Page 38 of Fighting Furry

“You are…” He pinched the bridge of his nose and took in a deep breath. “When I imagined the kind of woman I'd end up with, I'd always pictured…I don't even remember what I pictured, because when I think of my future, all I see is you.”

My heart clenched and my eyes burned. “I'm trying to tell you I can't be your future. You and I are all wrong together. We'd never work.”

He leaned in a bit. “I like you, Julie Jacobs. I like you more than I've liked anyone in a very long time. And I can promise you I will never hurt you. No matter what you do or how hard you push me away, I will never hurt you and I will never try to control you.”

What the hell was he talking about? Were we even having the same conversation? And why did I feel like I was about to burst into tears? “What I'm saying is that I don't care for you. I can't.” Now I was just outright lying, but he needed to be realistic and it was my job to help him with that.

He smiled sadly. “I hear what you're saying. Now, hear what I'm saying. You are the most infuriating woman I've ever met, because you insist on fighting me at every turn. You're also the only woman I know who's strong enough to fight me and win. You excite me and call me out on my bullshit, you make me smile when everything is going to shit and you make me forget, for a little while, that there are seventy-five people who depend on me. You are fresh air after years in a stuffy room, you are laughter after tears, you are the rainbow after a storm. You're loyal and you're strong and you're the sexiest woman on this planet. I'm in this with you all the way. If you decide in ten minutes you're ready to find a new pack and never see me again, I'll let you go. I won't chase you, I won't try to change your mind. I will never use my size or my alpha powers to manipulate you. But I will be waiting. I'll be waiting here for you to come back to me. I'll wait for you until my last breath leaves my body.”

Tears, uncontrollable, spilled over my lids. He was too good to be real. He couldn't mean what he was saying. “Don't be ridiculous. You'll meet some girly-girl, lace and cotton candy woman and she'll give you kids or pups or whatever and you'll forget about me.”

He shook his head. “I'll never forget about you. I'll never stop wanting you.”

This was too much. Way, way too much. He'd barely known me a week, he didn't know what he was saying. “You're delusional. I'm trying to tell you to forget about me.” I picked up his hand and shoved it off my thigh. “You're…You're completely impossible. I despise you.”

“You hate me,” he said with a wide grin.

“You are absolutely insane.”

His smile widened and he spun in his seat to start the truck, but stopped before he did and turned back to me, his smile slipping. “I'm sorry for what your father did to you. He didn't deserve a daughter like you. He didn't deserve a daughter or a wife. And you deserved so much better.”

I bit my lip hard not to sob. There was a hard lump in my throat, which was ridiculous. I was all weepy and emotional for no good reason. This is what relationships did to people, it made them feel things and I hated feeling things. I couldn't punch my way free of emotions.

Axel didn't say anything else, he started the truck and drove us back to his house.

***

“Feel like going for a run with the whole town?” Axel asked. He was leaning against the wall across from me. I had earbuds in and had been doing bicep curls, watching my form and not my surroundings, in the zone, and I hadn't realized he was so close until he'd spoken loud enough for me to hear him over Slipknot raging in my ears. Last time I'd seen him, he'd been working with metal and flame on the other side of the building. Now, he was standing before me, shirtless and sweaty, his pants dipping down in a way that made me want to forget about my biceps and try a different work-out.

I pulled out my earbuds. “The whole town? How many people is that?”

He shrugged. “Seventy-seven at last count. You make seventy-eight, but Krista and Jeremiah won't be going with us, and ten wolves will guard the town, so sixty-six will run.”

“I guess I could go,” I said, figuring I could just blend in with the crowd. “Is there anything I should know? Any one going to want to fight me or anything?”

He shook his head. “They'll be curious about you, but they won't have any interest in hurting you. I'll stick close.”

“Sounds fun.” I was living in Mule Creek, I might as well find out what it was all about. “Am I allowed to visit Krista?”

“Of course,” he said. “She can't leave the house, but she can have visitors. I'm sure she'd love to see you.”

“So, when do we leave for this run?”

“Everyone's gathering at the center of town now.”

I wasn't finished with my workout, but I could return to it later. I walked over to Axel, ready to follow him out of there, but he grabbed my waist and pulled me tight against him. He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me with such tenderness I was conflicted between melting into him and punching him. I couldn't handle him being sweet. I pulled back and glared at him. “What was that for?”

“Watching you work out gets me hard as shit.”

“Good to know.” I stepped out of his embrace. “Too bad we don't have time to do anything about it.”

He chuckled, way too amused by my refusal to help him out. That amusement set something dark and tight in me at ease every time. I'd given Axel plenty of reasons to lash out if he were a violent or possessive man, and he never had. He was a gentle soul in a wolf's body despite how gruff he could be, and I almost felt I could trust him.

He stopped me before I walked out of the building. “We need to shift now.”

“I'm going to meet the town for the first time as a wolf?”

He pulled me in tight against him and hugged me. “It sounds weird, but it's easier that way. After you've run with them, you'll feel like you've known them all your life when you see them in their human form.”

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