Page 10 of The Werewolf Who Gave A Shift
CHAPTER6
Kaelen moved silently through the woods following Macy’s scent.He found where they had abandoned the car and followed her scent to a bar.Not seeing her car, he continued until the scent led him to Macy, who was on a porch talking to that damn cat.
Werewolves didn’t lose a scent.Oceans, mountains, distance...it didn’t matter.Once locked on, it became a tether.He told himself she wasn’t his prey, but his chest tightened all the same.Prey was hunted.This woman, Macy, pulled at him in a way he didn’t want to admit.
She was beautiful in a quiet, unpolished way that caught him off guard.The moonlight caught strands of her blonde hair, the sharp tilt of her chin, and the stubborn set of her mouth.He remembered how fiercely she’d stood against her own kind for him...how she’d saved his life.And what had he done?Dismissed her.Treated her as if her sacrifice meant nothing.The memory dug claws into him, making him despise himself more than he already did.
Guilt pressed hard against what was left of his heart.She had deserved gratitude, at the very least.Instead, he’d made her feel unwanted, as if she didn’t matter.Watching her now, he saw the weariness in her shoulders, and when the cat disappeared inside, leaving her alone, he felt her loneliness so strongly it almost brought him to his knees.He knew all too well what she was feeling.
Kaelen inhaled slowly, fighting the urge to step out of the shadows and claim what his Werewolf already knew.She wasn’t his prey.She wasn’t supposed to be anything.So why did she feel like everything to him?
His talk with Zelda, the Shifter Whisper, had not gone the way he’d expected.She’d known more about him than he knew about himself.It was eye-opening, unsettling, and left him feeling a little exposed.The shock on her Mate’s face proved Kaelen wasn’t the only one blindsided.And when Zelda had told him he needed to stay in Assjacket until she could figure out if there was a way to help him, Mac had nearly lost his shit.
A sharp whisper of his name snapped him out of his thoughts.The rhythmic crack of wood splitting had gone silent.Focusing on the yard, his eyes locked on Macy.She stood with her shoulders tight, staring down at her hands.His own fingers curled unconsciously, the sight tugging at something primal inside him.This wasn’t work she should be doing, not because she couldn’t, but because she shouldn’t have to.A woman deserved someone to make damn sure she had enough firewood stacked high to keep her warm through the cold months.
He watched her thumb brush over what looked like a blister, the redness already swelling against her pale skin.With a small, defeated motion, she dropped her hands into her lap and tilted her head back toward the sky.The sadness radiating off her hit him like a blow.
And then, before his eyes, she was gone.One heartbeat a woman, the next a black silk crow, wings glinting as they caught the moonlight.She rose into the sky and vanished into the night, leaving him staring upward with a raw ache in his soul.
Stepping out of the shadows, Kaelen’s gaze dropped to the pitiful stack of firewood she’d left behind.He stripped off his shirt, tossed it aside, and wrapped his hands around the ax.
Kaelen brought the ax down hard, splitting the log cleanly.He gathered the halves, stacking them in a neat pile before grabbing another.The rhythm was steady, punishing.Sweat dripped from his brow, but he didn’t stop.Couldn’t stop.
Bruce sat on the railing, tail flicking.“You’re real good at chopping wood.Shame you’re shit at standing up for someone who had your back.”
Kaelen’s shoulders tightened, but he kept working.
“Don’t give me that broody-Wolfman silence,” Bruce went on, eyes narrowing.“When Zelda told her to leave, Macy looked at you.She waited for you to say something.Anything.And you just stood there like she was nothing.”
The ax slammed through another log, the halves flying apart.Kaelen stacked them carefully, jaw set.
Bruce hopped down, pacing closer.“You think silence is better than honesty?Newsflash...it’s not.You might as well have said, ‘Get lost, Macy, you don’t matter.’Same result.She stood there waiting for you to say something—anything—and you gave her nothing.”
Another swing, another split, the sound sharp in the night.Kaelen’s chest burned, but he didn’t stop.
Bruce’s voice cut like a blade.“You know what kills me?She would’ve understood.That woman’s carried more than most, and she still showed up for you.But you let Zelda dismiss her like she was a damn servant and didn’t even blink.That wasn’t just silence, Wolfman.That was betrayal.”
The ax came down harder than he meant it to, chunks of wood flying.Kaelen’s head snapped up, eyes flashing.“I know what I did, cat.”His voice was rough, raw.“You think I didn’t see her face?You think I don’t feel like a bastard for standing there, saying nothing?I fucked up.I know that.”
Bruce froze, whiskers twitching, clearly not expecting him to admit it out loud.
Kaelen yanked another log onto the block and swung hard, the crack splitting the silence.“She deserved better than that.Better than me.And I don’t… I don’t know why the hell she even cared enough to stand up for me in the first place.”
Bruce hopped back up onto the porch rail, studying him.For once, his tone softened.“Because that’s Macy.She gives a damn when nobody else does.Even when it costs her.”
Kaelen’s grip tightened on the ax, his chest rising and falling like he’d just fought a battle.And maybe he had.
“I’m not worth the cost,” Kaelen said, tossing the axe down, then grabbed his shirt.He wiped the sweat from his brow before putting his shirt back on.
“I won’t argue with that,” Bruce said with a shrug.“But Macy’s definitely seen something in you to save.Listen, I’m loyal to the people I’m close to.Macy has been through some shit, and I don’t care how big and scary you are, Wolfman, I will call you out when you hurt someone I care for.”
“As it should be,” Kaelen sighed with a nod.“I’m just not used to anyone?—”
“Anyone what?”Bruce asked, hopping up on the log.
“Giving a shit,” Kaelen answered honestly.It was true.Once people knew what monster he was, they ran or tried to kill him.
“Yeah, well, most Shifters in Assjacket are a different breed.Now the Crows are total assholes, with Macy and Davey being the exception.Obviously, Zelda didn’t send your ass packing because, believe me, if she had, you wouldn’t be standing here having a conversation with me, so there’s that.”Bruce looked up at him.
