Page 13 of Destined Mate

Once I took my last bite, Mom said, “I’m sorry you’re going through this, but you really shouldn’t have been out there, even if it wasn’t your fault.”

I nodded. I didn’t have much choice, but at least she’d acknowledged I wasn’t entirely at fault.

“Since Pearl was involved, we’re gonna punish her.” Dad reached across the table and patted my hand.

I hung my head.Great. That would make things worse. But they were trying to do what was right for me.

“You don’t have to, seriously. It might get back to Zeke.” I squeezed his hand and stood, trying to keep from grimacing. “I gotta go, but I’ll be back for lunch.” I walked around the table and hugged Mom, then kissed Dad on the cheek.

“Be careful,” Mom called as I headed out the door.

Our home was at the very back of the pack neighborhood. At the end of our road, I turned left and passed three houses to get to Charles’s. Of course, he and Zeke were already in the front yard, waiting for me.

Every house looked similar here, a sign that this was a shifter neighborhood, and I tensed when I noted three cases of pink peonies and three cases of candytuft with numerous large rocks sitting on the sidewalk near the front of the house by several bags of soil.

As I strolled over to them, Charles grinned. He held a shovel and a pair of gloves, and as soon as I got close to him, he handed them to me. “My parents and I hate landscaping, so it’s the perfect time for you to help,” he said and beamed, likely because he knew gardening would be excruciating for me with my injuries.

“This won’t be a problem, right?” Zeke crossed his arms and lifted his chin.

Hot rage swirled through me, but instead of answering him verbally, I moved to the dead plant beds and began digging them out.

Zeke chuckled and walked toward the road. “That’s what I thought. Charles, let me know if she gives you any grief or stops working.”

“Oh, I will.” Charles laughed and walked into his house.

When the door shut, I paused to pull up my playlist. I put in my earbuds and blared Destiny Child’s “I’m a Survivor.” Then I went back to work.

* * *

My ribs had begunto heal overnight, but they weren’t getting better anymore. Not with the way I was digging holes and planting flowers. My only salvation was my playlist of survival songs. That and the fact the peonies and candytufts were pretty.

Pain raged through me, making every movement and shallow breath torment. I tried to focus on the lyrics and the music—anything to distract myself.

They didn’t want me to finish. They wanted to break me. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction, even if it killed me.

As I turned to drop a shovelful of dirt on the ground, someone jerked the shovel from my hands.

My stomach tensed, and the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end.

I spun around and immediately hunched over from the sharp pain. But when I saw who stood in front of me, the world stopped.

CHAPTERFIVE

This had to be an illusion.Why would he be here? But no matter how many times I blinked, I was still staring at a muscled chest, and when I tilted my head up, gorgeous indigo eyes locked with mine.

It seemed like a dream, but the intense way my ribs protested confirmed I was still grounded in reality. This was worse than any pinch could be.

My heart fell into the depths of my stomach.

His expression was strained, his jaw clenched so tightly that I worried it would break. As he scanned me, his eyes darkened.

The anger and power radiating off him had me taking a step back, and I damn near tripped over the peonies I’d been about to plant.

“What thefuckdo you think you’re doing?” Bodey growled, his words barely audible.

And in that moment, I learned there was such a thing as a stupid question.

I glared as anger pulsed through me. “Sunbathing and drinking margaritas.” I wished breathing didn’t hurt so I could amp up my sarcasm, but alas, here I was. “What does it look like?”

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