Chapter Two
Aspen trailed through the aisles at the grocery store, stuck in a weird headspace.
He had honestly had a fantastic night with Lysander.
For some reason, he felt off about the situation.
Lysander had said and done all the right things.
Aspen couldn’t wait to see him again. But there was something gnawing at his gut, and he already knew it was Leif.
Leif existed somewhere in the world. Aspen would move on if it killed him.
It was just… Leif existed somewhere out there in the world.
He hated the way this love twisted him and destroyed him.
He would not waste his life on the past. Aspen would have a new pack.
He could start over and not choose Leif.
Aspen had to move on. If not, loving Leif might really kill him.
That thought solidified his decision to never look back.
His nose hit the air. Tears blurred his vision.
He immediately turned toward the meat selection nearby.
Aspen would not acknowledge Leif’s presence in the store.
The scent got stronger. Fuck! He thought Leif had decided to leave this town, so Aspen thought he would be safe to stay.
If Leif was here and they constantly crossed paths, Aspen needed to grow a backbone. The scent got stronger.
Aspen’s stomach muscles tightened. He fought to keep his eyes open when he wanted to cut off every other sense so he could savor the smell of Leif.
“Hey.”
The softly spoken greeting weakened Aspen’s knees. There was no stopping his head from turning. As always, the first sight of Leif’s light blue eyes seared into his soul. Fuck. The love just never stopped, and it was genuinely pulling him toward the grave.
Aspen swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Hey. I thought you'd left town.”
Leif rubbed the back of his neck and shifted from foot to foot. “Yeah. It turns out I’m not as capable of walking away from everything as I thought. Audor is here.”
Aspen nodded. He should have known Leif wouldn’t truly abandon his best friend.
At his core, Leif was a soldier—loyal ‘til the end. Aspen took a deep breath. “If I had known you planned to come back, I wouldn’t have settled here. I know you don’t want me around.
” Aspen averted his eyes at the last second.
He couldn’t watch Leif’s growing disappointment in having to cross paths with Aspen.
“You’re good. They have a unique pack here. Very accepting. You can have the support system you’ve always wanted. It’s cruel to expect such a cuddly bear to miss his chance at having an actual family.”
He couldn’t breathe. Aspen had to get out of here.
“Hey. It’s Aspen, right?”
Aspen turned toward the chipper female voice. A tiny, brown-haired woman waited for his attention.
“That’s me.”
Her smile brightened. The unique light of an animal flashed in her eyes. He smelled wolf.
She held out her hand. “I’m Vixen. Waylon sent me your way.”
Aspen shook her hand while acutely aware of Leif’s presence.
Vixen focused on Leif for half a second. “Hey, Leif.”
“Hi.”
Leif didn’t sound annoyed. He didn’t sound any certain way at all. Aspen was an inner wreck trying to figure out why Leif was still standing there.
Vixen’s gaze locked on him again. “Waylon said you were a handyman back in Montana.”
Aspen nodded, hoping he didn’t look as nervous as he felt. Not only was Aspen pretty shy, Leif had shifted closer to him.
Vixen kept talking, seemingly oblivious to his inner struggle.
“My fridge bit the dust. I have a newborn at home and a desperate need to keep things from spoiling. The wol—” Vixen caught herself.
“The guy who usually does that sort of thing for us is slammed with work. Everyone’s heat and air units are failing like crazy because of the unusually hot weather.
He can’t help me until next week. My husband owns a landscaping business. He’d be more than happy to—”
“I’ll fix it,” Aspen said, cutting her off. “Just let me know the address and I’ll head that way as soon as I finish here.” She had a newborn, and that was rare for Weres. For some odd reason, Wulfe seemed to have a higher birth survival rate than anywhere he had seen before.
It’s Frost. He’s the reason so many Weres are moving here. His success rate in keeping various species and their offspring alive through childbirth is abnormally high.
Aspen tried to ignore the words Leif forced into his head. As a druid, Leif could do that, and the memories of Leif in his head were choking him.
Vixen wore a huge grin. “Seriously? That’s so amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”
“That’s what we do. Help each other.” He didn’t want to use the word “pack” in a store where any human could overhear.
