Page 41 of When Hairy Met Stella

Here, he’d always deemed himself the protector, the big brother who imparted wisdom and kept them—and everyone around them—safe. Boy, had he been wrong.

“What does this mean? Are you going to leave?”

“I’m not sure.” He’d held on to so much hope that he could live a life like his brother. That he could coexist with humans in a way he wouldn’t have believed unless he’d seen it firsthand. That he could be with the woman he loved, because he really did love her. And he’d thought for a beat that she loved him too. But somehow, he knew once the dust had settled, once she’d hadtime to think it over, she’d realize that he truly was a monster. Just like he’d told her. And as much as he didn’t want the past to dictate his future, he couldn’t deny what was staring him in the face in the present.

He’d made a vow to show up for her. But maybe that didn’t necessarily mean he had to be around her.

He felt the rage pulsing behind his eyes, a steady thrumming of pain. He wiped away a tear from his stupid face. The one that would, in just a few moments’ time, look less like the man he wanted to be and the terror he truly was.

Any moment, he was going to shift. He just knew it. “I can’t… I need to get out of here.”

“You’re just going to run away?”

“No!” Nate shouted, and it reverberated through the woods. “I’m going to do the only thing I’m capable of…protecting people. And if I don’t get out of here soon…you’re going to have to clean up my mess—again, apparently.”

“Nate, just stop?—”

But his words died in the wind as Nate ran into the woods, waiting for the inevitable: him changing into the monster he knew he truly was.

“Enjoying the view?”

Stella blinked, only now realizing she was facing a large window in her cousin’s suite and that she didn’t have a clue what she’d been looking at.

“Of course,” she answered her cousin, placing two bottles of nail polish on the end table with the others. “Beautiful day out there.”

It wasn’t. Thick clouds had moved into the area in the past few hours, now covering what had been a stunning blue sky early this morning. It was like the universe knew what was happening tonight and wanted to do its part to contribute to the moodiness.

Stella had fallen into a deep sleep despite the restlessness she’d felt when she’d first curled into her bed. Making out with a werewolf for an evening would do that to a girl, she guessed.

Lucy joined her cousin next to the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the giant lake, the park’s centerpiece. “Are we gonna talk about what’s going on, or…”

Her eyes stayed glued to the nail polish containers. They didn’t need more rearranging, but lining them up in a new way couldn’t hurt, right? Anything was better than looking her cousin in the eye and letting her read everything swirling in her mind. No, that place was a cave filled with guilt from lying about their relationship, shock from what Nate had told her last night, and worry that he hadn’t believed her when she said she wasn’t going to leave him.

Stella plastered on her biggest and brightest smile, knowing Lucy would see right through it. But if she didn’t want to rearrange the bottles of polish a third time, what other choice did she have? “What do you want to talk about? It’s your day!”

“Tomorrowis my day. Today is a day to get my nails done. So, it’s the perfect opportunity to chat if you’d like to discuss hot werewolves and the women who love to kiss them.”

A bottle of polish she didn’t even realize she was holding slipped through her hands, defying all odds by not bursting into a hot-pink, glassy mess. “What did you just say?”

Lucy shrugged. “I think you heard me just fine.” There was a smugness to her smile that didn’t jive with her rounded, sympathetic eyes.

“How did you…”

“Nate talked to me earlier. Told me that he’d told you and asked me to make sure you were okay. That you had someone you could talk to about all of this.”

There he was, protecting her again, making sure she was taken care of even if he couldn’t be the one to do it.

“Wait, is Eric…?” Why hadn’t she put the pieces together? “Eric’s a werewolf too?”

“Well, hewas. Though, he could still shift, but he hasn’t since we’ve been together.”

Stella rubbed her head, certain that one more piece of information like this was going to make it explode. “So, he’s like half a werewolf? I’m not sure I’m following.”

“Come here,” Lucy said, taking her cousin’s hand and leading her to the burgundy couch facing the window. As they sank into it, Stella secretly wished it would swallow her whole, give her a minute or two before someone dropped another bomb on her. “Eric was just as much a werewolf as Nate is. But I fell in love with him as a human. He thought he could save me by running away.”

“Is that what happened after Fright Night last year?”

“Yep,” Lucy said with a nod. “He thought he could escape my love.” She chuckled. “Actually, he didn’t think the love spell worked, since it hadn’t for Nate.”

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