“How are you otherwise?” Sydney asked, offering the chair back to her.

  Chloe took it, turning it as Sydney slipped through the gap in the side of her tent-like stall into her own, and also took a seat. “Ahhh, much better.”

  “Oh please, you aren’t that pregnant yet,” Chloe said. “You don’t even have a belly yet!”

  “Maybe not a pregnant one.”

  The two women stared at each other, then laughed together.

  “So, tell me, how are you? How have you been? How’s uh, what was his name?” Sydney said, scratching her chin in thought.

  “Linden. His name was Linden,” she said, choosing her words with care.

  Sydney’s face settled, losing much of its humor. “Wait. What did I miss? It’s only been a few days. His name was Linden? What happened?”

  Chloe turned to look her friend head on. “I screwed up Syd. I screwed up something bad.”

  “What are you talking about? You can’t have screwed it up that bad. Not if you’re his…” Sydney shook her head. “Explain.”

  Chloe thought about asking what Sydney was about to say but decided not. It couldn’t be that important. Sydney would have finished her sentence if it was.

  “I…oh man, this is so cringy to even repeat. I want to crawl up into a hole and pull the dirt in behind me,” she said, rubbing her hands.

  “Stop with the dramatics and just give me the details already,” Sydney ordered. “We’ll see if this is as unfixable as you’re making it out to be.”

  “Oh, it is. Trust me on that one. There’s no coming back from it. It’s over, I’ve already been hit with that.”

  “Lay it on me, girl,” Sydney said, turning her chair to face the other stall.

  Chloe looked skyward, the gray clouds and misty afternoon not doing anything to improve her mood, even if they were blocked by the white canvas that covered her little booth.

  “I kinda sorta took your advice, combined with just letting thing happen,” she said. “We slept together. It was good. Really good, you weren’t wrong about that. Best sex of my life.”

  Sydney was smiling from ear to ear. “Right? I told you, you wouldn’t regret it.”

  “Yeah…just wait,” Chloe said, holding up a hand to stop the applause. She really didn’t want to go into the details of that part of the night, or more importantly, the morning after. “There’s more.”

  “Round two, you mean?”

  “Not that! I let him stay over.”

  Sydney sat back in her chair with a whistle. “Good for you, Chloe. I’m proud of you, that must have taken some serious courage.”

  “Somewhat, but truthfully, I didn’t think about it too much. I was too tired, he was too warm. It just kind of happened.”

  “I’m not seeing a downside, Chloe. I’m so happy for you that you did this, so—”

  Chloe held up a hand, palm facing her friend. “Hold your celebration train. Because we’re about to derail this feelgood story. We’re talking more explosions than a Michael Bay movie.”

  Sydney snickered. “Continue then.”

  “I wake up in the morning. Feeling good in multiple ways. Snuggle in for some warmth, he puts his arm around me, you know how guys do. It’s great. Then, what do I, mega-genius Chloe Brooks do next? Go on, guess!”

  Sydney shrugged. “I don’t know? Squeeze his dick too hard trying to get him up for morning sex? Fart? Develop a nose bleed so bad you have to go to the hospital and then he realizes as he hops out of the car that he’s still naked and so are you, but you’re both covered in blood, like a couple of serial killers who got high on drugs and went to the wrong place?”

  Chloe stared at her friend. “What in the actual fuck?”

  “Hey, you asked me to guess!” Sydney said defensively. “I have a vivid imagination. What do you want from me?”

  “Not that!” Chloe shook her head. “Nope. It’s actually worse than any of that, but nice try.”

  “What could possibly be worse than that?”

  “I start talking about John. Right there. In his arms. In bed. Naked. Telling him all about my ex-boyfriend who died.”

  Clasping a hand over her mouth Sydney gasped. “No!”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh no. Oh dear. Chloe,” she moaned. “Why did you think that was a good idea?”

  “I didn’t!” she exclaimed. “I just…I felt so okay. So safe and protected and comfortable with him. It just sort of slipped out. Oh God, I’m so dumb. Then this morning, he comes by, but not to help. Instead, he tells me he needs some time to himself. I…”

  She shook her head, hand diving into her purse for a tissue.

  Sydney was suddenly there, wrapping her arms around her as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Chloe.”

  “I screwed up so badly. Scared him off. I can’t blame him either, can’t be mad. This is all on me! Just me.”

  “How did he react at the time?” her friend wanted to know, still hugging her.

  “Oh, you know, the usual. He got all growly and said that I could talk about anything with him. No matter what, that he would be here to listen and not judge. The standard. But I could tell. I could sense it in him, he was scared. I mean shit, can I blame him? Who would want that baggage anyway? I’m messed up.”

  “No, you aren’t,” Sydney sighed. “You’ve actually handled it extremely well. You grieved, you mourned his loss. But you also moved on. That’s huge, and a lot of people struggle with that. You don’t need to be ashamed. He’s the one who should feel bad.”

  “What are you talking about?” Chloe was confused. “He didn’t do anything.”

  “Sure, he did,” Sydney said. “He told you that he would be there, wouldn’t judge, that you saying those things didn’t bother him. But then what does he go and do? He says he can’t handle it, that he needs space while you sort it out.”