She happy-clapped while bouncing on her toes before settling down again. “I’m the coral-colored house on Oak Street. You can’t miss it.”
The first kernel of hope grew inside Aspen. If Vixen was any indication, it seemed like the town might really accept him into their pack. Pack life was a lot like skill-sharing communities. Everyone pitched in to help one another, and the pack thrived.
Vixen waved, saying her goodbyes to him and Leif.
The nervousness returned the moment they were alone again.
His gaze slid back to Leif. He was still there and just as sexy as ever.
Goddamn. A real Viking was hard as hell to resist. Leif had the whole hardened body with long blond hair shaved to the scalp on both sides, making his hair like a Mohawk that fell to the center of his back.
Today, Leif had it tied back, but Aspen had felt that silky smooth hair slip over his skin as Leif kissed his way down Aspen’s body. Damn. Seeing him really hurt.
Aspen motioned to his cart. “Well, I guess I need to finish this up so I can get that fridge running. It was nice seeing you.”
Aspen pushed his cart a step farther.
Leif stepped backwards, staying with him. “See me again tonight.”
The demand was a knife to the center of Aspen’s chest. “I actually have a date tonight.” Aspen nearly choked on the words, but Leif needed to know.
Leif didn’t flinch or back down. “Then see me tomorrow night.”
Leif looked hopeful.
Aspen felt sick. “I know it’s my fault.” The words came out sounding quiet.
He couldn’t make his voice go any louder.
Too many emotions were stuck in his throat.
“But you’ve already made it abundantly clear you don’t want me.
You don’t want us. I have to move on before this ends me—like for real. Like dead, dead.”
“Just see me. I swear you won’t get hurt in any way.”
“You can’t swear that.” Aspen didn’t know if Leif had intended to say more, but he had to stop things there.
If they got back together, they still might not be true mates.
They still might get hurt. Aspen had been more than willing to take that chance when he came to town, but Leif’s rejection had cut him to the bone.
Aspen would freely admit he deserved that rebuff.
However, he had to stop setting himself on fire in the name of hope.
Leif grabbed Aspen’s shopping cart so he couldn’t get away. “I won’t let you get hurt.”
Aspen drew a slow breath in through his nose. “Can I think about it?”
He felt Leif poking around inside his brain, searching for any lie in Aspen’s request. Aspen knew Leif well enough to know he wouldn’t let Aspen walk away until he was satisfied Aspen truly intended to do just as he claimed he would.
Leif let go of the cart. “Just let me know.”
With a sharp nod, Aspen walked away and wrapped himself in his broken heart.
He would think about seeing Leif again. Odin knew that was all Aspen could think about now.
But for real, he didn’t think he could survive losing Leif again.
He had ripped out his own soul when he ended things.
Aspen desperately wanted that missing piece back.
Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that living without that piece of himself had already killed him.
As much as Leif desperately wanted to hide and follow Aspen around all day, he needed to figure out where Frost was.
As he had told Aspen, Frost was the reason this town’s population was growing.
Without him, a lot of pregnant Weres were in danger, and they would turn on Frost in a second once all these women started dying.
That was a battle even the nephew of Celeste didn’t want.
While Leif had been too angry last night to truly hear Celeste out, he had heard her.
Every word she said just didn’t sink in until later, and she had said a lot.
As far as Leif knew, Celeste had only one sibling: Lucifer.
How was it even possible that Lucifer had spawned a child, and no one knew?
It had to have been a cataclysmic event.
Frost wasn’t that old. He didn’t understand.
Next, was being Lucifer’s child the reason Frost could hide from someone as powerful as Celeste?
Seriously, why couldn’t she find him? It was possible Frost was in terrible danger.
Leif knew nothing about the circumstances of his disappearance.
He felt woefully unprepared to even know where to start.
Additionally, Celeste had called Odin her love. Was that how and why Weres were suddenly capable of having vampire mates? Everything about this entire situation, from the first day he had been sent to Wulfe until now, was nothing short of baffling.
Leif knew the best place to start was with Audor. Audor and he had been best friends for as far back as he could recall. Since Leif had skipped out with only a note left behind, he didn’t know how Audor would react to seeing him again.