Page 33

L ucian sipped his water as Krys slid into the bench seat across from him. Dragonfly’s was bustling as usual. A surge of out-of-town Shifters were there for a weekend party, but most of that group had moved on to the next room.

“Any reason you got me sitting in a private carriage booth?” Krys asked, eyeballing their enclosed compartment, which was mounted against the wall.

“I like privacy.”

The long-haired Shifter smirked. “So you came to a club for privacy?” When he tapped his hand on the table, his rings clicked against the wood.

“I like a change of view.”

Krys lifted his glass of vodka. “It’s cool.”

Unlike Lucian, Krys enjoyed going out. He wasn’t as gregarious as his cousin, but he could always find someone to drink or play pool with.

“You should put a sidecar on your bike for passengers,” Lucian suggested.

Krys spit out his drink when he sputtered with laughter. After drying his goatee, he wiped his arm across the glossy table to clean off the vodka. “I’d look like the biggest asshole in town.”

Lucian didn’t own a car. He could always find a ride or borrow someone else’s.

Hope and Lakota lent out their vehicles to anyone in need since they didn’t have an outside job.

But tonight Lucian had hitched a ride with Krys, which meant holding on for dear life while Krys whipped his motorcycle around dark turns and bumpy roads.

“Be right back.” Krys got up with his half-empty glass to presumably get a refill.

Lucian drew the black curtain on his carriage window aside and watched Eden and Deacon dining together. They were seated in the center of the room, but Eden’s back was to him. Though he didn’t want her to see him, he regretted choosing this private carriage seat since now he couldn’t see her face.

He sure as hell could see Deacon’s face.

The grinning bastard.

One thing Lucian liked was that she had taken his advice about sitting in the middle of a room.

Lucian hadn’t planned on following Eden, but Deacon was a braggart and made sure everyone at the Rabbit Lounge knew about their date tonight.

After Mercy mentioned it at breakfast, Lucian hadn’t stopped thinking about it since.

Part of him felt like an asshole for spying, but he also didn’t trust Deacon, especially after their confrontation last year.

He thought about the peace party. After his interaction with Deacon, Lucian couldn’t suppress his emotions, and they’d come bursting out when he seduced Eden in his bedroom. When she left, he’d gone back to his room and curled up in his bed, gutted by the evening’s events.

No suitor was good enough, but of all people, why did it have to be Deacon? And now that jackass knew all about Lucian’s past.

If that motherfucker tells her, I’ll drop him into a well. Or leave town. Or both.

One thing was for sure: He’d never be able to look Eden in the eye again.

Lucian let go of the black curtain and rubbed his face. It was true: His kindred spirit had rejected him. If he wasn’t good enough for his soulmate, he wasn’t good enough for anyone.

That truth had eaten away at him for years.

Moving to Texas and joining a pack had been a refreshing distraction, but when his pack started finding mates, that empty crevice in his heart widened like a canyon.

Painful memories were now resurfacing, and it had everything to do with Deacon entering the picture.

Lucian stared at his glass of water and wished it was alcohol, but even that wouldn’t be enough to dull the ache. He felt raw and exposed like a nerve, and Deacon’s boisterous laugh across the room plucked that nerve like a harp.

Fifteen years ago, Lucian encountered Mae in a Chinese restaurant.

She was a statuesque blonde with pale yellow eyes, unnaturally tan skin, and the loudest laugh, which made heads turn.

The annoying disruptions kept drawing his attention to her table, and he had almost walked out.

She was pretty by Chitah standards, but her looks hadn’t especially caught his eye.

It wasn’t until she passed by him on her way to the restroom that he caught her scent.

That was it. He knew.

Chitah males knew their kindred immediately.

Their body reacted to her scent. Had she not disappeared into the restroom so quickly, he might’ve gotten up and uncontrollably marked her.

Instead, he stood patiently by his table and waited for her return.

Lucian hadn’t planned what he would say, so when she walked by him again, he blocked her and blurted out, “You’re my kindred. ”

Not exactly the smoothest move.

He remembered how her eyes widened like saucers and she shook her head.

Despite her disbelief, the connection on his end was palpable, like a rope pulling him home.

It wasn’t until she scented his powerful emotions that she knew he was speaking the truth, and the first words she ever said to him were “Leave me alone. I already have a mate.”

