There was too much to figure out. I needed to look for the closest alligator to the boat. First I needed to make a doctor’s appointment. Then I needed to face to Dodge. “I have to talk to him, to hear what he has to say about the last month. I want – I want to see if he’s willing to date or be together before he knows about the baby, otherwise I’ll always feel like I trapped him and he’s only staying out of obligation. If he even wants to stay with me. Maybe he doesn’t.”
Deirdre snorted, stifling another laugh. “I don’t think that’s going to be the problem. There are things he really, really needs to tell you, but we can figure all that out. Why don’t you come to the house with me for dinner tonight?”
I nodded slowly, though I got up to pace as nervous energy bubbled up. “Yeah. Better to get it over with, right? I’ll just – I’ll call a doctor and make an appointment and then I’ll talk to Dodge.”
She was still smiling as she called her husband, saying something about dinner and making sure that Dodge was presentable and sober, while I searched online for a doctor. I shook my head and tried to focus on one alligator at a time. Whatever Dodge had to tell me probably paled in comparison to the life-changing news I was about to dump in his lap.
Chapter 51
Dodge
Dodge suspected Evershaw was up to something the moment he stepped into the house. The dining room table was set and even had a tablecloth on it, which theyneverused unless Evershaw had fucked up and needed to grovel to Deirdre. Dodge lingered in the kitchen and eyed the bottle of rum that someone had left on the counter. He was almost out of whiskey, so maybe he could take a trip to the islands instead. He needed it to sleep.
Silas pushed through the kitchen door and growled at him, catching Todd’s attention long enough that the second-in-command took the rum and strode out, apparently off to hide it somewhere. Dodge scowled at his supposed friend. “Asshole.”
The wolf bared his teeth and Dodge got the sense Silas called him an asshole right back.
He missed his friend almost as much as he missed Persephone. He leaned back against the kitchen counter and stared at the wall, contemplating where his life had gone wrong, until Evershaw walked in.
The alpha studied him with narrowed eyes. “You still look like shit. Haven’t you been sleeping at all? And you’ve lost weight. What the fuck, man?”
“He’s had whiskey for his last twenty meals,” Todd said as he reappeared from wherever he’d gone. “No protein. We’re cleaning out the liquor cabinets tonight, boss, and this house is gonna be dry until everyone is back on their feet.”
It was a testament to how fucked up Dodge looked and acted that the alpha didn’t even argue. He just nodded and folded his arms over his chest as he fixed a dark look on Dodge. “Ground rules for tonight, asshole. You are going to behave yourself. You are going to restrain yourself at all times. You’re not going to freak out. If I get a fuckingwhiffof you starting to lose control, you’re getting an ass full of tranquilizers and chains in the cellar again, you hear me?”
Dodge scowled at him. “Who the fuck are we having over for dinner, the queen of England? I’m not going to lose control, all right? I’m fine. I’ll just eat and...”
The front door opened and closed, and the air changed. His senses, dulled by the alcohol, immediately sharpened. He knew. Heknewwho their guest was. He sucked in a breath, mouth open to catch any of her scent that he could, and lurched forward a step out of sheer instinct.
Evershaw grabbed his shoulders and marched him back, pinning Dodge against the wall, his forearm making a bar across his throat. The alpha growled low in warning. “Like I said, dude,control yourself. She is still fragile. She’s freaked out about something. She needs you tobe calm. Do you hear me? She wants to talk to you, but you have to keep your shit together. Do you understand?”
“I hear you,” Dodge snapped, staring at the door to the living room over Evershaw’s shoulder. Persephone was there, in the living room. She was in the house with him. She was close enough to touch,finally. He wanted to barrel through the wall to reach her, to hold her hand, to smell her hair. The wolf howled, clawing to get closer to their mate. It was the worst kind of torture, to have her so close and still be so far away.
Evershaw slammed him against the wall again, and his golden eyes flashed with warning. “You’re not listening, dude. I know what your wolf is trying to pull. If you lose control again, that’s it. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do with you, but you can’t be around Percy if you’re losing control. She’s human, man. She’s still weak. She’safraid.”
The noise in his head quieted as the wolf retreated and the alpha’s warning finally reached him. Persephone was afraid? Of him? “Afraid,” he repeated, so low that Evershaw leaned closer to hear.
“Yeah. She’s afraid. The last memory of you she has is that fucking catastrophe in the hospital.” The alpha took a deep breath and eased his hold on Dodge’s shoulders. “I’m not kidding about the tranquilizers, you hear me? You get one paw out of line and that’s game over.”
Dodge nodded, his whole body aching with the need to see her. He practically vibrated with the urge to be closer to her. He thought he heard her voice through the door, asking Deirdre something. She sounded nervous. Why would Persephone be nervous? He shrugged and rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen the tension in his neck, and nodded. “I got it. I’m fine. We’re just going to talk.”
Evershaw’s eyes narrowed but he stepped back. Dodge lurched toward the door in three quick steps but a sharp pain shot up his calf and stopped him short. He looked down to find Silas biting his leg, growling in warning, and Evershaw ready with a syringe full of something. Dodge struggled to breathe and held his hands up. “I’m fine. I’m good. I just – got excited. I’ve got it now.”
Neither of them believed him, it was easy to see. Silas released his leg and made a wolfish disgusted face. He followed closely on Dodge’s heels as he finally opened the door to the living room.
Even with the tension of having Deirdre and Evershaw right there, and Silas at his heels, Dodge’s heart soared the moment he saw Persephone. It took every ounce of strength he possessed not to scoop her up in his arms and carry her back to his den, but he clenched his fists behind him and managed not to fall at her feet. “Hi. It’s – good to see you.”
Deirdre’s dark eyebrow arched and Dodge sensed a sharp joke in his future about terrible opening lines.
But he couldn’t care what the witch thought as he stood there and drank in Persephone. She didn’t look healthy, which made his chest ache. She’d lost weight and was pale, with the shadow of a bruise still near her collarbone, and a few pink scars on her arms and the line of her jaw. It infuriated him to the point of madness that the bastards had marked her, but he could only kill them once and they were already dead.
Dodge almost tip-toed into the living room, desperate to hear her voice, and braced for her to be afraid, or uneasy, or to run in the other direction. Instead, Persephone tried a smile, which turned a little wobbly as her chin quivered. And then she burst into tears, covering her face and sobbing.
His heart cracked. He didn’t know what to do. His instincts said to hug her, to comfort her, fix whatever made her sad, but with Evershaw’s warning... Dodge looked at Deirdre and held his hands up in a “what the fuck?” gesture, and the witch rolled her eyes. She gestured for him to go to Persephone, though her eyes looked suspiciously red as well. Dodge didn’t wait for anything else. He inched over to Persephone, hyper-focused on moving slowly and easily so he didn’t startle her, and eased his arms around her.
The moment she was safe in his arms, the world clicked into place. Parts of him that he’d never known were tense started to relax. Tranquility slid through him and promised better rest than a bottle of whiskey ever had. She was safe with him. She was close and he was never leaving her side again. He closed his eyes as he inhaled. His nose twitched. She didn’t smell quite right. But after everything she’d been through, that wasn’t a real surprise. That much pain and trauma and healing could affect a person’s scent, and besides, he’d given her blood. Maybe it was how she smelled as a shifter.
He didn’t dare think aboutthatconversation. They’d have to talk about it sooner rather than later. He didn’t want to keep a secret from her, but for that moment, he just wanted to enjoy her company. Dodge exhaled and held her closer, rubbing slow circles on her back, and rested his cheek against her head. Finally, all was right in the world.
