Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

Rowan

A fter two knocks, I didn't think she was going to open the door. Break it down. My wolf didn't normally form words, and the impact of those nearly knocked me off my feet.

Holy shit. Keep it together. If I didn't keep him under control, we were going to end up in an overnight jail cell.

I raised my knuckles to the wood one last time, but the door creaked open. My gaze latched onto the sliver of her I could make out, framed by the doorway. Her hazel eyes were wide with what I hoped was surprise and not anger.

My wolf prowled just beneath the surface, the sight of her stirring a wildness within me that strained against the leash of control. Every muscle in my body tensed as I fought to keep the beast at bay.

And then her scent hit me. A unique mix of sweet and salty that reminded me of beach trails and heather. It ignited an instinctual need that was nearly impossible to suppress. I wanted to force the door open. To press my body against hers. To ease back her head and taste her neck.

The wolf inside me wanted to claim, but I drew on every shred of self-control and stood rooted to the spot, the cool night air doing little to quell the heat that coursed through my veins. My wolf was so alive that every sound was amplified—the distant hoot of an owl, the rustle of a receipt blowing through the parking lot, the soft inhale of Evelyn's breath as she studied me.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked, her voice a knife-edge balancing caution and curiosity. Was she afraid of me? That possibility gave me pause. Had I done anything that would make her think I was a threat?

No, but I didn't have to. Of course she was afraid. I was the alpha of Black Lake. What reason could I give her for standing on her doorstep besides the truth?

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." It was a piece of the truth. One I hoped wouldn't send her slamming the door in my face.

"I'm fine."

"I can't tell if that's true."

"It is."

"Well, I can't see much through this gap?—"

Evelyn swung the door open, giving me a less-than-amused expression. "Satisfied? I'm all in one piece."

She was wearing boy shorts and a long-sleeved cotton shirt that draped over her hips. Satisfied didn't begin to cover it. "Can I come in?"

"Hell, no."

Fair enough. I nodded, then leaned against the door so she didn't have to hold it open. "Do you want me to beg?"

"Do alpha's do that these days? So progressive of you."

I smirked. "Not usually. But I do make exceptions."

The skin along her collarbone turned pink, and my wolf rumbled in my chest. Yeah. We both liked that a hell of a lot.

Evelyn let go of the door and took a step back. "You shouldn't be here."

"I don't see a problem with it."

Evelyn shot me a look. "You're outside of Black Lake territory."

"These are neutral lands."

"I'm not neutral, Rowan, and you know it. I'm Kitimat territory."

"I heard you didn't belong to anyone these days."

She drew an exasperated breath and crossed her arms in front of her. Somehow she looked even hotter when she was pissed. It made me want to say something else asinine just to see how much I could get her cheeks to flush.

"That's it, then? You've heard the gossip, and you're curious?"

"I've been curious about you for a long time."

She huffed a laugh. "Bull shit. I lived twenty minutes up the road for two years, and you never came to my doorstep."

This was quickly veering off the tracks, but what had I expected? To show up here and have her throw her panties at me? Yeah. Kind of. I was an alpha. I wasn't used to wolves shutting me down. "You know I couldn't?—"

"You can't be at my door now! What's the difference?"

My wolf pressed so close to the surface, I wondered if she could see my eyes glowing. Evelyn's breathing quickened. She put out a hand and steadied herself against the wall. My eyes narrowed. I could sense her wolf there, but something was holding her back. My wolf whined, begging for a better glimpse.

"I think you know what the difference is." It was a risk, but Evelyn wasn't giving me anything to work with. If my wolf was acting like a bat out of hell, she had to be feeling something from hers. I hoped.

When I was a pup, I thought mating bonds snapped into place and you had no choice whether you complied. Now I wasn't so naive. The mating bond was an invitation from the universe—one she didn't have to take. I had to prove myself, and I only had a week, sometimes less, to do it. After that, the pull she felt toward me would lessen.

For me? It would never stop. This was my one and only.

Evelyn didn't step aside to let me in, but she didn't tell me to leave, either. That was something. "Can we talk?" My question hung between us, an offering and a plea. I watched as the wildness in her own gaze—a reflection of her inner wolf—flickered with indecision.

"I'm here for four days, Rowan. Then I'm going back to Seattle. I'm only here to help my friend."

My wolf growled, and I lowered my eyes so she wouldn't catch the anger that flashed there. I mentally stroked a hand down his smoky back. Be patient.