Lucian didn’t give up. He found out where she lived and called her several times.

All he wanted was to sit and have a conversation—to find out how serious she was with that other male.

He even approached the elders and was granted two weeks to court her, which was allowed if the female was already mated.

It gave everyone closure. Chitahs settled all the time and not always for love.

Sometimes they just got tired of waiting around for their soulmate to appear.

Lucian felt like slime for going to that extreme, but he sincerely thought he could win her love in that time period.

He had done everything to prove his worth, but in the end, she chose her mate.

He was glad that he’d at least had that brief time with her.

Now he wouldn’t spend the rest of his life wondering if she could’ve loved him back.

He tried, and it wasn’t meant to be. While they’d had nothing in common, it didn’t erase his feelings for someone he barely knew.

Lucian never told his family. The worst thing that could happen to a Chitah was to court his kindred spirit, only to be rejected.

Three years ago, he spotted her on the street with her young. He watched her mate holding the youngest baby, and all he could think was: That could’ve been me .

Living in the same city with her became unbearable. His stomach clenched at every turn and when he entered a restaurant. Would he bump into her again? Would she ignore him? Would his soul shatter into nothingness?

He must have been such a disappointment. Had he not been a defect, would she have chosen him? Lucian wondered what Mae told her friends and family about him, if anything. They probably assured her she was better off.

They were right.

The music switched to something slow and depressing, and he sipped his water, pretending it was vodka.

“Are you sure you don’t want a real drink?” Krys asked before sitting back down.

“I’m the designated driver.”

Krys snorted. “The hell you are. Nobody drives my bike except me. Besides, I don’t drive drunk. It takes a lot more than this to get me buzzed.” He sipped his drink and then sat back. “Everybody’s got baby fever in the house.”

“Yep.”

Krys chuckled. “That Violet is a riot. I caught her wolf chewing on Lakota’s shoe last night. Gnawed a hole right through it.”

Shifter wolves didn’t normally go through teething since they were fully grown after their first change, but since Violet had been able to shift since birth, it was a challenge.

Krys’s ring clinked against his glass. “Keep your shoes off the floor is all I’m sayin’.”

Lucian pulled back the curtain just enough to see what Deacon and Eden were doing. The musclehead was holding up an empty wineglass and snapping his fingers at a busy server.

“Have you thought about taking a job?” Lucian rested his arms on the table. “I could use an assistant.”

Krys shook his head. “I don’t have the patience for that kind of shit. Atticus mentioned he needs a couple of bouncers at the club, so I’m thinking about it. Tak keeps putting me on projects around the property. Maybe I’ll go into housecleaning.”

Lucian flicked his eyes up. “What?”

“I’ve had offers,” he said with a throaty growl. “ All kinds of unusual offers. What do you expect in a small town?”

“Whatever floats your boat.”

“Not all of us can be Einsteins.” Krys had on his usual attire—leather pants, leather jacket, leather boots with chains, and no shirt. The pendant around his neck was shaped like a shield and had a wolf’s head on it.

Krys didn’t talk as much as the other men, and Lucian liked that.

They could sit in silence or have small talk and both be fine with it.

Virgil, on the other hand, loved telling his life story in explicit detail.

Montana focused on the happenings around town and his past jobs as a detective, which was interesting.

Lucian intentionally chose not to borrow a car tonight. Montana might’ve tagged along, which wasn’t possible on Krys’s bike. He was a smart guy, and it wouldn’t take him long to wonder why they were sitting in the same dining room with Eden without saying hello.

When Krys’s phone vibrated, he set it on the table and swiped the screen. “It’s Archer again. Second time in the past hour.”

“What does he want?”

After tucking his phone back in his inside coat pocket, he scratched his head. “Cleo’s not eating.”

Lucian frowned. “What does he expect you to do? Force feed her?”

“Fuck if I know.” Krys ran his hand over his short mustache and connecting goatee. “Usually if I’m the one who brings her the food, she’ll eat.”

“She trusts you. I can scent it.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a mama bird. I can’t feed her all day.”

“You heard what the Relic said. She can’t go anywhere until she’s healthy and gains weight.”

Krys stared at his glass. “We should probably head out soon. We’ve already been here two hours, and I’m about to eat this fucking table.”

“Why didn’t you order anything?”