I stopped walking for a moment.
Were they right?
My wolf had been fighting me for so long, trying to take control permanently for so many years now, that I wasn’t sure how to tellwhyhe was fighting me anymore.
But if they were right, why had he been fighting me so hard when she shifted in my arms? What would’ve been the point?
“Did she eat before she left?” Elliot asked.
I blinked at him.
Had she…
No, she hadn’t eaten.
Actually, I was pretty sure her stomach had growled after she shifted.
Fuckkk.
That was why he was fighting before; she was hungry, and I wasn’t feeding her.
And now, she was out of my sight—out of my arms—hungry, and definitely pissed off by the fact that I’d panicked and told her I wanted to be platonic permanently when she offered sex.
I had fucked up the explanation for what I’d said, too, a nail on the damned coffin.
My fists clenched, and I fought the urge to slam one into the nearest wall. Dax was trying to sell his place, and I wasn’t going to mess it up for him.
“No,” I admitted.
“It’s been a long time since you had to worry about a mate, so you’re going to have to get back in touch with those instincts,” Rocco told me, grabbing a set of keys off the kitchen table. They belonged to the fucker who had attacked Charly, and I wanted to kill him again just thinking about it.
My little brother added, “We’ll get the guy’s car back to the gas station and bring your bike back here; take my truck, and get to her house. Feed her, and take care of whichever needs she lets you take care of—and apologize. Multiple times. On your knees, if you have to. This is your second chance, so if you screw it up, you’re done. The wolf won’t let that go.”
His words brought my snarling wolf back to the surface, and I fought a snarl of my own.
Rocco tossed me his keys, and I jogged out toward the truck.
“Good luck!” one of the girls yelled from behind me.
I tossed a hand up, acknowledging the words without stopping to chat about them.
I owed Char a major fucking apology… and an explanation… and an assload of food.
SIX
CHARLY
Del droppedme off at home, trying to convince me to let her stay for a bit. I talked her out of it, so she headed back.
With her gone, I paced the house for a bit, my mind running at lightning speed. My wolf was still near the surface, which irritated me, but there was nothing I could do about that. I was hungry, but couldn’t convince myself to eat any of the mass quantity of granola bars in my pantry, so that was a no-go too.
And as much as I hated it, I was horny.
Really, really horny.
Being naked with Ryder had turned me on, as much as I despised him.
I could do something about that, though.