Page 61 of Rocky Top

He nodded, backing off, but the air between us felt colder. Emptier.

“I get it,” he said. “I really do.”

We didn’t speak much after that. I sat there staring at the sky while he leaned against the porch rail, silent.

And yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted between us. Like a door cracked open that neither of us could shut.

A line had been drawn.

And neither of us knew what it meant to cross it.

Chapter 15

Rocky

Sleep was a joke lately.

Every damn time I closed my eyes, there she was, laughin’, dancin’ in the back of my skull like a damn fever dream. Birdie with her smart mouth, her soft skin, her scent like sunshine and honeysuckle. I didn’t just want her. I needed her. My wolf paced inside me, snarlin’ for the taste of her, the mark, the claim.

I couldn’t do it. Not yet.

She’d said “hell no” to the idea of becomin’ one of us, and I wasn’t the type to beg. Even if every inch of me—man and monster alike—was fightin’ to ignore those words.

The second my shift ended, I rode straight for the Wild Dog. I’d told myself it was just to check in, maybe grab a drink, shoot the shit. But truth was, I needed to see her. Make sure she was still breathin’. Still mine, even if she didn’t know it yet.

The clubhouse was loud for a weekday, too loud. Bikers milled around, drinkin’ early, whisperin’ low. They always did that when shit was about to go sideways. I knew the source of it. Birdie. Her presence among us, her knowledge of our true nature, had unsettled the delicate balance us officers maintained.

The shifters knew and the other members felt something was off.

And there she was. Back near the pool table, laughin’ with Eliza, that soft Southern twang of hers curlin’ around every damn syllable. I wanted to wrap her up, bite down, claim what was mine. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Not until she truly understood what that meant and wanted it.

“Birdie!” I barked.

She looked up with a half-smile, half-wince. “Rocky. What’s got your furry panties in a twist today?”

I didn’t crack, not visibly. But inside, somethin’ loosened just hearin’ her voice. “Need a word. Alone.”

Eliza gave her a look and made herself scarce.

“What’s up?” Birdie asked, arms crossin’ under her chest like she was expectin’ a lecture.

I opened my mouth, about to tell her somethin’ dumb like,don’t go outside alone, when the door creaked open behind us.

And hell walked in.

He was huge. Built like a fuckin’ tree trunk and wearin’ a smug like it was stitched into his goddamn skin. My nose wrinkled before my brain caught up.

Bear.

The fuckin’ scent hit me like rot. Wrong. Garbage juice and blood gone sour. Every hair on my neck stood up.

Hescanned the room like he owned it, zeroed in on Birdie, and smiled like a man who’d just found a rabbit cornered in a trap.

“Well, ain’t this a pleasant surprise,” the bastard said, swaggerin’ up like he had a death wish.

I stepped between them, full height, all shoulders and murder. “You’re a long fuckin’ way from wherever your fat ass came from.”

---