Page 8 of Rocky Top

“You let her see?”

“No,” I lied. “Not really.”

There was a pause. He didn’t buy it, not for a second.

“You bring her in?”

“Not yet.”

“Bring her to the clubhouse, Rock. She’s in this now, whether she knows it or not.”

“Copy that,” I said, then hung up.

Istared at the phone a second longer, jaw clenched. I wasn’t ready for this.

Birdie was sunshine and fire, all in one breath. And me?

I was just a dog tryin’ not to bite the wrong thing.

But fate had teeth, and tonight?

It sunk 'em deep.

I stood in the trees a while longer, breath foggin’ in the cool mountain air, tryin’ to piece together what the hell just happened. My damn heart wouldn’t slow down. Not from the rogue. I’d taken down worse things on a bad day. No, it was her.

Birdie.

I could still smell her, sunshine and citrus and somethin’ warmer underneath, like honey heated over fire. It filled my lungs and made my wolf stir. He wanted to circle back, check on her. Nuzzle her soft skin, make sure she was alright.

I couldn’t let that happen.

Not with her wide eyes burned into my memory. The fear in ’em gutted me.

Birdie wasn’t like the club girls. She didn’t come to the Wild Dog lookin’ for trouble. She wasn’t part of our world, not really. Birdie? She still believed in good things, bright things. Shit I didn’t deserve to touch, let alone protect.

I found what was left of my clothes in a heap by the ridge and tugged my jeans on, wincin’ at the sting of healing cuts across my ribs.The shift had taken more outta me than I expected. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline crash that came from seein’ Birdie scared outta her mind. Either way, I felt like I'd been hit by a fucking freight train.

I kept low as I circled back around the campsite. She was still there, curled into herself by the fire, tryin’ to steady her breathing. Her flashlight was dead, and the flames had dwindled to embers. She clutched a campfire poker in one hand like it was a damn broadsword.

“Birdie,” I said low from the trees, human voice this time.

She jerked her head up, eyes wide. When she saw me, relief flashed across her face, quick, then gone. Suspicion slid in to take its place.

“Rocky?” she said, her voice shaky.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

She stood slowly, keepin’ the poker between us. Smart girl. “You heard that too, right? That… thing?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I saw it.”

“What the hell was it?” she whispered.

I shrugged, steppin’ closer. “Coyote maybe. Could’ve been a big-ass dog.”

She gave me a look like she wasn’t buyin’ it. “No. No way that was a dog. It came outta the woods like, like it knew I was here. Like it was hunting.”

My jaw flexed. She wasn’t wrong. “Well, whatever it was, I scared it off.”

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