Page 36 of Hunted

Dominic smiled sadly. “It doesn’t. You’ve had a lot going on. It might help to talk to Luke again.”

Abigail’s eyes widened. “What? Really?”

Dominic shrugged again, rubbing the back of his neck and looking out the window for a long moment before sighing and nodding. “Yeah. If it’ll get you some closure. I don’t think he’s a danger to you, and you’re both clearly pretty hurt. And you can’t just go without eating.” He slid the plate of pancakes a few inches closer to her and she laughed.

Tucking into her food, Abigail looked up sheepishly. “You’re sure about this? I mean, I know it must be pretty weird, him showing up here and everything. Especially after… you know.”

Dominic smiled but with a veiled expression that Abigail couldn’t help but notice. “Sure. It can be hard to get over an old mate and you seem like you used to be really good together. It doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere until he’s said his piece, so why not? How are the pancakes?”

Noticing the change of subject and his reference to her relationship with Luke in the past tense, Abigail chose not to comment on it. She grinned with her mouth full. “Amazing! You’re the best.” Standing on a low rung of the stool, she leaned over the kitchen island and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Later in the day, Abigail took a walk to stretch. She found a pathway that wound its way into the forest where the trees let in a good deal of light. She breathed deeply as she walked, loving the way the heat of the sun relaxed her sore muscles and coaxed the pines to release their oils into the air.

Coming up on a bench, she sat for a rest and began to doze, allowing the warmth to permeate her body. After only a few minutes, though, a twig snapped and she was suddenly on high alert. She tensed when she saw that it was Luke, and the injustice of the feeling washed over her and made her ill.

She shouldn’t have to feel that way about Luke—herLuke,hermate. He had been taken from her by circumstances beyond their control, and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right!

“You look about as good as I feel.” Luke was never one to mince words.

“So, you’ve been all right then?” Abigail smiled weakly, apologizing for the poor joke.

“Miserable, actually,” Luke corrected and then plopped down on the bench, careful to avoid brushing her arm with his when he saw her tense further.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“It’s not your fault,” he insisted with such venom that Abigail was startled and looked at him with surprise. “What?”

She quickly schooled her features, unsure this new Luke would accept her opinions after what had happened. “Nothing.”

He rubbed his hands on his legs in frustration. “What?” he asked again, raising his voice.

Abigail flinched and then became angry at her physical reaction to his presence. “Nothing!” she repeated irritably.

“You have something to say, so say it!” he shouted. “You’ve never hidden from me. Don’t start now!”

Abigail scowled. “You looked like your dad just then. You look like him when you’re angry and you looked a lot like him right then. Happy?”

Luke’s face took on a pained expression. “Of course not. How can I be happy when there’s this space between us? It shouldn’t be this way. Neither of us did anything, but it is and it’s insane.”

As if he didn’t know he had done it, he rose and paced the forest floor, sending dust flying from his footsteps as he tramped. “Damnhim!Damnhim for this!” he seethed.

Abigail couldn’t take any more. She stood and took his arm, leading him back to the bench where she intentionally sat closer to him than he had previously allowed himself. “Please calm down. It doesn’t have to be this… this stilted. We can work it out.”

“Can we?” he asked, a mixture of hope and doubt so stark in his face that it made Abigail’s heart clench.

“I don’t know,” she said, knowing their tattered relationship could handle nothing but the truth in its present state.

Luke hung his head, putting his face in his hands and releasing a deep sigh. “Can we try?” he asked quietly, as if afraid of her answer.

“Of course,” she said, laying a hand on his arm and patting his shoulder. “Of course we can.”

Impulsively, he reached out to her and wrapped her in a hug. Stiffening at first, she relaxed into him when he held on and breathed him in, loving the way their scents melded as they always had.

For a moment, Abigail felt as if everything was the way it had always been, that it would all be okay. Then a sharp stab of insecurity superseded her thoughts, reviving her inner turmoil. So much had happened in the last weeks, so much that couldn’t be expressed or undone.

What about the Moonstone pack?she thought. The situation had an added layer of complication now. If she allowed herself to fall for Luke again, a tie she thought she had severed by coming here, she would be forced to cut herself off from her new friends.

And Dominic.The thought came unbidden to her mind, both surprising her and filling her with guilt. She hadn’t known her heart wasn’t hers to give when she had gotten here, but she was developing feelings for the shifters who had taken her in during her hour of need.

---