Chapter Seven Cory

T he moment the door closed behind him, I had to lean against the wall to steady myself. My heart had broken in two the moment I said those words to Liam. Hot tears ran down my face and I was ashamed to say that I'd cried in front of him. I didn't want to show that kind of weakness to the man that had nearly had me killed. If anything, I should've decked him in the face. He was as weak as he'd ever be right now, and it was a missed opportunity I knew I'd come to regret.

But I'd never expected to feel that rush of love the moment I saw him again. In fact, I'd hoped I'd never see him again. Now I'd seen my true reaction to him, and I hated myself for it. Loving a man who could so easily turn against me was the stupidest fucking thing I could do. And yet, I couldn't seem to help myself.

However, I wasn't going to let it stay that way. I might've been a dumb kid once, but I would not be a dumb kid again. Whatever Liam wanted to say, he could keep it to himself. I didn't care about his explanations, his excuses, or his affirmations of love. He might think I was his mate, but as far as I was concerned, he was old fucking news.

And I wasn't going to let my life be hijacked by him anymore.

Stomping over to the bedside table, I picked up my phone and began to type furiously.

Me: Change of plans, David. We're going kayaking.

David: Well I'm glad you're not dead. What happened to the wolf?

I sat there for a moment or two, wondering what I should say.

Me: It died.

David: Holy shit… I'm sorry…

Me: I'm not. It was a dumb fucking mongrel anyway.

David: … okay… That doesn't sound like you.

Me: Do you want to go fucking kayaking or not?

David: I mean… yeah. But only if you're alright.

Me: I said I was fine, didn't I?

David: Okay. If you say so. I'll meet you at the boat launch in an hour. I've got your kayak packed up already.

Me: Good.

I tossed my phone down on the bed before I walked over to one of the pillows and punched the ever-living shit out of it. Then I hit it again and again, the rage and frustration pouring out of me. I was so fucking angry with Liam for not only showing up in Shifter Grove, but having the balls to not only trespass on my kindness, but sleep in my fucking bed while he pretended to be some lost and lonely stray. I couldn't believe he would do such a thing. It was so fucking manipulative.

Suddenly I couldn't stay in the hotel anymore. I had to leave. My room smelled like him, and I couldn't get the image of him standing there wearing my shorts and my too-short t-shirt. I didn't want to think about his handsome face or the disfiguring scar or why his father had done that to him. I didn't care. I couldn't care. If I allowed myself to think about it for even a moment, I would do something I'd regret, I just knew it.

So, I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I picked up my phone, threw on a shirt, grabbed my wallet, and got the fuck out of there. I didn't even look as I busted out of my room and stomped over to the fire exit door. Kicking it open with a grunt, I headed down the stairs and out of the hotel.

I had some kayaking to do god dammit.

◆◆◆

I sat at the boat launch for at least a half hour sipping on an iced coffee and working my way through at least six of my favorite donuts. Not that I tasted hardly any of it. I was still so upset that I barely noticed the sugar, the chocolate, the caffeine, or David walking right up to me as I stuffed my face.

"Hey," he said, his brows furrowed in concern as he stared at the donut carnage surrounding me. "I'd ask if you were okay… but obviously you're not."

"Then don't ask," I said, downing the last of my coffee. "I came here to kayak, anyway. Not chat."

"Jesus. Alright. Message received."

I took a deep breath, putting a hand on his shoulder before he could turn away. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. But I just need to work this anger out, okay?"

He nodded. "I get it." He gestured for me to follow him to the kayaks strapped in the bed of his pickup. "Surprised you're so mad about that dog dying though. Seems like a weird reaction."

"Oh, it's not that."

"Can I ask what it's about then?" He held up his hands. "No details. Just a general topic so I can avoid it."

I huffed out a sigh, crossing my arms. "Fine. My ex is in town."

"Oh shit…" He paused like he was waiting for me to elaborate. "Well, he must be bad for you to act like this, so I'll just stick to talking about the weather."

"Or we can just kayak and not talk," I offered grumpily.

"That too."

"Good. Now help me get these in the water so I can focus on something other than the piece of shit I saw this morning."

David whistled a whew under his breath but didn't say a word as he helped me unload. He knew I was pissed. I could understand why it threw him off though. In all the time we'd known one another, I don't think he'd ever seen me so upset. This was a new side to me he'd never experienced before.

I did my best to be bubbly and happy. Most of the time it was fairly easy. With friends like David, Vincent, and Andy, things felt simple and comfortable. But throwing Liam in the mix definitely destroyed that warm fuzzy feeling I'd begun to develop about Shifter Grove. All of a sudden I found myself feeling like I wanted to just pick a direction and run so I'd never have to step foot in that place again. His very presence seemed to taint the sanctity and hard-won peace of my home.

