Chapter 21
Willow
After talking with Diana at Bones and Tomes Bookstore, Harlow and I stopped by Midnight Market to see Billy.
I thanked him for setting up the donation table and offered him free scones for the rest of my life, but he refused, stating, “We take care of our own, you know that.” Which made me come dangerously close to crying.
But the warm and fuzzy feelings I had for our town mayor and the leader of the monster clan all died when he shared the bit of town gossip that had been floating around: According to “eyewitness accounts,” Wyatt and I’d had a falling out that had resulted in him leaving in a fury, breaking his vow to remain in his human form, and ending our relationship.
Everyone suspected it was all because we had dinner at his mother’s house.
Was his mom the one fanning the fires of this speculation? Had Wyatt told her he’d broken up with me? Were we broken up?
Being told that you’d been dumped by someone other than your romantic partner was shocking enough, but knowing the whole town knew before you did was extra salt and vinegar in the wound.
I tried to keep it together as I teetered on the edge of a mental breakdown. I needed to talk to Wyatt before I fully imploded.
I told Harlow to go back to the apothecary and wait for me. I lied about needing to stay at the market to shop, which Harlow dreaded more than dish duty at the café. But as soon as she was out of sight, I took off down a side street, around the block, and through the back alley to Full Moon Bakery.
Eloise turned to look at me as I entered the kitchen. Something akin to relief washed across her face at the sight of me, and I wondered if she was waiting—or hoping—for someone else. She lifted one of the headphones she wore off her ear, loud rock music blaring from them as she did.
“Willow!” She sounded pleasantly surprised, but I could hear the hesitation in her voice. “Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Where is he?” There was no need to beat around the bush. The whole town was awash with rumors about what had happened between Wyatt and me.
As if summoned, the door to the apartment above opened, and Wyatt stuck his head out. He didn’t search for me; his gaze instantly landed on me as if I were a beacon. The heat in his eyes quickly faded to guarded wariness, but I saw it there for the briefest flash.
“Willow, I . . .” Wyatt rubbed the back of his neck, his expression tight. “I don’t think you should be here. It’s not safe.”
“Five minutes,” I urged even as my heart broke at how he pushed me away. “Then I’ll go. Please. I need to talk to you.”
“Is it about those letters?”
How quickly his expression morphed into one of alertness. He’d always been my protector, even when it was just from the sadness of a tough day.
I recognized that need in him now—to make sure I was safe. I seized on his line of thought, hoping it would allow him to let me in. Simply nodding was enough to elicit a growl from him.
Oh, he really doesn’t like people messing with me. The thought sent a thrill down my spine.
Eloise took her headphones completely off and set them on the countertop. “I’ll just be down here if you need me.”
With that reassurance, Wyatt seemed to relent, and I climbed the stairs and followed him into his apartment.
I’d been over to his place a few times over the years, dropping off things or popping in to say hi, but never since we’d actually been together. Suddenly, the two-bedroom seemed incredibly small.
Wyatt walked around his kitchen table, and I wondered if he’d intentionally put it between us.
“Have there been more notes?” he asked. “Any more clues?”
I shut the door. “No.”
“Willow,” he grumbled. He seemed to realize I’d bought my way into his apartment under false pretenses.
“I was worried about you,” I said quietly, wringing my hands with nerves. “You didn’t call or message after . . . and now people are saying we broke up, which was news to me.”
“We didn’t break up. Unless you—”
“We are not breaking up.”
His shoulders sagged in relief before he moved on with the rest of his explanation. “I’m sorry I didn’t call. I was afraid even hearing your voice might make me shift again. I thought about sending a carrier pigeon, but I know you have a thing about birds.”
“They’re too flappy and freaky, okay? I would have taken a simple text, though.”
“A text couldn’t convey how worried I’ve been about you or how badly I’m aching to touch you, but I’m scared I don’t know my own strength right now.”
I cleared my throat, a flush creeping across my cheeks and down my neck.
A more sensible person probably would’ve been frightened by such admissions, but all I could think about was that I’d turned him on so much that he couldn’t contain himself.
I’d thought over and over about what it would’ve been like if we’d continued .
. . what it would’ve been like for him to claim me like that.
I loved taking things soft and slow with him, but the idea of being with him while he was raw and untethered was thrilling in so many ways.
Splayed out on the countertop, surrounded by splintered cabinets and broken plates while he feasted on me . . .
I pressed my lips together as lust flooded my veins.
Wyatt shoved his hands into his pockets as if restraining himself. “Willow—”
“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping closer and watching him flinch.
“I should be the one asking you that.” His eyes fell to my throat, covered by my scarf.
“I’m fine,” I hedged. “The only thing wrong is that you won’t let me be with you.”
“Show me your neck.”
“What?” My hands pulled at the knitted fabric to tighten it.
He tensed his jaw. “Show me where I bit you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. If you’re going to get all aggro male about it, here.” I pulled my scarf away to show the purpling bruise, the wound far tamer than it would’ve been without the aid of the tea Jordyn had made for me.
