Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
I doubted there was any danger of Cole growing on me anytime soon, but that was another thing I decided to take his word for. “Something bad must have happened for that to change.””Yeah.” He grew distant and I almost thought he wasn’t going to continue. “That was my fault.”
I blinked, unable to hide my surprise. “Was it the hunter thing, or…?”
He nodded. “I kept it from him. A hell of a lot longer than I should have. By the time I realized he meant enough to me to deal with the fallout of telling him, he found out on his own in just about the worst way possible.”
He paused to clear his throat, and the way his voice tightened, I could tell it was still fresh, regardless of how long ago they had broken up. “We had a mutual friend named Tyler. Another wolf shifter, actually. Cole’s family took him under their wing when he came down from a pack up north since he’d gotten kicked out for God knows what reason. Tyler was a good guy, but he had problems. Big ones.””Alcohol?” I asked warily.
He nodded again. “Among other things. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how much damage a male wolf is capable of doing under normal circumstances, let alone when he’s trashed.”
I cringed at the thought. The one virtue Paul had was that he was sober, in mind, and in personality. I’d seen other men in the pack who weren’t, though. Their mates and children usually paid the price.”Anyway, I went over to Cole’s place one night after a hunt,” Marcus continued, looking away now. He was staring out the window, but he wasn’t really looking at the cheerful, sunny morning that lay beyond it. His thoughts were a thousand miles away.”The two of them were in the living room, arguing about something. Cole was standing between Tyler and the door, refusing to let him out. When I showed up, I could tell right away that Tyler was surging with adrenaline. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself from shifting if given the chance, and once he shifted, he would be uncontrollable until he wore himself out or died from sheer exhaustion. Cole wouldn’t have stood a chance,” he muttered. “But he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let Tyler go out and get himself killed by a hunter, even if it killed him in the process.”
I had a hard time processing the story, mostly because it was hard to believe Cole would put his neck on the line for someone else out of purely selfless reasons. He treated his own sister like crap half the time. I said nothing, though, and just kept listening.”I intervened, obviously,” Marcus said with a heavy sigh, leaning back as he raked a hand through his short hair. “I tried to subdue him without hurting him badly, but Cole got between us, and it was either him or Tyler. I chose, and he’s never forgiven me for it.””You saved his life,” I protested. “He can’t blame you for that.”
He blew a puff of air through his nose. “You don’t know Cole very well. He’s a prickly son of a bitch, but when he loves someone, that’s it. He’d do anything to protect them, including dying. And when he hates someone, well… two sides of the same coin.”
I swallowed, considering his words. Maybe there was more to Cole than he let on, after all.
I closed my eyes for a moment, overwhelmed by the amount of pain Marcus must have felt. So that was the secret he had been keeping.”He’s just angry and needs someone to blame,” I finally said, hoping to offer him some reassurance, since it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to. “I’m sure he’ll come around eventually.””Pretty sure that ship has sailed,” Marcus said with a small laugh. It was a melancholic sound, nothing like the bold warmth of his usual laugh. “But he kept my secret when he easily could’ve ratted me out to the other shifters, so we have a truce of sorts.”
I nodded. Cole wasn’t a good person to have as an enemy. Maybe I needed to form a truce of my own with him, but for one thing, I didn’t know what I had done to make him hate me, and for another, I doubted it would be an option if he ever found out where I was last night.”Shit,” I muttered, looking up at the clock. “I didn’t realize how late I slept. I’m supposed to open up at three.””I’ll give you a ride home,” Marcus offered.”Thanks,” I said, smiling as I reached across the table to give his hand a squeeze. “And thanks for opening up to me. I know that’s not something that comes easily to you.””It’s not,” he admitted, caressing the back of my hand with his thumb. There was a familiar glint in his eyes. “But you’re one of two people out there who knows the truth about me, and the only one I’m on speaking terms with. Hopefully, I can keep that going.””You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily,” I assured him, cringing. “I didn’t mean that in a clingy morning-after way.”
He just grinned. “That’s too bad. I wouldn’t complain.”
* * *
The moment Marcus pulled up to the bar, I found myself looking around like Cole or Sam was going to be waiting outside in the bushes to catch me. I really didn’t feel like explaining why Marcus was dropping me off to either one of them.
Especially not Cole.
I reached to open the door, but Marcus called, “Hang on.”
I looked over as he reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a knife tucked into a leather holster. “I want you to take this.”
I took the knife and unclipped the holster. I carefully slid the leather sleeve off to reveal a dagger about four inches long with blue markings running down the side of the blade, almost identical to the style of Marcus’s tattoos. The hilt was wooden and unadorned, so until I saw the markings, it just looked like a normal knife.”I know Cole is kind of a dick, but he’s notthatbad,” I said flatly, looking over at Marcus.
He laughed. “I can’t do much about him, but It’ll keep you safe from everything else.””Are these runes?” I asked, running my finger over the markings only to realize they lit up with the swipe of my finger. The glow faded almost as soon as I broke contact.”Yeah. It’s a little easier to enchant metal than it is to enchant a person, so the upkeep is minimal,” he explained. “It’s made to always come back to the owner, so it can’t be taken and used against you. And it’ll open up pretty much anything you stick it in, so there’s that.”
I blinked. “Even vampires?”
Marcus grinned. “