Chapter 4
FORD
I stood there, trying not to panic. Zack wanted me to leave, going so far as to offer me a tent. A freaking tent. This wasn’t exactly the climate to live outside, not having grown up a city boy, and my dragon wasn’t going to agree to let me sleep in my scales.
Going back wasn’t an option. I had a job here. Besides, my old apartment already had new tenants.
How could the lease be fake? The freaking lawyer’s phone was disconnected. If he even was a lawyer. He probably saw a court show once and made everything else up.
My savings were gone, and that was my fault. It should’ve been a red flag that they wanted so much money up front, but I justified it saying they had a lawyer. When they offered me a discount to prepay, it sort of made sense.
I had no idea what I was going to do next.
Zack stood there watching me and then let out a sigh. “You reek so bad, I can’t even concentrate. Go clean up. Then we’ll figure this out.”
There was a softness I hadn’t seen before, despite his harsh words. I didn’t understand what he was thinking, but I was taking him up on the offer.
“Thank you.” If he had offered me the hose, I would’ve appreciated it, but he was letting me in his bathroom. A thousand times better.
I hurried back out to grab my duffle, and as I was getting it out from where I had wedged firmly in place, I looked back to the cabin. Zack was standing there in the doorway, still just as grumpy and… hot. Gods, why did he have to be so sexy?
“Leave them outside. They reek. I’ll give you clothes.”
I wasn’t going to argue. I needed this shower.
Keep him, my dragon said. It was the first time my beast had spoken since we got there.
That’s not how that works. You don’t just keep people. I dragged my stuff back out and toward the cabin.
It was the first time I really got to look around the place.
It wasn’t fancy, but it was nicer than what I expected out of a “hunting” cabin.
The furniture looked comfy, made for using, not for being a showpiece.
Nothing matched, which made it feel homey, warm, and lived in.
I liked it but didn’t say anything. I knew that I wasn’t really wanted, and it was best just to accept the help without giving him any reason to get annoyed.
He gave me a plastic bag for my clothes and walked away.
I took a shower using the bar soap I got from Sampson and the alpha’s shampoo. I felt guilty about that but hadn’t brought any with me. It felt amazing, even if it was a lot of scrubbing and my skin would hate me for it later.
Despite all my efforts, I still had some of the gasoline smell clinging to me when I rinsed off.
How long was that going to stay? I scrubbed my hair and my skin again to the point where it was tender.
That jackass. How could he drive off like that?
I knew the police had been looking for him but didn’t know if they ever found him.
It hadn’t been my priority, but now I wondered.
The way he kept driving had me guessing it wasn’t truly an accident. But why would someone do that?
Finally, I started to smell like myself again.
I stayed in there, letting the water pour over me.
I thought about the small town I gave up everything for, about my job at the store Sampson owned.
If the lease had been real, this would be my new place, and I wouldn’t have to worry about Zack or finding someplace else.
I’d have felt really good about Bramble Woods.
Something about the town just screamed “home,” like maybe this was a place I could finally fit in.
The water started to turn cold, so I got out, dried off quickly, and threw on the clothes that Zack had left out for me.
I finally felt like myself again… almost. I was nervous about what I was going to face once I opened that bathroom door.
Would he kick me right out? Toss a tent my way?
Yell at me? He didn’t seem the yelling type, but what did I know?
What I hadn’t expected was to open the door and have the scent of cinnamon and pine slam into me all warm, safe, and comforting.
Mate, my dragon insisted. Ours.
I stared at the bear, no, he was my mate. The giant, grumpy alpha sitting in the middle of the cabin that was supposed to be mine was my mate. How was that possible? Did a scammer coincidentally pick my true mate’s cabin? And did I want a mate who’d tried to toss me out?
My dragon kept pushing, shouting at me over and over again that the bear was ours. My beast wasn’t an overly vocal beast, but when he was, he refused to go unheard.
I stepped out of the bathroom, watching the bear, waiting for his reaction, waiting for him to scent me now that I no longer smelled like a gas station.
He just looked at me with the same expression he had before.
His eyes were still human, the grumpiness still there.
Why? Why wasn’t he reacting? He had to scent it too.
I didn’t smell anymore. He could scent who I truly was, which meant he wasn’t interested.
Was it because I was a dragon? Or maybe because I was half human? Shit, maybe he already had somebody. Or maybe it was the stupid soap that Sampson gave me being too intense and confusing me and my dragon and this man wasn’t ours at all. No, that didn’t make any sense. Fuck.
Whatever the case was, Zack showed no signs of wanting me. “Now that you’re done,” he said, coming across the room and handing me a small piece of paper, “these are directions to the B&B. The owner’s nice. They’ll probably let you pay with your first paycheck.”
“Yeah, okay.” I took the paper.
It was a reasonable idea. Just because my feelings were hurt didn’t change that. My dragon pushed to get out. He didn’t want to be sent away. He wanted to be here with his bear. The bear was the one who didn’t want us.
Stop. I was firm. My dragon needed to chill.
I grabbed my bag of gasoline-soaked clothes and my suitcase.
“Leave the clothes.” He wasn’t asking. I dropped them and went straight out to the car, driving away without saying anything other than, “Thanks for the shower.”
My dragon kept pushing and pushing and pushing. He’s our mate.
He doesn’t think so.
Maybe he didn’t scent us.
That’s not possible. He’s trying to get us housing. We should be happy about that much.
Go back!
No. We’ve spent our life where we aren’t wanted. We’re not doing that again.
I drove into the B&B parking lot, parked, and went to see if there was any room available, only to be greeted with a sign—less a sign, more a piece of paper taped to the window—saying they were closed while on vacation.
I checked the door just to make sure it wasn’t an old sign that someone forgot to take down.
Nope, it was locked. The lights were all off.
What a mess. There was nowhere else in town with rooms for rent.
The closest real hotel was far away and would require far more money than I had.
My cabin wasn’t mine. I had no savings. My old apartment was far away and occupied by someone else.
My mate didn’t want me, and I started work in two days.
Nothing about this was the new beginning I had hoped for. I took out my phone and tried to find someplace, anywhere, where I could stay for the night, but I found nothing.
“Maybe he’ll let me have that tent after all,” I grumbled to myself as I climbed back into my vehicle, catching another whiff of gasoline. Was that scent ever going away?
I had to figure out what to do about living arrangements tomorrow, but crossed my fingers that this would work for tonight.
At this point, I couldn’t be picky. Even if that meant staying in a tent outside where my feelings had been crushed. I pulled back into the bear’s driveway. The cabin lights were still on.
My dragon was as proud as punch, thinking he had won. I ignored him and parked. Zack was on the porch.
Please let the grumpy bear take pity on me, because if he didn’t, I didn’t know what I was going to do.