Wyatt sucked a surprised breath through his teeth. “Fuck.” He tilted his head to the side to get a better look but didn’t come closer. “I’m so sorry, Willow. I lost control and—”
“Wyatt!” I snapped, deciding it was time to take control of the conversation. I took a definitive step into the room. I was a grown-ass woman, a successful business owner, and a human holding her own in a supernatural town. I wasn’t some waif. “I am fine.”
“But—”
“Please.” It was far past time to throw a match on all this kindling.
“I’ve had way rougher sex than that, if that’s where the night would’ve taken us.
A little love bite like that was just a bit of foreplay, as far as I’m concerned.
” He choked on his own breath, clearly shocked, but I pressed on.
“You caught me by surprise, yes. And I didn’t appreciate you punching a hole in my cabinet without my consent.
But if I had been prepared for the way the night was going, I would’ve been really into it. Believe me.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me.” He scrubbed a frustrated hand down his face. “You can’t say stuff like that to me right now. I could lose control again.”
I arched a brow. “And what if I wanted that?”
A little rumble escaped his lips as he balled his hands into fists. “You don’t know what you’re agreeing to.”
“You were the one who hit pause on things last night, not me, remember?” As I took another step toward him, his eyes dropped to track the movement. “I want to be with you, Wyatt,” I pushed. “Stop making decisions for me. When are you going to believe that I can handle everything you are?”
“I know how strong you are,” he countered. “But you are the most important person in the world to me, and I want you to get the sweet, kind, gentle version of me. The kind that is clearheaded enough to figure out what is going on with these threatening letters.”
“I do get that version,” I countered, exasperated. “I have him all the time. That’s who you are, Wyatt.”
“But I have a possessive, aggressive, feral side too, Willow. It’s new and dangerous.”
“And I think that’s so fucking hot,” I shot back. He guffawed. “Why can’t you be both? Why can’t I love both?”
He let out a whine, kicking his head back and staring up at the ceiling. “As badly as I want to show you how that word coming from you is affecting me, things are more dangerous than you understand. Protecting you needs to be my first priority.”
“I don’t care that things are dangerous.” I took a step toward him, and he sidestepped me, retreating.
“Someone from my pack is gunning for you,” he said sharply, and I halted. “I need to root them out. Right now, they think we aren’t together. If everyone in town is saying we broke up, that will keep you safe.”
His eyes met mine again, and the fury in them sent a shiver down my spine. He was ready to tear his own pack apart to find whoever was threatening me.
“But . . .”
“Don’t try to downplay this,” he urged. “Someone broke into your café and threatened you, and I will find them. Until then, it’s safer that people think we broke up.”
My shoulders drooped. “I don’t even like pretending.”
“Neither do I,” he admitted, his lips curving up.
“How long do I have to pretend?” I pouted, and Wyatt seemed to cheer up at my obstinance.
“Give me a week,” he begged. “One week and I’ll end them. Then I promise we can be together for as long as you’ll have me.”
“That might be a very long time,” I warned him.
He flashed a toothy grin that made my insides melt. God, he was so pretty. “I hope to every star in the sky that you mean that.”
“I’ll agree to a week under one condition.”
One eyebrow popped at my stubborn demand. “What is it?”
“You won’t let your family convince you that you’d be better off without me.”
He shook his head. “Not even the moon herself could convince me of that. You’re mine, Willow.” His voice dropped to a rolling rumble, heat filling his gaze. “Now, get out of here before I have to chain myself to the wall to stop myself from fucking you.”
My whole body pulsed. “One week is going to be torture.”
“I promise to make it up to the both of us,” he said, gesturing with a nod to the door. “Go on.”
I shook my hips a little more than normal as I left the apartment and relished the anguished groan that followed me.
All bedroom promises aside, we were stuck in the worst sort of limbo—almost mates, almost together, almost . . .
It hung in the air between us, a wish unfulfilled, and I knew I wouldn’t have any comfort until we could be together.
Eloise looked up at me as I descended the last few steps. “Wow, you two managed not to bang,” she noted, impressed. “You must be really fucking worried about this stalker thing.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because if you two fucked, you’d be covered in Wyatt’s scent and they’d know all this talk of you two breaking up was a lie.” She shrugged as if that were an obvious statement, as if everyone in the town could smell him on me.
“I need to go take a shower,” I muttered, sniffing my shirt.
“If you two bang, it won’t help,” she taunted smugly. “Apologies for the paranormal cockblocking!”
“You know, I thought I had my hands full with one snarky little sister.”
“What’s one more, eh?” she called. “Hey, if it’s cool with you, I’m going to come crash at yours until Wyatt finds whoever is after you. I’ll be your personal bodyguard. No one messes with our family and gets away with it.”
“I already have Harlow and Jordyn keeping a close watch on me. I think witch protection is plenty.”
Eloise flipped the spatula over in her hand and caught it. “So it’ll be a slumber party,” she teased. “And your mate would be a lot less worried if his bitchy little sister were on guard-dog duty.”
“Ugh, fine,” I grumbled. “I’ll get the cot out.”
“See you tonight,” she called with a wink. “I’ll bring muffins.”