6. Neo

SIX

NEO

I walked along Main Street, my thoughts drifting back to the conversation I'd had with Miranda earlier. She'd been worried I might be pissed with her for putting me to sleep and struggling to wake me for such an extended period. While a part of me wanted to hold a grudge, a larger part understood she'd done what she and Daxton believed was necessary to subdue me.

I ran a hand through my hair, pushing aside all thoughts of how out of control I must have been, and chose to focus on the task that had brought me to town—finding a job. My gaze drifted to the stores, wondering which I should apply to. Sugar Sweets Bakery? Nope. Caffeinated Fox? Nope. The sporting goods store? Nope.

Working with Lorenzo all day wasn't going to happen. While he was a good friend, I didn't think I could handle living so close to him and working with him, too.

As for the other stores on Main Street, I couldn't see myself working at any of them.

I needed to find a place where there wasn't a lot of foot traffic. A place where I could immerse myself in a project from beginning to end, preferably alone.

Where the hell would I find a job like that?

Before I could think on it any harder, my panther stirred within me. Something piqued his interest, drawing him to the surface. I wasn't sure what, until my eyes landed on the woman who had bled for me.

Kiera.

My jaw clenched as I felt my panther's pull toward her. She stood a few feet away, a panicked look etched onto her face. Something was wrong. I could tell, and so could my panther. I watched her as she shoved her cell into her purse, wondering what had made her so distressed.

Then I wondered why I cared so much.

I tore my eyes away from her, but when I blinked, they were back on her again as though pulled by a magnet. Her allure called to my panther in a way I didn't understand.

The woman had me spellbound.

My jaw tensed. It had to be something to do with her using her blood and magic to wake me. The fact that she'd bled for me had my panther making noise. I knew the gesture spoke to him in a primal way, but it seemed to mean more to him than it should.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone bumping into me, jolting me back to reality. I realized then that I had stopped walking and stood in a daze, fixated on Kiera, in the middle of the sidewalk.

What was wrong with me?

Determined not to let her presence distract me anymore, I started walking again, resuming my hunt for a job. However, my teeth ground together as an unexplainable urgency festered inside me, which demanded I ask Kiera if she was okay. As I focused on it, I realized the urgency came from my panther. He was protective of her in a way he'd never been with any woman before. It was possible he felt indebted to her for what she'd done for us.

"Are you okay?" I asked, unable to ignore her or the urgency growing inside me with each thud of my heart any longer.

Kiera's gaze snapped to me. She blinked, and then a sense of relief softened her features. "Neo."

Warmth flooded my chest at the sound of my name coming from her mouth.

What had this witch done to me?

"Yeah, are you okay?" I pressed. "You look panicked."

Her perfect lips quirked at the corners, forming a small smile as she held my stare. "I would tell you all about it, but you have enough drama in your life right now."

The panic that had gripped her moments ago dissipated, replaced by amusement lighting up her features. She was teasing me, her playful smirk and sparkling green eyes drawing me in.

It was all for show, though. I could sense it.

Kiera was pretending she was okay, which unsettled my panther. He expected me to sort out whatever was troubling her, but I wasn't sure I wanted to. There was a tug-of-war happening between us inside me when it came to this woman, and I had no idea who would win.

"I don't do drama," I insisted, holding her stare. "But when I saw you earlier, something seemed off. What was that about?"

Her brow lifted. "You're direct, aren't you?"

"In more ways than one," I admitted with a low rumble, thoughts of dominating her in bed suddenly flooding my mind.

My body tensed. I couldn't shake the thought. When her cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink, and her teeth grazed over her lower lip, need simmered through me.

"All right, well," she began, collecting herself. "I came here to help with your situation, but also because I needed to lie low for a few days. My last job had the potential to make someone incredibly angry with me."

A surge of concern washed over me. I didn't like the sound of that any more than my panther did. As his protective instincts flared to life again, my jaw tensed.

"And does this person know where you are now?" I asked.

She shook her head. "If he did, I most likely wouldn't be breathing."

Nope, didn't like the sound of that either. My hands clenched into fists at my sides while red hot rage burned through me.

"Elaborate," I ordered, while we walked along the sidewalk together.

Kiera glanced at me, flashing me a look that suggested she didn't like how hard I was pressing her for answers. She seemed to be a private person, which I understood. However, a part of me needed to know these things—demanded it.

"First, are we taking a random stroll together?" she asked, her gaze still locked on me. "Second, why are you so invested in my personal life?"

Direct. I liked that.

"We're not taking a random stroll. We're having coffee." I stepped to the door of the Caffeinated Fox and smirked at her. "I'm not invested in your personal life. I'm having a conversation with you. There's a difference."

Her feet faltered. "I didn't say yes to having coffee with you."

I pulled the door open for her. "You didn't say no, either."

A tiny quirk of a smile pulled at the corners of her lips, and then she stepped inside. Satisfaction surged through my panther. He liked we could make her smile, and if I was being honest, a part of me liked that as well.

"Who's the guy you've pissed off?" I asked, following her inside the coffee shop.

"A well-known mobster-like alpha from back home."

A scowl crept onto my face. "If you knew the guy was dangerous, why did you take the job?"

My panther paced. He didn't like the idea of her willingly placing herself in danger, and neither did I. It was irresponsible.

She tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear as we moved forward in line. "Money. It was the biggest paying job I've had in—well, ever." Her honesty was refreshing, but her risk assessment skills were clearly lacking. "It was enough to catch me up on all of my bills, and almost enough to pay for the AC in my car to be repaired, too."

She averted her gaze to her shoes, and I could almost guarantee there was something she wasn't telling me.

"And?" I pressed.

