Page 17 of Tangled Fates

I drew in a deep, cleansing breath before I reached out to her. You’re too close to the mountains. Turn back.

“Is she really?” Hudson asked.

I nodded. “She’s at least six miles out, headed northwest. It’s not looking good.”

Hudson growled. Raven, God damn it, cut this shit out and come back.

I slapped his upper arm. “Are you fucking kidding me? She’s never coming back with that tone of voice.”

Dean scoffed. “Says the guy that can’t control his moods anymore than he can control his mouth.”

I got up into Dean’s face again. “Say that to my face, motherfucker.”

He nodded. “All right. Says the guy that?—”

Hudson rolled his eyes. “Jesus, just whip out your dicks and measure them already.”

I turned toward him and narrowed my eyes. “This isn’t about her anymore. She can’t keep being this fucking selfish all the god damn time. This is about us. She’s ruining this pack and she’s going to ruin us and get us all fucking killed if she doesn’t even understand what she’s running into.”

Dean sighed. “He’s right, despite his tone of voice. If she gets too far into the mountains and stumbles into bear territory? That’s all they need to declare war.”

“She’s a selfish bitch,” I glowered, “and I hope she keeps running until she falls off the fucking planet.”

“Shut up!” Dean exclaimed as he practically threw his hands over his head. “Let’s just wait and see if she replies. She may just need some damn space.”

But all I continued to get was static. Every time I tried to find her—every time I tried to sense her long enough to communicate with her—that annoying, buzzing, empty sound came with only one explanation.

She had blocked the three of us out.

“God damn it!” I bellowed.

Hudson shrugged. “Good riddance. Now we can get back to business as normal around here.”

“None of us deserve her,” Dean said breathlessly as he shook his head. “Maybe she’s better off without us.”

But I simply scoffed. “Yeah, well. At least the two of you got to be with her in some way. I didn’t get shit. Like always.”

“Trust me,” Hudson said as he stormed past me, “you weren’t missing out on anything.”

Dean chuckled despite the words that came out of his mouth. “Yeah, and even if we want all of this to matter, it won’t if she doesn’t want it to. If she doesn’t feel the same way about us, we can’t change that. And that shit’s on me, because I should have realized that this would’ve been different for her. We’re full-blooded wolves. That shit is damn near automatic for us. But she’s part human. It won’t be the same for her. It never will be.”

That took the air out of my lungs, and with it the only shred of hope I had been clinging onto. My jealousy toward Dean and Hudson mounted. I hated the fact that they got to experience such beauty with her, and all I got was the shit end of every single stick thrown my way just to keep me entertained.

I couldn’t take it any longer.

And one by one, my faculties shut down.

“Fine,” I said as my voice settled into monotony. “Then, let her reject us.”

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m still not certain she’ll reject us, or any of this. I just think we’re pushing too much onto her and she can’t handle it any longer. Like I said, she may just need space.”

I turned my back to them. “I don’t know about you assholes, but I’m not playing this game of tug-o-war any longer. She doesn’t want to reject us? She wants to keep us hanging? Keep us chasing after her like a bunch of pussy-whipped losers? Then, we reject her. We break the bond and set our own damn selves free.”

Hudson grabbed my wrist, tugging me back to his side. “You’re not serious about that.”

Dean stepped in front of me. “That’s a serious accusation you just made. Are you really thinking about it?”

I yanked out of Hudson’s grasp and glowered at Dean. “Better to leave someone in the dust than be left, I always say.”

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