Page 12 of Flock Around and Find Out

Was it annoying and confusing? Fuck, yes, it was. I had no idea how he could tell me he wanted me even if we weren’t exclusive, that I was end game for him, then turn me down when I was actually finally offering myself to him?

I huffed out an exasperated breath then headed up to bed.

The truth was, I doubted I’deverreally understand men. There was no reason to let that get to me now.

A good night’s sleep could fix almost anything.

* * * *

Galen

You idiot.I rested my forehead against the wheel of my truck, having parked about a block away after leaving. Dragging myself out of Grey’s house had been one of the hardest things I’d ever managed to do. Everything inside of me had demanded I stay, that I get closer, that I cover her inmyscent.

I’d told her I was fine with not having her all to myself, and I had meant it, but that didn’t erase the need to possess her, to ensure she was actually mine.

A deep growl filled the cab of the truck, low and dangerous.

Stop it!

I wrestled with my beast, with the prowling wolf inside me that scratched at the inside of my body, that wanted out, wanted at Grey. I’d protected her from it—from me—for five years now, ever since I first saw her and knew immediately that she was mine, that I had to have her no matter the cost.

And I’d spent the five years since trying to protect her—from a world determined to hurt her and her determined to destroy herself.

Here we were, and shefinallygave me a chance to move beyond where we’d always been, and what did I do?

Run away.

I curled my hand into a fist and slammed it against the center console, the plastic giving instantly. That was the risk with Weres, and the reason so many of the stronger types drove such beater cars. We tended to lose our tempers often.

Not me, though. Never me. I had always been careful to keep control, to never allow myself to get out of hand. The risk was too great for that to happen, and I didn’t want to risk those around me.

However, something about Grey had always spoken to my beast in an uncomfortable way. It wasn’t easy, didn’t calm me. If anything, it served the opposite. It riled me, made me want to possess her at any risk, no matter the consequences.

And as tempting as it might have been to fall into that, to just allow myself to get carried away by that feeling, I couldn’t.

So I’d left even when I hadn’t wanted to, had walked away even when everything inside me had screamed to grab her and not let go.

But I couldn’t risk her.

No matter what I wanted or how badly, I couldn’t risk her seeing this, or what might happen if I truly lost myself. So instead, I’d ran. That hurt expression plagued me, reminded me that even if she had the mouth of a pissed-off mechanic and the right hook of a bar fighter, she was still someone who could get her feelings hurt.

And I was probably one of the few who could do that to her.

Better a bit of pain now, though, than worse later. Better for me to upset her now than have her end up six feet under later.

So even though everything inside of me wanted to go back to her, even though my instinct screamed in my head, I pressed my foot down on the gas and guided the truck away from her house, back toward my own.

I needed to figure this out before it ended up doing some real harm, before I risked Grey with it. I’d done things I wasn’t proud of, had made plenty of mistakes, but I refused to think that seriously hurting Grey could ever be one of them.

No matter what, I had to find a cure and protect her.

Chapter Three

I twisted my hand to open the portal that gave me access to the delivery bay. It felt strange and yet familiar, something I’d done for so many years but had rarely used recently.

I had to admit, it felt good.

Did I love being a delivery girl? No, I really didn’t. It hadn’t been my dream growing up as a child to turn into a package bitch for supernaturals, but I doubted many people became what they wanted.

---