“Then get her back,” my son snarls. “Lay down your damn pride and protect your mate.”
Yes! My wolf agrees.
“-Sir,” Tank adds.
“You’re a good man, son.”
“I’m what you raised me to be.”
“Proud of you.”
“Dad…” Tank sighs. Whatever he says next is gonna be heavy. “I love you.”
I grip the phone tighter. Try to swallow. “I love you, too.” We don’t say these words aloud. But why not? Life’s too damn short to keep everything bottled up.
Tank and I clear our throats simultaneously. He speaks first. “Sunny’s here. We’ll keep her safe until you come. Just don’t take too long.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up.
Sunny. Fuck. I have to get her back. Now.
I stride back inside to get my keys and my vest.
“Titus?” Alpha Green calls from the corner. The rest of the council ranges around the room, eating leftover sandwiches. “Can you take the pack bus to the hotel down the road and get the rest of our guests settled?”
“No. I’m leaving.”
“What? Is this about the human?” Green’s eyes narrow. “Because she left. Pierce saw her take off as he was walking in.”
I stop at the door. “You knew she left and didn’t tell me?” I snarl at my alpha.
His nostrils flare. “I thought you were getting rid of her.” There’s warning in his voice, but I don’t give a shit.
“You had no right to send her away!” I’m outright yelling now. The rest of the council members’ mouths are hanging open. No one challenges Green this way.
“I didn’t send her away. Anyway, she’s a human. She doesn’t belong among shifters, and she knows that. Better than you it seems. Where are you going?”
I grab my vest off the chair and shrug it on. “To get her back.”
“Titus, you can’t be with her. I forbid it.”
“Fuck that.” The words are out of my mouth before I can think.
“Excuse me? What did you say-”
“I’m going after Sunny. She’s mine.”
“She’s human. You’re pack. She doesn’t belong.”
“She’s my mate.”
“You can’t bring a human in here. Not to my pack.”
“Then I’m out,” I bark.
“What?” Pierce gasps. The room full of shifters quiets. They’re all watching-Allison, Fiona, Declan, Laurie, and the rest. The entire council.
Goosebumps dance on my arm. My wolf holds his breath. He knows what I’m about to say can’t be rescinded.
“I’m out,” I repeat. “Out of the pack.”
Alpha Green is almost purple. He doesn’t take well to people standing up to him. “You leave here, Titus, you don’t come back.”
“Sounds good to me.” I turn on my heel and head for the door. Not smart to turn your back to an angry wolf-and Green is angry like I’ve never seen before-but I don’t give a fuck. None of the council can take me. I’m too big, too strong.
My rage carries me halfway across the parking lot. When I get to my bike, I slow.
Fuck. I left my pack. Fuck! It’s my past all over again. Kicked out because of a woman. But this time is different. Tank was just a little guy, and I had to protect him. Now he’s grown. My choices are my own. They affect no one but me.
And Sunny. My wolf reminds me.
Right. Sunny. Nothing matters except getting her back. For the first time in a long time, I’m seeing clearly.
I throw my leg over my bike and rev it into gear. With the sun sinking over my shoulder, I head to Tucson.
No more running. This ends tonight.
Sunny
“SUNNY?”
“Foxfire, what? It’s late,” I squint at her silhouette in the hall light. My head throbs in protest.
“Sorry. Someone’s here to talk to you.”
What? “Who…” I sense the change in the air. A prickle of a familiar presence. Only Titus sets off my senses like this. “No.”
“I think you should talk to him. ”
“Foxfire,” Tank calls. My daughter disappears. I roll off the bed. If I’m going to face him, I’m going to stand on my own two freak. Feet.
Oh who am I kidding? I’m a freak. I’ll always be a freak. I set my shoulders. I’m not changing for a man. Not even Titus.
His frame fills the doorway and the room falls away. He’s the only thing I see.
“Sunny.”
“Titus.” On second thought, I’m not going to stand. I sink back gracefully a second before my knees give out. “What do you want?”
“You.”
“Funny, that’s not what I heard.” Yes, this is what it sounds like when a fifty-something-year-old woman acts like a teenager. But I’m entitled to some attitude.
“I know what you heard.” He spreads his hands. If he didn’t look so damn contrite I would kick him out of the room right now.
“I fucked up. For a minute-for one stupid minute-I actually thought my place in the pack was more important than you are. But I was wrong.”
To my shock, he drops to his knees in front of me. I must be nuts, because all I can think of is climbing on, straddling his waist the way I did at the waterfall.
Instead, I press my knuckles into my mouth to keep him from seeing the wobble of my chin. It’s a failed attempt because some tears fall onto the back of my hand.
“Baby,” he says softly. He covers the hand at my mouth with his own and gently pulls it away, stroking the back of it with his thumb. “I hurt you. I’m so sorry. I had my head shoved up my ass. I planned on talking to you after the meeting about our future. Because I love you and I want to be with you. But then when Alpha Green came at me with questions, I panicked. And believe me, I felt the betrayal of those words the moment they came from my mouth. And I told myself it would all be okay, because once I talked to you, I could set Green straight.”