Chapter 10
“Rafe?” Surprise lingered in her voice, but fear never entered her mind as the wolf came into view. “What are you doing here?”
Skylar closed the door and took a step toward the sofa. Never taking her eyes off of him, she reminded herself of the last time she saw Rafe. He was not just a cute doggy. He was not a hot wolf. He was vampire. A monster. She’d watched him do something she’d never seen a man do. Kill.
“I’d ask you how you found me,” she gave a cold laugh, “but then again, I’d told you enough to find my address.
I guess it wasn’t that hard to track me down given your…
” An uncomfortable deliberate pause filled the air with silence as she searched for the appropriate words.
“Abilities. Your powers. Being supernatural. Whatever you are. You know, you didn’t need to lie to me. ”
As she chose her next thought, she reined in her anger, allowing her grief to settle in her chest. In spite of the insane way they’d met, she’d begun to entertain the idea of the paranormal.
Of all the stage five disaster dates she’d had over the past five years, he’d made the top spot even though they’d never had a proper date. And now…now it was over.
“You plannin’ on stayin’ like that? As much as I love dogs—” Skylar sucked a breath as he transformed before her eyes.
The light of the fire flickered upon his face, her gaze locked on his.
Her eyes fell to his ripped abs, her heartbeat racing with each dangerous glance.
She whipped her focus back on his face, refusing to fall prey to the temptation to devour every inch of him. “May I offer you a robe?”
She raised her eyebrows at him as he snatched a throw blanket off the sofa and wrapped it around his waist. “Suit yourself. Have a seat.”
“I’m not staying long,” he replied.
“You’ve got that right.” His words struck her like a whip. Of course he wasn’t staying. Her lips tightened, tension rippling through her body. You’re better off without him, Skylar.
“I’m going to see Ilsbeth after this,” he confessed without context.
“The witch?” She rolled her eyes, her anger brewing. What was she supposed to say? “It’s a free world. Have at it.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the…vampire. It’s not something I’m proud of right now.”
Skylar stared at him, listening in silence as he continued.
“I almost died once. It happened over a year or so back. Greyson’s brother Viktor tried to save me by turning me.
But it wasn’t enough to save me, so he asked Ilsbeth to help.
She’s got some of the oldest most powerful blood in the world.
” Rafe sighed. “Ilsbeth isn’t all bad. I’m not saying she’s the pinnacle of good magick either.
She’s just power. Pure power. And so…. well. ”
Rafe raked his fingers through his thick wavy hair as he hesitated. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t coming out right.”
“I don’t care about Viktor or Ilsbeth. You know what I do care about when I’m with a fucking guy?
” The profanity took her by surprise but as she attempted to rein in her anger, tears ran down her face.
“I care about the truth. And last night…when I saw you? After everything you told me about Greyson. After you knew those vampires attacked me? You lied.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? The truth isn’t complicated. What are you?”
“I’m both wolf and vampire. I’m hybrid. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“Were you going to bite me?”
“I’ve learned to control it, but when we were together? I wanted you,” he confessed.
“Are you serious?” She brought her fingers to her neck in disbelief. “You were thinking of biting me?”
“It’s pleasurable though. I swear I’d never hurt you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I never thought you’d talk to me again if I told you. But Skylar. I’m sorry I didn’t. I’m sorry but this thing with us? It can’t be.”
“So you don’t even try? You just say, ‘it can’t be?’ Are you for real?”
“If this could be any other way, I’d want this, but the reality is that I’m a wolf.
No matter what leftover vampire shit transformed me, I’m wolf.
And wolves, we can’t mate with humans. You have to understand that once I lift this curse, I cannot be faithful to you, I cannot be your life partner or do like humans do and marry you.
It will never be. My mate could walk into my life any day and—”
“It’s not me.” She let the silence sit as she glared straight through him.
She was for him. And she was no pick-me girl.
She summoned a sense of calmness, gathering her strength, forced to accept the situation.
“I’ve got news for you, Rafe. This has nothing to do with you being a wolf or vampire.
It was your lie. It was the shock of being in that club, seeing you like that.
Everyone but me knew.” She paused, gathering her thoughts.
“My whole life is a mess. And now that I’m back home, in some semblance of normalcy…
you know, not being attacked by vampires or slimy zombie things, I’m good.
This is why I didn’t go to blood clubs back in New Orleans. What you see here? This is who I am.”
