Taking a calming breath, I turned off the stove and brought the pan to the island where our plates and tortillas already waited. She immediately grabbed for the food. My stomach rumbled again as she stuffed two tortillas. I put one together, too, but had lost my interest in food. I inhaled her scent, and my canines lengthened.
As soon as she stuffed the last bite in her mouth, I grabbed her plate and put it under mine which still had half my portion on it.
“You’re done?” she asked after swallowing her bite.
“Yes. I’ve had enough.” I just wanted her. Outside. Running. I stood with the plates, took them to the sink, and set them on the counter. I didn’t hesitate to leave the mess behind.
I turned toward her.
“Let’s go for that walk.”
“Um. Okay,” she said before going to get her jacket and scarf. She took her time getting ready. That drove me even crazier.
“Don’t you need a jacket or a sweater or something?” she asked, looking up at me after tying her shoes.
“No.” I opened the door and gestured her out.
“Are you impatient?” she asked, studying me as she walked out the door.
“Yes, Isabelle. Very.”
I closed the door.
“Are you going to tell me why?”
I held out my hand. She took it, sending a shiver of need through me as we started down the hall.
“I’m hoping we can go for a run,” I admitted.
“Aren’t we already?”
I realized I’d been hurrying and slowed a bit as we jogged down the stairs.
“Where are we going to run?” she asked.
“Outside.”
She laughed, and the sound echoed in the garage. A laugh wasn’t a no. She would run. Impatience and excitement ate at my wall and need pooled in my gut.
I pulled her toward the exit door, barely nodding to the guard there. As soon as we were outside, I stopped and turned to her. Her cheeks were pink from keeping up with me and humor made her eyes sparkle. How could one person come to mean so much to me in such a short amount of time? My need for her drove my every waking thought. And right now, I needed her to run. We weren’t in the woods, but the city would work just as well for our little game of chase.
I gently touched her soft cheeks and leaned in close to her ear.
“Run, Isabelle.”
She jerked back and stared at me.
“Whoa! Wait. Is this like the last time? You can’t…” she glanced around, nervously, but I could already scent her excitement, which increased my own.
“People will see,” she said in a hushed tone.
“I won’t change.” I was in control. Mostly.
“And what are you going to do when you catch me?”
I inhaled, savoring the desire in her scent and told her what she wanted to hear.
“Make out.”
A sexy smile curved her lips.
“I want a head start,” she said playfully.
“I’ll count to ten.”
“Fifty.”
“Twenty-five, starting now. One. Two…”
She pivoted and sprinted away, pushing people aside. I could hear her laughter and panted breath as I continued counting. She ran fast and was out of my sight by fifteen. I almost didn’t count out another ten. The need to chase after her knotted my insides.
I inhaled deeply again, letting her scent fill me as I hit twenty-five. It was better than the last time. Sweeter. Happier. More excited. By me. I took off at a jog, following my Mate’s trail. People moved out of my way when they saw me coming. I rounded the first corner and made it several yards before her trail stopped. She’d crossed the street. I couldn’t prevent the hungry grin on my face as I tracked her. Cars honked as I jogged between them. I ran a little faster when I reached the other side, her scent growing stronger. I was close.
I reached the end of the block and turned the corner at a run. The sight before me stopped me dead.
She stood facing me, a phone pressed to her ear. A male lay unmoving at her feet. Across the street, people were talking loudly and gesturing in their direction. The wind changed, and in New York’s noxious smell, I picked up a hint of werewolf.
My control frayed as I stared at Isabelle’s bloody mouth.
Isabelle was attacked, I sent Grey. She’s bleeding. I might kill the mutt.
“Gotta go,” Isabelle said into the phone a moment before she dropped it and stepped on it.
How many?
One. She knocked him out.
Isabelle hurried toward me. Her upper lip and cheek were starting to swell. Blood coated her teeth.
“You caught me,” she said, stopping before me and cupping my face.
I growled. She’d been hurt because of me. I glanced at the mutt who hurt her.
“No way, Carlos. You promised me a make out session.”
She tipped her face up to me expectantly. The up-close view of her damaged face fed my rage. My teeth pushed at my lips, and a tingle started in my arms.
“Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to be playing hard to get, remember?”