  Chloe frowned. “That’s…that’s not exactly what he said,” she admitted.

  “What did he say then?” Sydney wanted to know.

  “He told me that he needed some space. That he had some things he needed to sort out, that it wasn’t my fault. He said that several times, but I mean, it’s obvious that it was me. Nothing else happened between then and now to cause that.”

  “That you know of.”

  Chloe blinked, confused. “What do you mean? I thought we just agreed that he’s running away because I dumped my baggage on him in the most horrific manner possible.”

  Sydney patted her on the back and stood up, going over to her stall to grab her chair and bringing it back so she could sit opposite Chloe, facing her. “You know, it may be possible that he’s telling the truth.”

  “He’s not,” she said flatly.

  “What if there is something going on with him? Something about his own emotions. Why do you think you have the monopoly on past trauma that might make it difficult to open up?”

  Chloe shrugged. “I don’t. But he’s given no sign of it so far. Why would he suddenly change now?”

  “I don’t know,” Sydney admitted. “But maybe something changed. Maybe he realized the strength of his feelings for you, and that sort of scared him off.”

  “He’s sort of given me the impression that he’s hiding something,” she said slowly. “I’d never thought it was trauma of any sort, but I guess it could be.”

  “Mmm, mmhmm,” Sydney said, nodding her head up and down rapidly. “Yup, it definitely could be that.”

  Several customers came up to the stall, though Chloe didn’t even notice Sydney waving them off. She was lost deep in thought about Linden, a man who occupied a growing amount of her mind for such a newcomer.

  When she thought about it that way, Chloe almost panicked. “It’s been days, Syd,” she said softly. “Days. And yet I’m already considering so much with him. I slept with him!”

  “Will you stop panicking about that already?” Sydney complained. “Seriously. I bet you a carrot he blew your mind, and on top of that, he was gentle and caring after.”

  Glaring at her friend, Chloe snatched up a carrot and tossed it at her. “So what? That means I’m not allowed to panic at how quickly this is moving?”

  “That’s exactly what it means,” Sydney laughed. “Besides, it sounds like Linden is already doing that for you. Just take it slow, let things breathe. He’ll come back to you.”

  “You can’t know that,” she said softly. “What if he doesn’t? What if he never comes back?”

  “Well, something tells me he will,” Sydney said mysteriously. “But on top of that, if he does that, then you go over to the farm and smack him upside the head until he starts seeing clearly and realizes what a mistake he’s made.”

  Chloe was about to protest when Sydney came over and grabbed her arm, face and tone sobering. “Trust me on this one Chlo, he’s going to come back.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “I know these guys,” her friend said cryptically. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”

  Chloe frowned. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not just saying that to make me feel better? That you actually know what you’re talking about.”

  “Because I always know what I’m talking about? Obviously,” Sydney said, rolling her eyes with exaggeration. “Give it a couple days before you do anything ridiculous. Okay? Let him come to his senses first.”

  Chloe bit her lip, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  It was just like playing hard to get. After all, how hard could it be? She’d already gone several days this week without seeing or hearing from him. It would be just like that all over again.

  Right?

  24

  He loped along easily enough, head swinging back and forth, looking for signs of movement, even as his nose tested the air for the scent of other shifters. Anything that would warn of a possible attack.

  If they attack, it’s not going to be from here. They’d have to pass through either Chloe’s farm or Winston’s. Either way, moving large enough numbers of men through to do that would attract the attention of the owner. They’d come watch. It would be a nightmare trying to keep our secret.

  Blood may have been drawn by the two sides. Friends were enemies. Families had been broken. Many of the rebels had sent their mates far away to safety, hidden them across the country, or even out-of-country, to escape the Tyrant-King’s grip. Men battled on, hoping their families would still be there at the end of it, while mates and children waited without knowing, fearful every time the phone rang that it would be that fateful news.

  It was horrible. Linden hated it, hated the war and what it was doing to his brothers. His friends. But he wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t back down and abandon the fight, because he knew that what Logan, Lucien, himself and all the others were fighting for was worth that sacrifice. After all, they were fighting for the very freedom of their House.

  The Tyrant-King had gone mad with power. When his plan to overthrow House Ursa and depose the bear shifters had gone awry, something had snapped inside him. If he couldn’t control Canis’ biggest rivals, then he would tighten control on his own House while he hatched another plot.

  Linden had had enough, as had many others. They’d tried to do things peacefully, to have Laurien, the Tyrant-King, step down. As Knight of the House, Logan was the next logical successor to the throne. Let him rule, the rebels had asked. Let him take House Canis into the future. A future where they would have to work with the other shifter races. Not against.

  It hadn’t worked. Their attempt had nearly cost them their lives as they fled Moonshadow Manor that very night. Since then, they had been pursued, attacked, and many of them slain, all in the name of fighting for freedom.

  Yet despite all that, despite the death and the blood and the hatred brewing between those once close, they had all agreed on one unanimous thing. The humans must never know. This wasn’t the first schism of a House, and great wars had been fought between Houses over the years. Massive battles, where serried ranks of wolves had charged into the waiting maws of vast formations of gigantic bears straight out of history.

