Chapter 21 Runaway Wolves
Runaway Wolves
Sawyer gripped my hand so tightly it ached. Yanking it away, I furrowed my brows, but Sawyer was stubbornly staring out the window.
Cole looked over his shoulder with a baleful gaze, fixated on Sawyer’s profile.
What was their problem?
Guilt surged at even thinking that when he’d stabbed someone to protect Cole, but I was so grateful. Cole was important to Thorne, and he was becoming important to me too. Sawyer had no reason to defend him, but he did.
Grabbing his hand, I kissed Sawyer’s palm. He jolted, turning to look at me. After a second, his bright green gaze flickered to Cole and then purposefully back to me.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, turning his hand to kiss the back.
Cole let out a rumble low in his throat, somewhere between a growl and a whine. Sawyer flinched, and I let him go, curling my arms around my middle instead.
After thirty minutes of driving down the highway, Thorne pulled off into a gas station. We sat in awkward silence as he filled up the SUV’s tank and then pulled around to the back.
“What are you doing?” I asked tentatively.
“We need to wash the last of our scents off and hopefully that will keep them from being able to track us,” he said, steering the truck into a car wash and swiping his card to activate it.
The lights flashed, and the truck slowly inched in.
“Three werewolves in a carwash,” I hummed to myself, trying to lighten the mood.
Maybe I was crazy, but I could have sworn that Sawyer’s nutty, sweet smell was thicker in the air. His throat worked as he stared resolutely at the foam splattering across the window.
“How are you feeling?” Thorne asked Cole, placing his big palm on Cole’s forearm.
“Fine.” Cole’s answer was sharp and scratchy. It sounded anything but fine.
A beat of awkward silence filled the space, and I gathered my courage to speak.
“So, can we talk about things? Cause I know we just beat up a bunch of Hunter’s buddies, but things feel pretty tense right now, and I don’t love it.”
Thorne’s mouth twitched when he glanced back at me, and a soft feeling of gratitude and affection flowed between us.
“It’s nothing!” Sawyer snapped.
Cole’s eyes widened a fraction, and he turned away, staring forward, still as a statue.
“It’ll be okay. Let’s just get to the cabin, sweetheart,” Thorne murmured, steering the truck out of the tunnel.
The last of the water droplets flew off as he pulled back onto the highway. Sighing, I placed my hand on the seat beside me, hoping Sawyer would take it, but his hands stayed clenched on his thighs, his eyes staring into nothing.
We turned off the highway onto a mountain road, and suddenly, the route became winding, our speed slowing and the trees thickening around us.
“It’s about three miles ahead,” Sawyer said, breaking the heavy silence.
Thorne slowed as he neared the turn-off, and Sawyer dutifully pointed out the dirt road. It was easy to miss, and I hoped that would keep us safe.
It wasn’t well maintained, with rocks and weeds littering the path. Thorne had to slow the truck as the drive became rougher.
A small cabin sat at the end of the twisty road. Ancient pine trees towered over us. Shoving the door open, Sawyer tumbled out, staggering to his feet. He trudged to the cabin, fished a key from a hiding place, and unlocked it.
Cole slipped out of his seat and reluctantly followed, his arms wrapped around his middle. Jumping out, I paused at Thorne’s side. He watched Cole with narrowed eyes.
“What is going on?” I asked. “I know fighting those guys was hard on everyone, but I don’t know where they’re at—either of them.”
Thorne took my hand. “I’m not sure, but I have a theory.”
“What is it?” I demanded.
“Patience, Vixen.”
I scowled at him, but Thorne merely kissed my forehead before following Cole into the cabin. We climbed the wooden stairs and crossed the small porch to the door.
I’d never visited Sawyer’s cabin. He avoided talking about it, and I attributed that to bad memories from his family, but now I questioned that assumption.
It was one big room with a kitchenette across one wall. A small table sat with two chairs beside a futon. The center of the room held a king bed on a heavy wooden frame. Beside the bed, a door led to a rustic bathroom.
“There’s gas, but no electricity,” Sawyer said. “I need to reconnect everything and we can get a fire started.”
Cole sank onto the futon, his head in his hands and messy black hair tumbling over his face.
Sawyer brushed past us and exited the cabin. Frowning, I followed him.
“Hey, wait!” I said, hurrying to catch him.
Sawyer slowed, scowling at me. I hesitated, not used to being the recipient of his ire. Seeing my shocked expression, he softened.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, babe. I’m a mess.”
“What’s the matter?” Crossing the porch, I wrapped my arms around his middle. “Please just tell me.”
Exhaling, Sawyer melted into my embrace. “I can’t. I can’t deal with it.”
Squeezing him tighter, I growled, “I can’t help if you aren’t honest with me. And you’re my mate, so you have to tell me.”
