Page 146 of Haze

The smile on my face disarms her.

“Alright.” I tap on the stall wall. “Dinner tonight? I’ll cook?”

“Maybe?” Lena goes back to brushing. “I’ve got to get some painting done.”

“I’ll find you at the end of the day.”

She seems content in her space, and I still have work to do. I don’t want to leave her, but the sooner I get this done, the sooner I can do something better suited for me.

* * *

I stopped by and visited Cricket a few times while working in large animal today. But Lena hadn’t been back. This department will take me a long time to finish. They have more moving pieces than the other departments I’ve worked on. The level of work is a problem for later. Now there’s an obstacle in the hallway, of the skinny little human variety.

“I don’t think you understand, Finn.” Brayden crosses his arms in front of his chest when I push past him into my office.

“For fuck’s sake, would you be well?” I walk around my desk and sit in my chair, giving me the best position to keep a piece of furniture between us in the event killing him becomes more than a fantasy.

“I want you to stay away from Lena,” Brayden answers with the dumbest request I can think of.

I shake my head. “I will, yeah?”

Does this eejit ever shut up? He’s so frail. We could snap every bone in his body before he even knew we were attacking him. My wolf creates a compelling hyperbole.

“Let me spell it out for you.” He huffs and clenches his fists, pulling his lip up in a ridiculous humanoid snarl. “I thought you knew that Lena and I were starting to become a thing. She and I have been friends for a long time. We’re working toward a real relationship.”

He’s as thick as manure and only half as useful. I tilt my head to examine him further. I draw a deep breath. He doesn’t smell diseased.

Brayden goes to lean against the door, but it’s open too far and doesn’t rest against the wall. When it moves from his weight, Brayden stumbles, nearly falling over.

I do everything in my power not to laugh, but I know the corner of my lip twitched.

His attempt to convince me that he’s more important than he is isn’t working, but I humor him. At the very least, listening to a madman’s ranting is interesting.

“Lena and I will be together, and I thought I made it clear you needed to walk away or I would make you walk away.” Brayden seems to be stuck on this idea. “I saw the photo of the two of you together. You had your arm around her. That is not stepping away.” Brayden’s voice goes up in anger.

“Let’s keep it down, there’s no reason the whole lab needs to hear this. You wouldn’t want to upset Lena any further. She’s had a rough week.” I keep my voice low.

If he cares at all about Lena like he claims, he will. Let’s see how deep the delusion goes.

Brayden draws a breath, and his shoulders rise and fall with it. His tone does come down. “You may not care if I report you.”

No. I shake my head. He wouldn’t. There’s no way this boy is that stupid.

“But from my understanding, the law is pretty clear. If a shifter is reported as being dangerous to humans, they only have a few days to be bailed out and prove they’re not dangerous to the people the report is against.” Brayden smiles like he knows something I don’t. He keeps talking. “If Lena were to get reported as being dangerous. Well, that would be really bad. Say someone said that she’s a danger to the university students. What are the laws? If Cade can’t prove she’s not dangerous... Is there enough money for that?” Brayden pauses.

I’m starting to see red.

I’ll show this fucker dangerous, my wolf offers, jaws snapping and snarling.

But this isn’t the time to embrace violence. It’s time to put on the coldhearted killer. It’s time to be the calculated Enforcer I was back home. My jaw is locked tight, and my wolf is pressed so hard against my skin that I could shift in an instant. I’m positive I look half-feral.

Yet, Brayden shrugs, then lays out the full extent of the threat. “If I can’t have Lena. No one can. Including you.”

His lips curl up into a smile. He cocks his head and stuffs his hands in his pockets before turning to stroll out the door.

He looks over his shoulder. “I think we’ve come to an understanding then, Finn?”

I don’t answer. The grinning fuck walks out my door, turns to walk down the hallway, and is out of sight.

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