For now, I would keep my head down. I would do my best to mind my own damn business and stay far away from roads while in my beast form.
The hunky stranger would likely move on. He wouldn’t be a problem ever again.
Ryder
I snatchedthe fake rock in the garden and bounded up the porch steps. With one hand, I flipped open the rock and plucked the key from it. Modern technology was a lifesaver in a pinch. Shortly after downloading an app and plugging in a zip code, I had a list of available apartments that I could book in a moment’s notice.
This one had called out to me. It sat close to Lakesedge, and while that gave me pause, I knew I would have to wander into the supernatural territory if I was going to find the Barghest again. The legendary creature would give me the closure that I needed.
I wished the witch in Virginia City had been more accurate with her prediction. She’d turned over my hand and read the lines that I’d stained with the blood of my own family. If she saw what I’d done, she didn’t mention it. Instead, she’d told me to keep driving. In her reading, she’d declared that I would eventually find a Barghest with the ability to change my life.
After all this running, I wanted nothing more than for this chapter of my life to come to an end. I’d grown tired of motel rooms and of sleeping in the backseat of my car when I couldn’t find a motel. The fresh, clean scent of the small house greeted me with warm memories when I opened the door.
My beast stirred. My thoughts tumbled back to better days before I could reel them back in. The owner of this rental used the same cleaning products as my mother had. In the blink of an eye, I was twelve and running through our house in Thunder Pass again. I could almost hear the crash of my brother as he ran into walls and tables in his rush to catch up to me.
Morgan had been chasing me since the day he was born. He’d set his sights on me, and a challenge had gleamed in his eyes. Young and dumb, I’d allowed him to follow after me. Now, he still chased me, but for a different reason altogether.
I rocked on my heels in the doorway. The living room loomed before me. What should have been inviting made me want to run. The beast thrashed inside me, making my head throb. How long had it been since I’d stopped?
I didn’t know. I’d been unable to rest and had lost track of the days. When I looked at my hands, I could still see the blood on them as if it’d been only yesterday that I’d ruined everything.
Dropping my bag in the doorway, I backed out and locked the door once again. I shoved the key in my pocket and told myself that I needed food. This wasn’t running away. That’s not what I was doing once again. My restless feet carried me a few streets over where I found a café with a big, gray moon hanging over the door.
Bad Moon Café.
Coffee counted as food, right? From the smell, I figured they had sandwiches and pastries as well. It wasn’t what I had planned on getting, but it would do.
Inside, a moon glowed at the far end of the café. I raised a brow and wondered if the moon was lit up to match the moon’s phase. It was a strange choice, but this close to Lakesedge, I wouldn’t be surprised if this place was owned by a supernatural.
It seemed that it was run by them, too. The women working behind the counter carried a myriad of scents with them that marked them as supernatural. The blonde with a halo of curls barely contained by her bandana grinned wide. Her ears were tapered to a point like an elf, but she smelled like wolf and dried flowers.
“Ah, can I get a coffee and a sandwich?” I dug through my pocket for my wallet and froze when another scent slapped me in the face.
It was rich, like wolf, but it also reminded me of storms. There was a hint of charred earth and ozone in the air that made my breath hitch. My beast stirred and filled me with a new hunger. I clenched my fists, fighting the beast back, and scanned the other two women.
There was a brunette wearing a backwards baseball cap. The patch of red atop her nose told me that she spent a lot of time outside. I inched closer to her, but the smell wafting from her reminded me of ancient dust. I immediately jumped back as a chill tiptoed down my spine.
The blonde—her nametag said Cerri, with a little heart after it—flashed me another grin, this one tighter at the corners which told me that she was growing impatient. Then, her brows lifted curiously.
“I recommend the turkey club for a man like yourself. It has turkey, bacon, and avocado. As for your coffee, would you like acharmedcoffee?”
I scowled, confused. With a shrug, I said, “Sure?”
She gave a nod, spun on her heel, and plucked a bottle out from under the back counter. I considered stopping her because I didn’t know what kind of potion she was pouring into the bottom of my coffee cup, but I was too tired to care.
This was what happened when I kept running. Eventually, the exhaustion caught up to me. Consequences and retribution would be hot on its heels, too.
“Great,” I mumbled as I swiped my card for the purchase.
A woman stepped down from a ladder against the back wall. She’d been changing the menu, apparently. When I realized that I hadn’t even thought to check the menu, I had to acknowledge just how tired I was. When was the last time I slept? When was the last time I stopped to eat?
All thoughts of myself vanished when the woman with the ladder turned around. Her dark curls were kept tamped down by a black beanie. She had dark, winged eyeliner swiped over her eyes that made her gaze sharp and vindictive. My blood turned warm before rushing south. She hoisted the ladder and carted it away with the kind of ease and grace that came with being a shifter.
Was she the one I’d scented earlier? She had to be. What I didn’t understand was my immediate reaction to her. I jammed my hand into my pocket to adjust my jeans for the growth I couldn’t stop. My beast laughed at my plight before setting its gaze on the curly-haired woman.
More hunger unfurled inside of me. I needed her in my arms, so I could bury my face in her hair and breathe deep. That scent still wafted around me. It was so much like home and like Lakesedge all at once.
She returned, never once looking in my direction. My beast growled. It wanted her to look, to notice me. Still, she kept her head down.
I shook myself. It’d been too long since I’d slept with a woman. This celibacy was going to kill me. If I’d stopped and visited a bar every now and then, I wouldn’t fixate on a stranger who didn’t need me staring her down while she did her job.