  Dragons had burned and pillaged, and far enough back in time, the vampires had ruled over all. That was before shifters, but others had been around. The mages, for starters. The elves. The Fae longer than anyone.

  Legends had been born among humans, stories told from generation to generation, but never had the secret of their existence been revealed, no matter the hatred and divide between factions.

  No, any assault on the farmhouse would come from a different direction. One that ensured there would be no possibility of being discovered. Or worse, in the modern digital age, of being filmed.

  The only humans to be told the truth were those mated to a shifter. The ones who would live among them, bear their children. Only they were told the truth about the world around them. Something about the bond between the human and their mate seemed to help prepare them for such a reveal.

  Linden still didn’t understand that. Yet he’d never once heard of a human rejecting everything so thoroughly and either losing their mind, or worse, threatening to expose them. Perhaps those stories were suppressed, so that he and his fellows never felt fear when confronting their mates and showing what they really were.

  If that’s the case, they certainly didn’t do a great job of it, he thought to himself, abruptly deviating off course and plunging into the forest as his nose detected the faintest thread of a scent he knew very well.

  Several times now, Linden had thought about telling Chloe the truth. Of showing her who he really was, and each time, he’d run away like a coward. He wanted her to know. Didn’t he?

  Maybe. He had wanted her to know, but now, now with the hurt still fresh on his mind days later, he wasn’t so sure.

  He could still see her in his mind when he’d said he needed some time to himself. To think, to process. That he wasn’t sure what to do about them. Shock, certainly. But more than that, he’d seen something akin to betrayal.

  Did I screw up?

  It wasn’t the first time he’d thought it, trotting across the forest floor, casually leaping a downed log before skirting around a rose bush in full bloom. Pretty, but the thorns would be acutely painful.

  The pain in his chest hadn’t gone away since the party, a blistering reminder of just how badly he’d been hurt in the past. Months had passed after that brutal rejection before he’d even been interested in the presence of a woman, let alone the idea of possessing an emotional connection toward one.

  Chloe was the first time in years that he’d cared about someone in the romantic sense. It scared him. Terrified him, truly. He’d woken up with night sweats from a nightmare where he’d lived the rest of his life without Chloe.

  Yet despite the power and intensity of his brain, he was having a hard time forgetting the devastation he’d felt before. It was leaving him paralyzed. Either route left him open to pain, and so he lingered in limbo, indecision preventing him from doing anything.

  The scent grew stronger, so he slowed his pace, the forest thinning out around him. The last thing Linden needed was to startle her, a repeat of the first time they’d met. So far, she seemed to have almost forgotten about the encounter with him in his wolf form, and that was okay with Linden. She didn’t need to be living in fear. Not of him. Never of him.

  He came to the very edge of the forest, crouching low as he looked down the slight incline away from the trees and out over her property. There she was. Four hundred feet or so in the distance. Yet clear as day to his eyes.

  It would be so easy, he knew. Simply get up and walk out there. Something told him she wouldn’t immediately run at the sight of him. As if she knew, on a level she couldn’t understand, that he was no threat. Then Linden would shift. He would resume his human form, and the truth would be out there. He would tell her everything.

  Shifters. His past. His thoughts that she was his mate. All of it. No secrets, no hiding. Then it would be up to Chloe to make a decision. She would have all the knowledge, and if he lost, then so be it, that’s the way it was meant to be.

  But what if she chose him?

  Linden watched as she continued to work the soil, harvesting what appeared to be potatoes this time, tossing them into barrels in the back of her truck. The first thing he would do if she accepted him, was buy her some proper farming and harvesting equipment. That way, she could work the fields in a proper manner, without having to do it all by hand.

  He wouldn’t ever want to take the farm away from her by proposing someone else run it, but he wanted her to be able to do it properly. That was all.

  All you need to do is go out there and show her. Reveal the truth to her and see what she says. It’s that easy.

  It wasn’t easy. Simple, perhaps, but simple and easy were oft separated by an abyss. Sure, standing up and walking out there, shifting to human form. It was simple. He could do it in his sleep.

  Doing all that in front of Chloe, however, was another thing entirely, and one he just couldn’t bring himself to do. So instead, he crouched down in the undergrowth and watched her like some sort of creep.

  Time passed, the sun rose and then began its descent in the west. At last, Chloe stretched and checked her watch.

  Lunch time.

  She finished the row she was working on, and then hopped in her cab, heading back toward the house. Alone.

  He should be there.

  But you’re too much of a coward.

  Linden watched until her truck was gone over a slight rise in the land, and then he too rose, heading back into the forest, and toward the border between their two properties. He was going to be cutting it close, getting back to the start of his area before shift change.

  Picking up the pace, he loped through the forest at a faster clip. Eyeing the sun, he realized it was even later than he’d thought. Shit. He began to run. The last thing Linden needed was someone finding out that he’d been off away from his job. That would bring trouble upon him that he simply did not need.

  I’ve got enough on my mind as it is.

 

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