And I hated him for it.

"Do you need help launching at all?" David asked quietly as we pushed our boats into the water.

"I'm good."

"Okay."

I hopped in my kayak, grabbed the paddle, and dug it into the soft sandy bottom of the river. My muscles strained, but I let my anger work for me this time. With relative ease, I pushed myself out into the center of the river. Glancing back, I saw David was only a few yards behind me. Turning back to the task at hand, I shifted my paddle and began to row downstream.

It was nice to focus on something physical for a while instead of my emotions. The first section of the river was fairly smooth, so I mostly just picked up speed and tried to enjoy my surroundings. However, after only a mile or so the river turned into an obstacle course of boulders, fallen trees, and shallow sandbars. At that point my brain really kicked into high focus, and I could forget about Liam at last.

David and I had planned this trip a while back. We'd been down almost every other river and across every inland lake in the county. Once we'd done all the easy stuff and were feeling confident, we began to plan our excursions into the more difficult sections of the nearby rivers. We'd started with small rapids and a few quick moving sections. However, both of us thought those were a bit boring. Michigan didn't have giant rapids like they did in the Rocky Mountains. The water just got fast and shallow sometimes over a bed of river stones.

However, there were lots of rivers choked with overgrowth and fallen trees. It wasn't so much an endorphin rush as it was a physical challenge. Endurance was the name of the game when you had to lift yourself over fallen trees, dodge boulders, and drag your kayak through the woods to get to the next navigable section of the river. Then of course, there was the hike back.

This particular stretch of river started five miles outside of Shifter Grove. From the boat launch we'd chosen, our kayaks would take us through nearly ten miles of back country river that was almost untouched by people. At the end of those ten miles the river filtered into a small lake that emptied into Lake Huron at one of the public beaches. There we'd leave our kayaks and hike back through the woods and back roads to the truck before returning to fetch the boats.

All in all, the trip was planned to take at least four hours if not more and be one of the most strenuous I'd ever been on.

And I'd much rather sweat for four hours than think about Liam again.

And that's exactly what I planned to do.

It took us nearly two hours to reach the end of the river. After having to drag my kayak through the woods several times, the small lake was a welcome sight. I paddled lazily across it, David only a few feet away as we headed for the knee-high dam that dumped into Lake Huron.

"Damn that was rough," he chuckled. "You know, it looked bad online, but that was way worse than I expected!"

"Yeah," I replied, leaning back and staring over the landscape. "Sure is pretty out here though."

"It really is."

The small lake was like a mirror. Sheltered from the wind by thick forest, the surface remained unmarred except for our boats slicing silently through the water. The trees around the edge of the lake were a riot of gold and red, their colors reflected in the dark water perfectly. If I could have lived in the center of that lake, I would have. But considering I was a werewolf and not a merman, that wasn't really a choice. Still, a houseboat could be nice.

"I know you don't want to talk about it," David said out of the blue.

My head snapped in his direction, my brows furrowed in anger. I was feeling so good until he brought that up again. Now I was thinking of Liam and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

"You're right," I replied through gritted teeth. "I don't."

"I know. That's why I'm not gonna ask you anything," he nodded. "But when or if you do need to talk–"

"I won't."

" When you do," he grinned. "Because I know you and I know that helps you work things out."

I huffed but didn't argue. He was right of course.

"Just know that I'm here to listen. I can be a shoulder to cry on or I can be your accomplice to help set his house on fire. Whatever you need."

I couldn't help but grin. David really was a good friend. There was a reason I'd kept him around. The guy was truly the best.

"Thanks, David," I sighed at last. "Sorry I'm so grumpy."

"Hey. It's understandable. If my ex showed up out of the blue, I'd be pissed too. Don't worry about it." He gave me a smile, tapping my arm with his paddle. "And on a completely unrelated note." That smile turned mischievous. "Is he hot?"

With the flat end of my paddle, I struck the water, spraying freezing cold droplets all over him.

"Don't even fucking think about it."

David gave me some serious side eye for the splash, but he smiled, nonetheless.

"Jackass," I muttered.

"You love me."

"And you're lucky for that or else your ass would be in the lake right now." I dug my paddle into the water, propelling myself forward. "Come on. I wanna get home sometime today." I paused only for a second, turning back to him. "Thank you for putting up with me."

His smile turned genuine. "What are best friends for?"

I nodded and the pair of us sped off toward Lake Huron.