Page 70 of Wolf Hunter

Reid chuckles the way I hoped he would, but he refrains from kissing me again. Or touching me in any way, and I’m glad. The smallest caress might change his mind.

Better for me to bolt now and not look back.

“They won’t be sorry to see you leave,” he says.

“I’m sure everyone in the house will breathe a little easier if they think you actually went ahead and sacrificed me,” I reply with a brash smile.

“Not everyone.”

The lump in my gut returns immediately at the weight of those two words.

“I, ah, guess this is it.” I peer down at the floor and the dark marks on my boots where the moisture seeped in. “Our business is done.”

Well, not done,I mentally correct.More like paused.

“Tash… get out of here. Before we have to answer for this,” Reid tells me. “Go.”

Except I want to stay. I want to run back into his arms and crawl around his heart like an animal making a home in the woods. I want to stay where I found the most happiness. With him.

What kind of fucked-up shit made me this way? I obviously have some severe mental problems, or at the very least a case of Stockholm Syndrome. And the way he looks at me…

I spare no second glance over my shoulder before heading to the door and out into the squalling midnight wind.Run. I have to run and put all of this behind me to see any chance of returning to complete the job.

I’m sorry, Carmen.

It’s a long way back to town, and hopefully I’ll make it before the sun rises, or else the literal wolves might have a nice, fresh meal when they wake and hunt me down. Bones with which to clean their teeth.

Why does leaving hurt so badly? I hunch against the wind with one foot falling in front of the other.

It’s not supposed to feel like this.

I’m not supposed toactuallyfall for the big, bad, brooding wolf.

ChapterTwenty

Tasha

Abittersweet sensation accompanies my walk back through the door of the Maple Leaf Motel. The familiar scents of lavender, pine, fresh air, and an undertone of mold unlock something I’ve kept tightly closed inside of me since accepting this job.

I’ve wanted to return here since leaving, and still, everything feels different.

For some reason, the first step is the hardest. I waver right outside the door, my gaze sweeping across the room and finding everything in its place. I have no magic wards in place to keep out intruders. Nothing outside of a few physical traps I set in place that clearly didn’t work against Mae and her people.

Nothing stops me from walking right inside.

Why pause?

Because I’m right back into the stationary holding pattern I’d been in for who knew how long before meeting Reid. I am closer to where I want to be and yet miles away from where I started.

The thought brings with it a swell of disappointment, cutting deeper than those vampire fangs.

Everything I left to accomplish, the cocky attitude I carried with me… and nothing to show.

Nothing gained, nothing earned.

I want to smack myself in the face even knowing it won’t do any good.

I left Reid behind. More importantly, he let me go. I never thought he would. None of this has gone according to any plan or any assumptions. Casually ignoring the slight ache in my gut, I wonder what to do next.

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