

“Yeah!”

I chuckled. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.”

As we waited for the pizza to arrive, I sat next to Ashton and tried to make heads or tails out of the movie.

Apparently, a snake-faced bad guy was trying to, from what I could tell, end the world with some kind of microscopic nanorobots or something.

And the hero, for some reason, could only save the world with a weirdly named metal only found on the moon.

It was mind-numbing to try to follow, but Ashton was enthralled, so I didn’t interrupt with questions.

Instead, I zoned out, trying to make up my mind about Cole, and what it would mean for our lives.

Dinner arrived forty-five minutes later, and we ate at the kitchen bar. Without the movie to focus on, Ashton was a bit fidgety and twitchy, unable to sit still and constantly in some sort of motion.

“How are you doing?” I asked. “Today was a little rough, wasn’t it?”

He stuffed half a slice of pizza into his mouth, seeming to swallow it without chewing. “Not that bad, I guess. Other than at the restaurant.”

I nodded toward his free hand that was tapping manically on the counter. “Is that because of your wolf?”

He yanked his away and tucked it in his lap, nodding sheepishly.

“Yeah. It’s like something’s moving around inside me.

It’s getting stronger. That creepy guy threatening you really brought it out.

It was weird. My throat felt strange, and then I started growling.

” He picked up a breadstick and took a huge bite. “Kinda cool, though.”

I had no clue what he was going through. Not really. Sure, I’d seen Cole go through his first shift, but I hadn’t experienced it. All I had to go off was Cole’s explanations of his feelings and sensations.

“Is it uncomfortable yet?” I asked, remembering how Cole had been the days leading up to his first shift.

Ashton nodded his head and looked at me as if he was trying to find the right words. “It’s sort of like I always knew it was there. Like when someone is standing over your shoulder, you know?”

“I do.” That description made sense for a human like me.

“It was always at the back of my mind, but now it’s more physical. Like I can feel him inside me. Kinda like we’re both fighting over my body, trying to see who’s going to be in charge. My joints are a little achy, and I get these headaches, too. Not bad enough to be miserable, but it’s there.”

“Do you want some Tylenol or something?” I asked, jumping at the chance to help him in some way. “It probably won’t help much. I could call Cole if you want to talk to him about it.”

“I’m fine, Mom. My shift is coming soon. I can feel it. But it won’t be tonight. I’m not gonna wolf out on you before bed.”

“That’s good,” I joked. “Do you think your wolf will be house-trained? I don’t want a pile of poop or puddles of pee around here if it happens.”

“Gross.” He laughed and tossed a piece of crust at me. “That’s nasty.”

“It’s not my wolf who’s peeing all over my grandmother’s house.”

“Whatever,” he said, and picked up another slice of pizza.

After a few more minutes of eating in silence, he spoke in what I could only call a bad attempt at nonchalance.

“So, uh, are you and Cole gonna get back together?”

That question didn’t surprise me. I’d expected it. I was actually surprised that it had taken him so long to ask. I’d assumed he’d be trying to pry an answer out of me as soon as Cole left. I put my pizza down and wiped my hands before looking at him.