“I’m sorry, Skylar. I should have told you. Everything.”
Though her sympathetic nature believed him, her heart didn’t care. No matter how much she yearned for him, for his touch, he belonged to a dangerous world that she’d long avoided.
“I’m not the man you thought I was. I’m trying to put my own life together.
Before this happened to me, I had a family too.
After I was first turned, I wished I was dead at times.
The hunger still tears me apart from the inside out some days.
All I know is I can’t go on like this and it’s not fair to you.
And…” Sadness shone in his eyes. “I just want you to know. This is complicated. No matter how I feel about you, and I do have feelings, it won’t work.
But I want you to know that I don’t think I’ve ever felt so close to someone.
I’m not just saying that either. We literally just met a few days ago.
I know it sounds crazy.” Rafe shook his head. “I sound crazy.”
“It’s not crazy. It’s chemistry. Science.”
“It’s fate,” he countered.
“Nothing supernatural about it,” she maintained.
“We’ll have to agree to disagree. For us, we believe in the magick of the universe. It’s as natural as breathing. I know it sounds crazy to a human.”
“Humans do the same thing sometimes. But it’s science not fate. We catch feelings. And we get it wrong sometimes. Sometimes you are really into someone and they’re just…unavailable.”
“I feel that way about you,” he confessed. A long pause of silence filled the air.
Skylar’s pulse raced. Her head spun with his contradictory statement.
“I’m not involved with anybody else. But I know the laws of wolves, and I’ll never be able to mate with a human.
In fact.” He held up a finger. “My dear mother, Ilsbeth, tried to mate with a wolf one time. And it did not work. Sometimes wolves can mate with other shifters, but not witches. Not humans. It sucks.”
Skylar’s heart warmed a degree, attempting to comprehend the complexity of the situation. None of this was his fault. It just was.
“I’m trying to get rid of the vampire in me. It’s not natural. Ilsbeth says there’s a spell. She’s got a reputation, but she also appears to have a soft spot for me. Greyson doesn’t see it, but I do.”
“She’s not really your mom, right?”
“No.” Rafe laughed. “But I like to torque up Grey by calling her that. He doesn’t like her or the demon.”
“Demon?”
“Yeah. Thorn. He’s the well-dressed dude in the suit last night who appeared out of nowhere.
Greyson’s not a fan. Anyway, what I’m getting at is me asking Ilsbeth to remove this curse.
I don’t know if she really can or what it involves.
It might be okay. Or it might involve me hanging over the pit of Hell. We’ll see.”
“Sounds fun.”
“You deserve better than someone like me, Sky.”
Skylar couldn’t argue. I deserve someone available.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and changed the subject.
“I’m sorry this happened to you. And I’m sorry you lost your family.
It’s hard to be away from them. I get it.
It’s why I’m here. But Mom and Dad won’t be back for few weeks.
I’m sure by now they’re off to Portugal drinking red wine and eating copious amounts of cheese. ”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Yeah. It does, doesn’t it?” Skylar sighed and looked to the ocean. “It’s going to be sunset soon.”
“It appears so. Maybe I should leave?”
“Do you want some tea?” She wanted so badly to throw him out. To cut it off completely. But her heart ached for him. Maybe we can be friends?
Skylar’s lips warmed as they drew close to the rim of her cup. With each breath, the steam heated her skin. Wrapped in a thick blanket she sat in a Muskoka chair stealing glances at Rafe who sat next to her, silently watching the sun fall.
She stretched her leg out in front of her, her body tingling with awareness as her foot brushed his. As if she’d touched fire she quickly tucked it underneath her. “Sorry.”
“I wish we’d had more time together,” he said.
“What?” Maybe he hadn’t noticed.
“You know, like if I’d been a human.”
“But then you wouldn’t be a wolf,” she countered.
“True. But if I had been human, we could have had a second date.”
“We didn’t have a first date.” Skylar smiled with her focus still on the horizon.
“Not true. We had a dance that first night.”
“When I dropped my credit card. I’m such a klutz.” She laughed.
“But it’s quite the story. Not your everyday bar story. It’s one of fate.”
“Our own meet-cute.” I wish. She’d read hundreds of romance books, still hoping for her own happily ever after.
“And if I was human, we’d tell our grandchildren the story so many times that everyone would be sick of it.”
“Grandchildren?” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, heartbroken for a crush she’d met at a bar. A wolf.