Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GARRETT
Ihang back so Angel doesn’t see me. If the wind shifts, I’ll have to leave before she catches my scent.
“Spying?” Damien asks from behind.
“Practicing my skills.” I turn to see his expression, to know what mood he’s in considering I’ve been avoiding him for the past week.
That amused expression puts me at ease, more than I realize. “You’d be surprised how I got to be as good as I am, Damien.”
“As long as you’re not watching the females shower or peeping through any windows, we’re good.”
“I haven’t done that since we were teenagers.”
He cuffs the back of my head.
“What the fuck was that for?”
“Just a reminder of what I’ll do if you tell Tess about my early years.”
I return my attention to Angel. I can barely hear her from this distance, but hearing her voice, seeing her smiling, soothes me. “I fucked up with her.”
“You slept with her?”
“No.” I don’t say more. I’m still trying to figure out why the hell I can’t forget about her. Or have a good night’s sleep without her lying down beside me.
“You pushed her away, didn’t you? Marla’s dead, Garrett. You need to let go of the past and move on.” Damien scrubs his face. “I shouldn’t have said that. Not sure why, only that Tess said not to.”
“I didn’t love her,” I blurt out. “I mean, to some extent, I did. As a friend, sure, but there wasn’t anything beyond that.
” I haven’t even thought about Marla much since returning.
Angel’s all I can think about. Knowing her, being with her, has put so much of my life into perspective.
Marla never accepted my offer to blood-bond because she knew what has taken me so long to figure out. We didn’t belong together.
“And Angel?” he asks, cutting right to the heart of why I’m so messed up.
“She needs to belong, to be a part of this pack.”
“I’m not sure that’s in her future.”
I turn on him. “You can’t kick her out.”
His lips thin, as they do when I challenge his authority in any way, but Damien exhibits more patience around me than most. Not sure if that’s because we’re family or because he knows I’d never truly challenge him.
“She’s avoiding people, Garrett.”
“From what I’m seeing here, she’s getting along with Sadie Lynn and the kids.”
“Yes, but kids are easy enough. Angel’s avoiding everyone else as if she’s hiding something.”
“I don’t recall Tess jumping right into the pack when you brought her here.”
“Tess struggled with trauma in a way Angelina isn’t.
” He sighs. “I’m sure she’ll adjust in time.
” His hand clamps down on my shoulder. “Let’s go.
The others are waiting back at my house.
We have to figure out what our next move is.
Blade just returned from scouting the facility where Angelina was held. It’s empty.”
“Fuck. They moved the others.”
“Not just the shifters. The entire operation. Equipment, trucks, people. Everything’s gone.”
I punch the tree, immediately regretting it as pain radiates down my forearm. “I didn’t think they’d move them.”
“They couldn’t take the risk. You attacked them in their front yard.”
“Couldn’t be helped. Once those trucks made it into their compound…” I shake my head. “I could have gotten in, but I’m not sure I would have been able to get her out.”
“Yet another issue with going rogue.”
I ignore his underlying growl. He’s still pissed at me. “Do you still want me at the meeting even though this is no longer a rescue op?”
“That’s why I sent Frank out to get you. Not for you to spy on two unmated females.”
My eyes shoot back to Angel. She’s crouched in front of a ten-year-old, talking to her calmly as she tends to a scraped knee. “Two females?”
“Sadie Lynn.”
I glance to the left where Sadie Lynn’s reading a book to a group of six-year-olds. “Oh, that’s right. Sadie Lynn. And I wasn’t spying. Just keeping my skills sharp in the process.”
“Yeah, right.” Damien grabs the back of my shirt and shoves me to get me moving. I don’t take my eyes off Angel, until I trip over a root and fall flat on my face.
“Not spying, my ass…”