Her gaze lifted to lock with mine, a bit of shock swirling through their bright green color. She hadn't expected me to press for more. "And I felt bad for the guy who hired me."

"Which means you would've done it for free," I said, noticing the sympathetic tone her voice had taken.

The woman had a heart, a big one, even if she tried to hide it.

"I would have," she whispered. Her eyes narrowed on me. "How did you know that?"

"You're easier to read than you think." I stepped to the counter and placed my coffee order, feeling Kiera's eyes boring into my back. "And whatever she's having." I hooked my thumb over my shoulder at her.

"A chai latte, please," she said without missing a beat, and I cracked a grin.

Once we had our drinks, we made our way to a corner table and sat. While having coffee with Kiera wasn't something I'd planned for, I found that I was okay with it. Not only did she seem to pique my panther's interest and draw out his protective side, but she also calmed him in a way I'd never felt before.

Her presence was all he was focused on.

"And now that you know a bit about me," she said, before removing the lid from her chai and blowing on the contents. I tried not to stare at her mouth, but it was impossible. "How have things been going for you?"

I took a swig of my coffee in an effort to avoid answering her question. It was piping hot and burned my tongue, but it was better than opening up to her about the situation I was in.

Opening up wasn't something I was good at.

Kiera leaned forward, her gaze narrowing on me as she rested her elbows on the table between us. "Come on. You pulled my craptastic predicament from me. Now let me do the same to you." That same smile from before graced her lips, and I felt my heart beat a little faster.

Damn, this woman was stunning.

My panther made a noise. He wanted me to open up to her. Without knowing much about her, she'd already gained his trust.

Impressive.

"I'm handling it fine," I insisted, taking another swig from my coffee.

"That's a cheap answer," she countered, her eyes flashing. "Give me a real one."

She'd called me out, which didn't happen much. Usually, people were too afraid of me to do that. Not her. I liked that.

I chuckled while holding her stare. "Okay, fine. Here's an honest answer for you—I feel like a shit alpha. I did something that destroyed my tribe, and I can't remember what. All I know is that we can't go back. Crescent Creek is home now. My brother decided that. He filled my shoes as alpha while I was out of commission, and from the looks of it, he did a better job than I ever did. Right now, I'm the tribe's weakest link." The words spilled from my lips before I could stop them.

No emotion entered Kiera's eyes. She didn't look at me with sympathy or judgment. Instead, she held my stare with a cool look of detachment. I hadn't expected her to understand the weight of my confession, but her lack of reaction was oddly unnerving.

"I don't believe that," she finally said before taking a sip from her chai. "You might think you're the weakest link, or that you screwed everything up, but your tribe believes in you. They wouldn't have hired me to reverse that spell if they didn't think whatever you did was redeemable."

I studied her carefully, realizing she believed what she'd said. And in that moment, this woman caused a glimmer of hope to ignite within me for the first time since I woke to this mess.

She set her cup down gently on the table and leaned forward, her eyes boring into mine. "We all make mistakes," she said softly. "And sometimes those mistakes have far-reaching consequences, but it's what we choose to do after that defines us. Not the mistakes themselves."

Leaning back in my chair, I let her words sink in. The weight of them pressed against my chest.

"Feel better?" she asked.

Yes, but I wouldn't admit it. I'd already said too much.

"Are you a therapist?" I asked, eyeing her.

She chuckled, and it was the best thing I'd heard in a while. "Nope, but I've been through enough therapy sessions to understand their importance. Did I sound professional?"

I took another swig of my coffee. "Slightly."

"I'll count that as a win, then." She grinned. Her expression shifted to something more serious a heartbeat later. "All joking aside, I think you're doing well."

"If I'm doing so well, why do I feel hollow?" The question fell from my mouth before I could stop it, and I wished I could take the words back. They made me feel vulnerable.

"Because you are," she said without hesitation. "Your brother and the others thought it would be best if you didn't remember certain things. They removed your memories, which left hollow spaces behind. All you need to do is fill them again." She took another sip from her chai. Foam coated her upper lip, and her tongue slipped out to lick it away.

Suddenly, all I could think about was how much I wanted her to help me fill those hollow places. Right. Fucking. Now.

"Any suggestions on how to do that?" I asked, my head already filled with ideas of my own.

"Let go of the past—it doesn't matter anymore—and surrender to the now. Your tribe is giving you a second chance. Take it." A ringing came from inside her purse. She riffled through it until she found her cell. "Oh, this is the mechanic shop."

I leaned back in my chair and took another swig of my coffee while she answered the call.

My mind dipped back to the conversation we'd shared, the way I had opened up to her so unexpectedly, and I felt my panther purring with contentment.

"Well," Kiera said after hanging up with whoever she'd been talking to. "It looks like my car isn't going to be ready for another couple of days. They had to order a part for the AC."

"That sucks," I said, not knowing what else to say.

She shrugged. "I figured it would take a while. They seemed busy when I dropped it off this morning."

My interest piqued. Were they busy enough to hire help?

I knew my way around an engine. A grin tugged at the corners of my lips. After years of turning wrenches and fixing motorcycles for those in the tribe, the smell of grease and the purr of engines had become my happy place.

Getting paid to work on vehicles seemed like a solution to all my problems.

"Your wheels look like they're spinning again," she said, surprising me.

It looked as though she wasn't the only one who was easy to read.

"Possibly," I admitted.

"Good." She flashed me a smile. "Well, I should get going. Thanks for the chai."

I watched her slip out of the coffee shop, my panther surfacing with a craving for more of her presence. I understood—the woman left me wanting as well—but I couldn't let myself be led astray by my desires. I had a clear goal in mind. I needed to snag a job at the repair shop.

Determined, I finished my coffee and headed toward Dark Moon Automotive.