Page 20 of The Werewolf Who Gave A Shift
And just like that, she was gone.He watched her disappear inside the cabin, her shadow swallowed up by the door as it closed behind her.His hand felt strangely empty without her wrist in it.
Dragging in a breath, Kaelen turned toward the car.Mac was already in the driver’s seat, tapping impatiently against the wheel.But Zelda stood outside, her eyes sharp, studying him as though she could read the storm inside his head.
“She’s lost a lot of people in her life,” Zelda said, her gaze drifting toward the cabin Macy had vanished into.“And now she’s facing banishment from her Murder.Macy has carried more heartbreak than most could bear, Kaelen.But don’t mistake her strength for invincibility.”Her eyes cut back to his, unwavering.“If you care for her, I mean really care for her, you’ll fight as hard for her as she’s been fighting for you.”
The words hit Kaelen like a stone in the gut.He looked back at the cabin, his chest tight.His Werewolf stirred restlessly within him, not with anger, but with a vow, silent but fierce.
Kaelen slid into the backseat of Mac’s SUV, the leather creaking under his weight.He leaned back, staring out the window, but his mind wasn’t on the road ahead.It was on the cabin door Macy had disappeared behind, the way her smile hadn’t quite reached her eyes, and the sadness in her voice.
Zelda’s words replayed in his head, sharp as claws.Fight for her as she’s been fighting for you.
His jaw flexed.He wasn’t used to people fighting for him.All his life, he’d been the one defending himself with fists, claws, teeth, and whatever it took.He’d been the monster, the mistake, the curse, and yet Macy… she hadn’t flinched.She hadn’t treated him like a beast.She’d stared him down, called him on his shit, and still stood by him when it mattered most against her own Murder.
Inside him, his Werewolf stirred.Not restless or violent, but something else.Protective.Possessive.The memory of his Werewolf’s claw brushing against her cheek rose unbidden, and Kaelen swallowed hard.It hadn’t just been instinct.It had been recognition.
He dragged a hand through his hair, staring at the blur of trees rushing past the window.He should’ve been focused on what waited at the Crows’ camp that he was getting ready to walk into, but instead, all he could think about was Macy’s arms around him, her voice whispering that he deserved happiness.
The wolf rumbled in his chest, low and steady, with agreement.
She’s ours.
The words weren’t spoken, but they vibrated through him all the same.Kaelen’s hands curled into fists.His Werewolf had never spoken to him in anything but growls and fury.But now, it was different.He could actually hear his thoughts, which were the same as his.
Zelda had said there were others like him, that he wasn’t cursed.For the first time, he wasn’t alone.But even that revelation couldn’t outshine the way Macy had looked at him as though he wasn’t broken at all.
He turned his head, meeting Zelda’s gaze in the rearview mirror.She was watching him, quiet but knowing.She didn’t say anything, and he didn’t either.But her words had already sunk deep into him.
Kaelen wasn’t just going to fight for himself anymore.He was going to fight for Macy too.
And God help anyone who tried to stand in his way.
CHAPTER13
Macy showered quickly, hoping the hot water would wash away the heaviness clinging to her chest.It didn’t.By the time she toweled off and slipped into her work clothes, the knot inside her had only grown tighter.
Standing at the mirror, she dragged the brush through her damp hair, watching her reflection.The woman staring back wasn’t the sharp, smartass Crow she usually saw.Her eyes looked hollow, weighed down with something she didn’t want to name.Sadness?Longing?
Her throat tightened.She was truly happy for Kaelen, having heard what Zelda had told him.But under that happiness was a hollow ache she couldn’t ignore.
He had a future now.A new purpose to search for others like him.She couldn’t shake the fear that it meant he would be walking out of her life just as quickly as he’d walked into it.
“Get it together,” she muttered, wrinkling her nose at her reflection as if scolding herself could erase the truth.She had fallen for him fast and hard.It was the ways of the Shifter.When you found theone, there was absolutely no denying it.But she had to deny it because if she didn’t, the heartbreak of his leaving would consume her.
She tossed the brush down and squared her shoulders.She’d survived worse—loss, betrayal, and certain banishment from her Murder.She’d survive this, too, if she had to.
But as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door, one thought stayed with her, heavy and unrelenting.She didn’t want to survive losing him.She wanted him to stay.
By the time Macy stepped out of the cabin, the air felt cooler than usual, or maybe it was just the emptiness inside her.She hugged her bag tighter to her side, her boots crunching against the gravel path as she made her way toward Shift Faced.She was close enough that she decided to walk tonight.She did that sometimes.It helped clear her mind, and well, she enjoyed it.Today, however, she realized it was just giving her mind more time to think.
She wasn’t due in for work for a couple of hours, but she had promised Billie Ann that she would come early to help decorate for the Halloween party tomorrow night.
The closer she got, the more she could hear the distant hum of laughter and music spilling from the bar.That sound had always been her comfort, her escape.Tonight, it felt like armor, something to take her mind off everything.
Inside, the familiar warmth and smell of beer, food, and Shifter musk wrapped around her like a blanket.She forced a smile, flashing it at a table of regulars who raised their mugs at her in greeting.The mask slipped easily into place, her loudmouth sass ready to keep everyone from guessing the truth about her mental state at the moment.She was good at hiding her feelings, had been doing it for years.
“Bout time you showed up,” one of the guys called out.“We thought you quit on us.”
Macy planted a hand on her hip, her smirk sharp enough to cut glass.“Quit?Please.Without me, you’d all be drooling into your mugs, wondering why life feels so empty.”
