Chapter Seventeen
The sound of the wheels skidding to a halt jolted Rhetta more than the thrust of her torso slamming back into the driver’s seat. What was she doing? Was she really going to storm into Rory’s home and beg him to choose her over his fated mate? Had she learned nothing from the past?
She sat in her car, her hands gripped the steering wheel, trying to hold on to something, anything, that was solid and whole. Her foot absentmindedly tapped the gas pedal, but with the car in park, Rhetta couldn’t run away. She could neither turn left nor right. She was stalled. But she knew what she had to do.
Taking a deep breath, she reached down and cut the ignition. Her fingers shook as she unbuckled herself from the driver’s seat. Her knees knocked together as she opened the car door and stepped out. Her stomach roiled as she shut the door behind her.
Rhetta’s hand went to her flat abdomen. She knew the upset in her stomach was more than just her anxiety. She now had another life to look after, a life she’d created with a man who might not want her or their child if his first love, his first choice, was now back in the picture.
Rhetta’s feet took root on the sidewalk. She leaned back heavily against the side of her car door. She had no doubt that Rory would choose his fated mate. He couldn’t help himself. He was a passionate man, a rash man. A wolf.
Goddess! Why had she gotten herself involved with a rash, passionate man?
She’d been so smart to go after Jordan. Sedate, predictable, manageable Jordan. Jordan would have never hurt her. He wouldn’t know how unless she’d planned out the steps for him to take. What she wouldn’t give to turn back time and be with him again.
“Rhetta? What are you doing here?”
Rhetta looked over to see Jordan coming down the steps from the butchery. She straightened from her slump against the car and faced him. Standing at her full height, she peered down at him. Had he always been an inch shorter than her?
“Hello, Jordan.”
“Did your mother tell you I was here?”
“She did.”
“You’ll be happy to know that I’ve cleared the bad blood between me and my brother.”
“Oh? That’s good.”
No, it wasn’t. It was terrible. Rory was in a forgiving mood? If he was rational enough to forgive his brother, the man he believed caused the injury that broke his spirit, then he was sure to forgive the woman that broke his heart. Especially, if Rhetta was nowhere around to mend said heart.
“I spoke with his former paramour,” said Jordan. “I think the two of them will mend fences. In fact, they’re up in his apartment talking now.”
Rhetta tilted her head back. Moonlight shone on her face and blinded her for a moment. When her vision cleared, she saw into Rory’s front window. The nausea claimed her then, and she knew that the inclination to vomit had nothing to do with the child growing inside her.
A beautiful woman framed the window. Even from down below, it was clear to see her trembling lips. Crying, that was a good tactic to get a man to do what you wanted.
Rhetta had never used it. She had never needed to. The men in her life, first her husband and then Jordan, had always heeded her commands.
But not Rory. Rory was the type of man that might be turned by a tear. But Rhetta would never know.
A tear slipped quietly from her eyes. Rhetta’s lower lip trembled as she watched Rosalind reach out to Rory. His back was to the glass so Rhetta couldn’t see his reaction. But he didn’t move away from Rosalind.
“I was just about to return to your family’s home,” Jordan was saying.
Rhetta stepped around Jordan to get a better view inside the apartment. Rosalind flung herself at Rory, straight into his arms. Rhetta watched Rory stumble under the assault and then grasp onto her.
For a moment, Rhetta was irritated with the chit. Didn’t she know better than to do that with Rory’s injury? It was a selfish move, made by a selfish woman.
But Rory didn’t seem to mind. He regained his balance and held onto her. As though he sensed someone watching the intimate reunion, he turned his head. His gaze landed on Rhetta.
Rhetta fought the urge to jerk back, to hide the fact that she’d been spying on him. She wanted to turn away before the passionate light in his eyes for the woman in his arms turned to pity as he looked down at the woman he was soon to cast off.
“I must speak with you, Rhetta.”
Rhetta blinked and looked back at Jordan. He was out of focus and swimming in her eyes as more tears fell. Jordan reached out for her arm. When his fingers landed on her bare forearm, his touch felt like ice.
Rhetta pulled away from Jordan’s unwanted touch. She turned away from Rory’s irksome gaze. She walked past her car and kept moving down the street.
When she heard her name growled out behind her, she took off running. She ran past the storefronts. She ran past houses. But it wasn’t fast enough.
As the scenery around her blurred, Rhetta came to a realization. She’d been running her whole life. Not physically moving, but keeping air between her and others.
She’d never held still for Jordan, always keeping him at an arm’s distance. She’d never held still for her husband, always too afraid that if she stopped flitting around him and finding new ways to make herself indispensable to him, he might not be there when she stood still.
But Rory had held her still. He’d stopped her motions and looked her dead in the eye. It wasn’t so much that he needed her. He’d wanted her.
And she hated him for it. Because now that she knew what it felt like, she could never go back. She’d have to run for the rest of her life to try and outrun the feeling of being held, the peace of stillness, the joy of being wanted.
And so Rhetta ran. She ran so fast, so hard, that she ran out of her skin. Her fists stopped pumping the air. Her feet stopped pounding the earth. Paws hit the dirt, and she took off even faster.
She ran for what felt like forever, but it wasn’t. She couldn’t run forever. No one could. And so she slowed her pace and caught her breath.
She came to a stop in a clearing at the edge of a lake. She sat down on her rump. Her muzzle slumped onto her front paws.
After a few moments, she began the shift back to her human form. Rhetta was lying naked and vulnerable under the moonlight when she heard it.
First, there was a rustle of leaves that pricked her ears. Her shoulders tensed when a branch cracked under something with a heavy foot. Sniffing the air, Rhetta knew she wasn’t alone. She knew that whatever was hunting her was big and powerful and determined.
She sat up slowly as a low growl sounded behind her. Rhetta turned and was met with the largest wolf she’d ever seen. The size of this wolf rivaled the memories of her father. From the way the beast bared its teeth at her, she could tell he was not happy with her.
“Heel,” she commanded.
The wolf ignored her. A low, menacing growl rippled through its clenched jaw. Its eyes were intent on her, unwavering as it advanced.
Rhetta crouched up onto her knees, making herself appear small and subdued. Though it rankled. She was used to being the leader of the pack.
But this wolf ignored her act of submission, likely because it saw that it was a half-hearted gesture. The beast continued to stalk toward her. As it did, Rhetta noticed that it favored its front paws. One of its back paws looked a little mangled.
Rhetta looked up into its eyes; a move that belied any pretense at submission. “Rory?”
The wolf lunged.