Pulling back, Sawyer glanced between me and the door. “I don’t even know.”
My stomach churned at the tortured tone he used. “Sawyer!” I snapped. “Tell me. I’m assuming the worst at this point.”
Dipping his head, he stared at the ground. “I think I’m fated mates…” His words trailed off.
“What?” Grabbing his face, I forced him to look into my eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
His eyes glistened. “I’m fated mates with Cole.”
The world dropped out from under my feet. My hands dropped to Sawyer’s shoulders as I gripped him for balance. “Fated mates with Cole?”
Suddenly all of Cole’s little hints made perfect sense. He’d been talking about Sawyer! And Sawyer was already my bonded mate.
“I’m not leaving you,” Sawyer insisted. “I don’t want him. Fuck that bond. I committed myself to you more than ten years ago.”
“Hey, hey,” I said, bending backward to catch his attention. “Remember our discussion about how werewolves share? It’s because of this very situation. You can be with him and me.”
Blond curls swaying, Sawyer shook his head. “I’m not going to let some cosmic bond force me into a relationship.”
My mouth curved into a deep frown. “Sawyer, if it’s anything like my bond with Thorne, you won’t be able to deny it.”
“Fuck, Autumn, do you know what this is like? I want to push you against the wall and shove my cock into your cunt until you scream, but I can’t because I’d be thinking of Cole the entire time.”
“Sawyer, it’s really going to be okay. Remember when I came home after meeting Thorne and got off on your lap? It was because of him.”
He laughed bitterly. “This would be so much worse.” Turning away, he descended the stairs and headed to the back of the cabin.
Gritting my teeth, I followed him. He clearly needed some help extracting his head from his ass.
“Stop.”
Letting out a dramatic exhale, Sawyer turned, his hands flopping at his sides.
“First of all, stop being an absolute fucking twat,” I growled, marching up to him. “The pity party is over. If you found some fated mate, that’s good. It’s gotta be good.”
“How?” His hoarse whisper made the hair on my arms stand on end.
“It means Cole is your soulmate. And it means we will all be together.”
It wasn’t until it was coming out of my mouth that I realized the truth of it. Instinctively, I knew with unwavering conviction that the four of us were bonded together on the deepest level.
Sawyer stared at me for a long moment, his pale eyelashes fluttering as he blinked. He was beautiful, and I loved him, and it broke my heart that he was struggling. I wanted to reach for him, but losing himself in me would not help him process his new connection with Cole.
“I think I need some time,” Sawyer finally said.
Nodding, I stepped back, tucking my hands into my pockets. “I’ll see you inside.”
He nodded, turning away.
“Sawyer? I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Bittersweet affection welled inside of me, and I swallowed, fighting back the urge to cry.
But everything was overwhelming. The image of Sawyer shoving a kitchen knife between a man’s ribs flashed behind my eyes, followed by Cole’s stunned expression.
They’d certainly have a crazy story to tell about how they bonded.
Wandering back into the cabin, I stopped beside Thorne. He leaned against the kitchen cabinets, watching Cole worriedly.
“So, Sawyer says they’re fated mates,” I said quietly.
Thorne dipped his chin, his mouth flattening. His gaze lingered on Cole for a moment before he turned his attention to me. “Yeah, that’s what I suspected.”
Cole lifted his head, soft gray eyes meeting mine. His words echoed back to me, and I repeated them to Thorne. “What about all four of us together?”
“Is that what you want?” he asked, wrapping an arm around my hips.
Pausing, I considered. “I want everyone to be happy. And yes, I want you and Sawyer. And I do have feelings for Cole. They’re different, but still there.”
Thorne bit his lip, and I could see thoughts whirling behind his eyes. “Fated mates aren’t common, but they’re common enough that I know with male-male pairings, things can be different.”
“What do you mean, different?”
“Sawyer may not be able to ignore the bond the way we did.”
“It’s not like that worked well for us,” I said, frowning. “We got sick.”
“Yes. This would be worse. Look, let’s hope I’m wrong.”
“That’s not reassuring,” I said.
Sawyer refused to come back inside the cabin until darkness forced him to. I warmed up canned soup on the gas stove as Thorne fed wood into the fireplace. It was late enough in the year that it was icy cold in the mountains.
Once the sun set, bitter cold crept in. Cole didn’t move from the futon except to use the bathroom, while Sawyer perched on the bed, eyeing him suspiciously.
No one seemed willing to discuss anything, and I had a sinking feeling that if I pushed Sawyer, he would get angry and it would make things worse.
Sawyer retrieved blankets from the closet, and Cole stretched out on the futon while the three of us curled on the bed together.
I woke up in the night to see Cole curled against Sawyer’s back. My heart did a weird flip-flop at the sight. Sighing, I snuggled against Thorne and went back to sleep.