Page 73 of To Challenge a Wolf

Blaine:Shouldn’t you be driving home tomorrow?

I failed.

Tears surged into her eyes and blurred her phone screen. She blinked a few times and typed some more, then sent the message before she could second-guess her overflow of feelings.

He said no. I don’t know what to do now and I’m just really sad and lonely.

Blaine:Ah, Viv. Come on over.

Around nine o’clock, she parked beside Blaine’s sleek silver sports car and trudged up to his door. He opened it before she had to knock, of course. Vampire hearing was at least as sharp as wolf hearing, as was their sense of smell—though for blood types, not moods.

“Hi, Viv. Come in.”

The simple words shouldn’t hit her so hard. She bit down on her tears, kept her head down. She could at least wait to start bawling until she came inside. She shuffled after him, and he led her to his home’s spacious, cathedral-ceilinged main room. He shepherded her to one of the luxurious leather chairs and tucked a dark-purple throw blanket around her shoulders. In the fireplace, a fire crackled its welcome.

“There,” Blaine said as he sat across from her. “Better?”

She nodded and let the tears fall for a minute. Then she wrapped her arms around herself and took a few deep breaths. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. What happened?”

“That’s just it. I don’t even know. We were good. I thought we were. But then he…”

She looked up from her hands, and for the first time she really looked at her friend. Blaine’s metallic-blue eyes held no glint. On a vampire, pallor looked waxy; right now, he could be a mannequin in a museum. And he was…gaunt.

“Can you lose weight?” she blurted.

He gave a musical laugh. “I’m consuming blood regularly, so no.”

“Your cheekbones are poking out.”

“An illusion. It’s my skin, not my bones.”

“Beauty sleep. Literally.”

He smiled. “Good catch.”

“Gosh, Blaine. You look terrible.”

“Weren’t we discussing your incomprehensible wolf?”

“We were. Now we’re not.” She stared at him some more, and he allowed her to, which was also disconcerting. “How can I help?”

“At this point, I’ll collapse within the next few days. Then I’ll sleep for a week, and then I’ll wake up looking like my usual self.”

That was not acceptable. She tried to fight more tears, but they came anyway.

“I promise you I’ll be fine. I don’t look healthy at the moment, but I’m not in any danger, Viv.” He smiled, and somehow he only looked more exhausted and sick. “Now, enough about me. Tell me what happened with Rhett.”

She told him almost everything. She opened her own emotions without a thought; it was Blaine. But Rhett’s vulnerabilities, which she’d kept private once before, remained private. She would guard her wolf’s heart even while he denied having one.

When she finished, Blaine said, “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t do enough.” It was the best summary she could find.

“You were honest with him, and you asked for his honesty in return. He refused to give it.”

“He would have, though, if I’d approached it better. Maybe not so pushy. Or maybe more pushy. I can’t tell anymore. I just know if I’d found the right key to the lock, he’d have found his heart.”

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