Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
H e was here. Every hair on her body stood at attention. Rafe was in the woods. She could feel him. Ruby sucked in a deep breath as though she could inhale him into her lungs and keep him locked inside her chest.
She should have taken Macy up on her offer of a ride home, but she thought she’d sensed Rafe the night before and she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be near him.
Now she was sure. He was here again.
She strode down the path, pretending to ignore the weight of his stare from the shadows, pretending to be immune to his presence when all she really wanted to do was drop down in the dirt at his feet and beg him to come back to her. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t.
Instead, she let him walk beside her, his steady breathing and quiet footsteps comforting her aching heart.
Neither of them spoke, but Ruby knew he was getting closer and could feel his warmth beside her.
Perhaps if she turned and peered into the darkness, she would catch a glimpse of her wolf.
But she kept her eyes on the path ahead of her, using her phone to light the leaf-covered path in front of her feet.
“I miss you,” she whispered to the darkness.
No answer other than rustling leaves in the branches overhead.
“Dolores is pissed at you, by the way.” She paused, hoping that would draw him out.
Nothing.
“She says you were supposed to do laundry with her last night, but she left with Sal, so I guess she has a new boyfriend now.”
Nothing, and she wondered if she’d imagined him.
But she kept walking and felt him keep stride beside her. “I miss you making me breakfast. Lena tried yesterday and I had to pretend to like my toast burned and my eggs runny.”
Still nothing.
Ruby sighed and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. “This purse is awfully heavy. I sure wish a big strong man would come out and carry it for me,” she said in her best damsel-in-distress voice, hand on her forehead for dramatic effect.
A wolfy breath cut through the sound of the forest. Ruby bit down on a smile. “I miss that wolfy sound you always make.”
He did it again, the low breathy noise teasing Ruby with its closeness.
“I’m glad you’re still there. Even though I should be pissed at you. Even though I kind of am.”
They were nearly at her cottage now, and she dreaded the moment he would leave her again. “For a minute there, I really thought this would work. I thought we understood each other. I thought we were inevitable…”
She swallowed the tears that rose up in her throat. She considered telling him about Knox’s visit. It might draw him out; his instinct to protect her was clearly still intact. But she’d told him before, she didn’t want a bodyguard. She just wanted him.
“If this is the only way I can have you, then I’ll take it. Just knowing you’re there, listening. I’ll take it.”
The light from her windows spilled into the yard, and she stopped at the edge, not wanting to leave him. She turned in time to see silver eyes watching her from the dark before she made her way slowly to the door.
The yard was covered in leaves, brown and orange and gold.
Her feet crunched through them. It was cold tonight, the chill of winter already starting to seep in around the edges of fall.
She pulled her aunt’s red cloak tighter around her.
She’d taken to wearing it every day. It smelled like Aunt Millie, like sage and rosemary.
It was comforting when everything else was such a mess.
When she reached the back door, she turned, hoping for one more glimpse.
But Rafe was already gone.
She sighed. As angry as she was with him for turning her away, Ruby knew Rafe was the one in more pain here. She had her sister and her friends and even Sal and Macy and the other regulars at the bar. Ruby had a community here she hadn’t even acknowledged before.
Rafe was alone without his pack.
Without her.
She just hoped it didn’t take too long for him to realize what she already knew. She would love him for the rest of her life. He’d been right. Fate hadn’t made a mistake with them.
This was exactly where she was supposed to be.