She set her hands on my shoulders then jumped up and wrapped her legs around my waist. The shock of the contact pulled back the imminent shift.
“I feel like a frontwards backpack,” she whispered before pressing her lips to mine.
The taste of her blood almost undid me. Then she touched my face. A gentle caress. I inhaled the scent of her worry. She was doing this to distract me, so I wouldn’t shift. And it worked.
I wrapped my arms around her and brushed my lips over her as gently as possible before kissing her swelling cheek.
“We can’t leave him. He’ll trace our scent back to the others,” I said against her skin.
“We can’t kill him,” she whispered against my throat.
I shuddered at the sensation.
“Too many witnesses. Take me for a run. We’ll get a taxi, then go home.” She pulled back enough to look at me.
I glanced at the people still milling around and staring at us. She was right. Too many witnesses.
The male on the sidewalk was starting to move. I turned and headed back the way we’d come. At the street, I didn’t cross but kept going straight, still carrying Isabelle in my arms.
She whistled loudly and waved her arms.
“Got your wallet?” she asked.
I nodded and set her down as a car pulled up beside us. She got into the back and slid over for me.
“We’d like to see some sights,” I said, pulling out a one-hundred-dollar bill and showing it to the driver. “What do you recommend?”
“Rockefeller’s a sight at night. I could point out where some stars live on the way.”
“Sounds good,” Isabelle said.
He pulled away from the curb and wove his way through streets until I felt certain our trail would be lost. When I saw a street vendor selling Italian ice, I asked the man to stop and ran to get one for Isabelle. The swelling in her cheek was getting worse, and I wanted to get her back as soon as safely possible.
****
It was late when the cab dropped us off at a random place still several blocks from the apartment. Because of what Michelle had shared about Blake’s connections and reach in the human world, the Elders had been worried he would discover where the cab left us. So the distance was a precaution, as was Gabby watching for Urbat activity. Assured there was no one nearby, Isabelle and I walked back to the building. She hadn’t said anything about her encounter, and I didn’t ask. I couldn’t. Shame filled me every time I looked at her swollen face.
Grey was inside our apartment, waiting for us when we entered. While Isabelle closed herself in the bathroom, I told Grey what had happened.
He didn’t comment on the run.
“Do you know who was on the phone?” he asked, instead.
I shook my head. “I didn’t think to ask. Her face…” I went to the freezer and put some ice in a sandwich bag.
“She’s tough,” Grey said reassuringly.
“She’s still human.” I went to the bathroom door. “I have a bag of ice for you,” I said, knowing she’d hear me.
The door opened. She took the bag from me and set it on her face.
“Thanks. Are we grounded?” she asked.
I stepped aside so she would see Grey hadn’t left.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.
She glanced at me.
“Um, well, Carlos and I went for a run. We were separated for just a few seconds, and when someone caught me from behind, I thought it was Carlos. Until that someone spun me around and punched me in the face. Then, I figured it out. With my ears ringing, I couldn’t pull right. The guy called Blake to say he had one of us—”
“How do you know it was Blake?” Grey asked.
“Because I pulled again, knocked the jerk who’d hit me to his knees, and stole his phone.”
“What did Blake say?”
A thread of sorrow clouded the air.
“That he didn’t mean for Ethan to die. He was lying, though. I told him we were coming and that I would kill him.”
I need to talk to the others, Grey sent me.
I understand.
“All right. I’ll let you two rest. Stay inside for the rest of the night.” Grey left, quietly closing the door behind him.
She turned to me.
“Yep, we’re grounded. Come on, big guy. Let’s go to bed. I’m beat.”
She grinned, winced, and walked back to the bedroom. I trailed behind her, unamused. Since my very first sight of her, nothing had gone right. Was I just fooling myself?
A shard of pain, so intense it stole my breath, pierced my mind. I pulled it quickly behind my wall, as well as the gratitude that followed it. The gratitude surprised me. Usually, once I took the emotions, the link went quiet again.
I wanted to think the gratitude was a good sign, but I wasn’t fooling myself. The link had never before been this active. Not even in the beginning. I was being rightfully punished for failing for so many years. I didn’t deserve any happiness. How could I when my sister suffered?
“Soon,” I whispered softly. Soon Blake and his kind would pay for everything.