I wouldn't admit it to Evelyn, but she was right about one thing. I had heard the gossip about her and Kitimat's alpha. I was curious. But I didn't need her to spell it out for me. If Nathan had treated her the way everyone thought he had, it made perfect sense that she wouldn't trust me, regardless of our history.

I cleared my throat. "Right. That's what I wanted to talk about. After what you said to Justin?—"

"This isn't any of your business." Evelyn put a hand back on the door, moving to push me out. That made my hackles rise.

"It's all of my business. My pack is making sacrifices to help Kitimat and the other northern packs that are missing wolves. Not that you would know, but we're a small pack as?—"

"Not that I would know?" Her grip tightened on the door, her eyes flashing.

My nostrils flared. "That wasn't a judgment. Just a fact."

Evelyn leaned closer, and her scent made me heady. "You're blocking my door, and I'd like to get some sleep. Not a judgment. Just a fact."

"Do you think you can make me move?" As soon as I said it, I regretted it. Walls slammed down behind her eyes, and her expression hardened. "I'm sorry. It was a joke. I'll leave."

She paused, and the haunted look in her eyes nearly brought me to my knees. I wanted to tell her I wasn't him, that I would never be him. I wanted to sprint away from her door and never stop running until I found Nathan Black and tore his head from his shoulders. Instead, I said, "If you want me to."

My wolf stood at attention, so focused I didn't think a scrap of fresh deer meat could tear his eyes from her.

Evelyn turned her back, and my stomach sank like the boulders I used to toss in the river. She was rejecting us. She was rejecting me. The pain of that realization tore at my insides as I pushed off the door, ready to take my walk of shame to the parking lot and let it close behind me.

"I found this." Evelyn's voice was soft.

I looked up, not trusting myself to speak. She held something in her hands. Something sharp. She walked slowly back toward me and held it out. I took it from her and began inspecting it, still trying to clear the hunk of granite sitting on my chest.

I tried to focus on the intricate carvings in the dagger's handle, but my vision blurred. She wasn't saying no. Not yet, at least. Had she understood what I was trying to say? Did she know that we were fated? If she did, she obviously wasn't impressed.

"You think this has to do with the disappearances?" I asked.

She nodded, still not meeting my eyes. "Blake and I talked with the elders. They said a witch in the woods might have more answers."

So that's what she was doing in the trees. "Lyra."

"You know her?"

"Of her."

Evelyn's brows knit together, a testament to the wariness that clung to her like armor. She'd been alone for far too long, trusting no one, relying solely on her own strength. But the path ahead was fraught with peril, and if there was one thing my position as alpha had taught me, it was that even the strongest among us needed an ally.

"I have a truck."

She finally looked up. "Congratulations."

"It's excellent on mountain roads."

She laughed and tried to shove her hands in her pockets, but she didn't have any, so instead, she took the dagger back. "I'll be fine."

It was adorable to see her discombobulated. Almost as good as when she was angry. "Doesn't Blake have a Ford? That won't cut it. You need the reliability of a Dodge?—"

Evelyn put a hand on my arm and shoved just like she did when we were kids, but this time, energy shot through me like lightning. She gasped and pulled back, pretending she'd meant to tuck her hair behind her ear.

But I saw the shock in her eyes. She felt it, too. That meant there was hope. "I can get a map. One of our elders has been there." It wasn't a lie. Elder Smythe had told the whole pack about her visit with the witch. I just wasn't sure if she'd been telling the truth. "I'll get directions and provide security. I don't know if you were planning to do this alone, but meeting a witch isn't exactly a party."

Evelyn folded her arms, an eyebrow arching as if to challenge the intensity of my gaze. "Last time I checked, invitations were required for parties."

"Consider yourself cordially invited then." I grinned, and that's when I knew I had her.

Her lips twitched, betraying her amusement. "Who says I need a big, bad alpha to protect me?"

"Big and bad, eh?" I leaned closer, lowering my voice. "You haven't seen anything yet."

A spark flickered in her eyes, a silent acknowledgment of the heat that crackled between us, wild and untamed. If she was feeling the pull I was, I have no idea how she stood firm. Maybe she wasn't feeling it.

"Goodnight, Rowan." Her hand slipped on the door.

"Goodnight, Evs."

Her face went slack, and my wolf howled. Until that moment, I hadn't remembered I used to call her that. I turned and strode back to the stairs at the end of the walkway, forcing myself not to look back and see if she was watching.

Somewhere between losing my shit in the clearing and her door, I'd made a decision. Kitimat and Nathan Black be damned.

Evelyn Berry was mine.