Page 5 of Breathe Again

With just that one look, I knew she was going to get her way. I sighed and nodded as I huffed upstairs to drop off bags to the designated rooms.

I slowly opened the door I knew had once belonged to Lizzy. I had snuck in there the last night of that perfect summer and made love to her on the very bed Cora had just condemned me to. The smell of her was everywhere, causing a physical ache in my chest.

I sat down on the bed and it only seemed to make it worse, as though her scent was somehow even stronger in the mattress she had slept on for so much of her life, that it just permeated everywhere. There was no way I was sleeping on that bed.

Although we’d eaten dinner on the drive over, it was too early to call it a night. Besides, I needed clean air to breathe that didn’t reek of Elizabeth’s scent. Maddie was putting the kids down for the night, but I didn’t bother asking Liam to join me because I really needed some time alone.

With the warmer weather, people were hanging outside and talking all throughout the town, but it wasn’t hard to find the nearest bar. Collier Steakhouse and Tavern. As long as they had beer, I was good.

I sat at the far end of the bar, finding it unoccupied. I knew strangers stirred up talk in any shifter town, but I was not in the mood for it.

“What ya having, handsome?” the woman behind the bar asked.

“Whatever you have on tap is fine,” I said.

She poured me a beer and set it on the bar. “Start ya a tab?”

“Sure, thanks,” I said.

“Haven’t seen you around here before. Where ya from?”

“Westin,” I said curtly. I wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat.

She seemed surprised by my answer, then slyly smiled and openly checked me out. She wasn’t my type, and my wolf was none too pleased with the attention.

“I’m Milly. If you need anything, just holler,” she finally said, seeming to take the hint.

After my third beer, my wolf was subdued enough for me to get my own emotions in check. I paid the bill, thanked Milly, and headed out. On my exit I could hear her whispering to a group of ladies at the other end of the bar who had been asking about me and trying to get up the nerve to come over for the last hour. I knew I must have been throwing off some bad vibes. Women, especially in groups, never seemed to have trouble coming up to me before. But for once I was just grateful for the lack of attention.

“Hey tall, dark, and brooding,” someone hollered just as I was leaving the place. I turned slowly. She was tall, brunette, pretty, but she was also a shifter, and with Collier Pack smelling of the familiar scent of Elizabeth, everyone here was off limits. “You got a name?” she asked.

I couldn’t find it in me to be rude to her. “Cole Anderson,” I said before turning to leave without waiting for her name.

I headed straight back to the Alpha house, climbed the stairs to Elizabeth’s room, and settled down for the night without saying another word to anyone. Ten minutes laying in the bed was all I could handle. I grabbed a pillow, yanked off the blanket, and settled down on the floor for a restless night’s sleep instead.

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of coffee. My body was still keyed up and I knew I should go for a run, but first things first. I let my nose lead me to the kitchen and found Cora and Zach eating breakfast.

“Cole, it’s great to see you son,” Zach greeted me with an embrace. “Take a seat. Cora will grab you some breakfast.”

“I don’t want to be any trouble. Just coffee, please,” I said to her.

She returned quickly with a plate piled high with food and a big steaming cup of coffee. She leaned down and kissed my forehead affectionately.

“You’re still a growing boy. Now eat up,” she said.

Zach and I both laughed. I was far from the growing boy she once doted over.

“Best to just eat it and not argue,” Zach told me.

We talked amicably while we ate. It was nice and for the first time in a very long time, I missed having a family of my own.

“We have some errands to run this morning, and I think Maddie took Liam and the kids down to the river with Shelby and Ruby. You’re welcome to come with us, or just hang out,” Cora said before disappearing from the room.

“It’s a rare treat to have this place all to yourself. Enjoy the quiet,” Zach told me, slapping my back as he rose to leave.

Cora returned looking upset. “Cole, was everything okay with your room?”

“Great,” I lied.

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