Page 14 of Stargazer

Actually, no. It had been earlier in the night when Sienna had poured a fucking drink on her. Seeing the pain and embarrassment in her face made me want to kill someone, and while I knew that she could usually fight her own battles, I had seen it in her face that she had retreated and needed me. And fuck I wanted to be needed by her.

There had been a few times that I’d seen that hurt in her gorgeous hazel eyes. With each time, I’d realised more and more that she’d become the most important thing to me. She just didn’t know it yet.

But she would.

Truth be told, it freaked me out.

So I hid it as much as I could.

This soul flame bond was intense though. More than I ever thought they could be. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

I had felt a small tug towards Sienna in the past and knew she was another potential soul flame of mine, but one that didn’t burn as bright. One I’d never choose to pursue things with. She wasn’t a great person. She wasn’t Venus. And boy was I glad I held out and didn’t fully give in to Sienna, even when she wanted me to. My heart was never in it, so nothing ever deepened with us. Not like it had with my Supernova.

That was the thing with soul flames. Your heart had to be in it. You had to choose it. And I had—with Venus. Despite my best efforts.

Actually, I didn’t really try not to fall for her. Didn’t try not to chase her or to make her not want me.

In fact, I tried a lot. More than I’d ever tried before. I chose it over everything else. I just denied that the reason was because I wanted more from her.

Fighting it now was futile because my feelings had gotten involved.

I never knew how possessive I could be when I actually liked a girl. But it burned in me now. The need to be with her. The need for her to be in my arms—and no one else’s. I didn’t want to think about that hairy mother fucker having her again. Putting his scent all over her. I couldn’t help but imagine it. Not that I knew what he looked like. Which made me even more pissed off. He better be an ugly bastard.

My grip tightened on the steering wheel.

She was mine.

And I’d do anything—be anything—for her.

I was nearing Woodstock now and I swear a part of me could almost feel her. That pesky, burning flame inside me flickered ever so slightly.

I wasn’t far.

I’m coming, Venus. Wait for me.

CHAPTER 6

VENUS

It had been a few days of being back in this world, hanging with the wolves and spending time with my mum and sister. I also got to sneak in a few calls with Kit and Billie amongst it all, although there was no sign of Griffin, not even when Carter came and said hello.

I tried not to take offence.

I hadn’t bothered to text him or anything yet, I thought he clearly needed a few days to cool down.

Things had been good being back at the pack. We’d mostly been catching up, although we did briefly talk about the issue we currently faced and Riv suggested I tag along to some of the pack meetings so they could bring me up to speed on what they had found out—use it as a sort of brainstorming session and then relay that information back to the Knights until the squad came down in a few days or so. The first one I’d join would be tomorrow.

This morning though, River had called me and asked if he could take me somewhere he had found on a hike recently. I got the feeling it was during an attempt to clear his head after I had left earlier this year. He didn’t specify that part, but he did say that he had found it alone and the second he saw it he promised himself that if I ever came back, he’d show it to me, knowing it would be a place I’d love. And I was more than a little excited to take a moment to ourselves and step away from everything around us.

River picked me up, two coffees in hand from our beloved local diner ready for me as soon as I opened the door to his delighted face. Joy. That was the emotion that took over his features. Like he couldn’t think of anything better than having me back. It lit up something within me. It had always done that to me; that glow he had when he was happy and peaceful. Something I didn’t see as often in those weeks before I left, when he was quietly dealing with things on his own.

Without even realising it at the time, it was silently separating us. Creating a rift between us for months that eventually was so wide that I was able to believe such horrible things about him.

There was so much we needed to deal with right now, but I loved that he could still find time to look at me like this. Still find time for me. He’d always been good at that.

The secret spot was a short drive away, deeper within the forest. Given the location, I was willing to bet he had initially found it while in his wolf form, roaming the wild sprawl of nature that encased our small town.

We parked along the edge of the tree line, in the middle of nowhere, before River declared we’d need to walk from here for a few minutes.

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