Page 46 of Howling Night

“Now, do you see why it’s not safe for you? Why don’t you trust me to handle this?”

My arms dropped to my sides as I let out a breath. “It’s not like he’ll do anything in the middle of the day with witnesses around.”

“Where were you?”

“I’ll talk if you calm down.”

Ryder let out a breath. “I’m calm.”

“No, you’re not,” I scoffed.

“This is likely as calm as I can get at the moment,” he said, exhaling slowly. “Where were you?”

“May’s Diner,” I said, keeping my eyes down. “Courtney stopped by and asked me to go to lunch. I can’t not ever leave the house again, Ryder.”

Ryder’s eyes darkened. “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing specific. Just trying to paint you as the bad guy.” I stepped up onto the porch, but he didn’t follow. “He said you broke the rules… not him.”

“That bastard.”

“What rule did you break exactly?”

Ryder ran his hand through his hair. “When a human finds out… we need to make sure they can’t talk. Ever.”

“That’s why Kellan was going to kill me,” I said, sucking in a breath. The yard began to spin, and I backed up, stopping when I bumped into the door. “I need to… Are you going to… I have to get out of here. Is my car fixed?”

“I’d never hurt you,” Ryder said, taking a quick step forward.

“You said you could hurt me,” I said, my eyes wide.

He shook his head. “Because I’m strong. I would never do anything on purpose, Everly. Whatever this is between us… it’s something bigger than all that. It’s something?—”

“I need to leave!”

“Everly, now you need to calm down.” He glanced over his shoulder at the truck. “Do you know where he was going?”

“He said lumberyard, I think.”

Ryder started to back away. “Stay here. Please, I beg you, don’t leave again.”

“Ryder,” I said, feeling as though I’d just finished running a marathon. “Are you the bad guy?”

Ryder’s shoulders dropped, the tension seeming to drain from his body as he looked at me with those intense eyes. “Everly…”

“Tell me the truth, Ryder,” I ordered, my breaths coming quicker. “Are you the bad guy?”

“I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Things to protect my pack, to defend what’s mine. But no, I am not the bad guy. Don’t you see what he’s doing?” he asked, taking a cautious step toward me, keeping enough distance that I wouldn’t feel trapped. “He’s trying to turn you against me. I need you to believe that. I need you to trust me.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling suddenly cold despite the afternoon warmth. Trust. Such a simple word for something that never came easily to me.

“I can’t ever trust anyone,” I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded.

“This is exactly what he wanted,” Ryder said, pain or maybe it was defeat flashing across his face. “What do you want me to do to prove it to you?”

“I have no idea,” I said, looking down. “I don’t think it’s possible for me to ever trust anyone, no matter what they do or say.”

I stood there, frozen on the porch, unable to move toward him or away. The truth was, I didn’t know what to believe anymore. My life had been turned upside down in the span of a few days, and now I was caught between two men who weren’t even human, each claiming the other was the monster.

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