Rick finally dragged his gaze away from Nate and looked at me. I saw the truth before he even spoke.
“Yes,” Rick grunted. “I’m a shifter.”
I would have been less surprised if he’d kicked me in the stomach. Just when I thought I was getting my footing in the world again, I was hurled back into chaos.
“A shifter? Is that what you all are called?” I asked, letting my eyes bounce back and forth between the two men.
“It’s what we call ourselves,” Nate said lazily.
“Shut up,” Rick hissed.
“Don’t tell him to shut up!” I cried, slapping Rick’s arm. “You lied to me. You’ve lied the whole time we were together.”
“I couldn’t tell you everything, Cam. You have to see that. I couldn’t tell you anything more than you already knew until now.”
“Couldn’t tell me?” I clenched my jaw, hands balling into fists. “You’ve been fucking me for months! You’d think you might mention something about being a magic creature to the woman you claimed to love, the one who shared your bed. I was right to break up with you,” I said, giving him a disgusted look.
He winced but didn’t apologize. Instead, he pointed with his free hand toward Nate.
“He lied, too. He didn’t tell you what was going on until right now.”
“I met him a week ago,” I hissed. “You were my boyfriend, for God’s sake. Didn’t you think you could trust me? At least Nate told me there was some weird secret,” I added. “He was cagey as shit about it, but in that way, he was more honest than you.” I jammed a finger into Rick’s chest.
Ignoring me, he turned his attention back to Nate. “What the fuck is the matter with you?” he demanded. “Why would you tell her? You know what this means for us. For our kind?”
“You haven’t been following along, have you?” Nate moved out from behind the rack, obviously less worried about Rick’s gun than I was. “Can’t you put it together yet?”
Rick sneered. “Put what together? Filthy fucking lone wolf. Stay back,” he said as Nate moved closer toward me. “You’ll pay for exposing us to my woman.Mine. Do you understand that? Mine.”
Rick didn’t even look like the person I’d known for months. He most certainly didn’t look like the man I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I told him. “I’m not property. Especially not yours, Rick. How many times do I have to make it clear to you that we are over?”
Too much had happened. I had to get away. I needed a few minutes to calm down and collect my thoughts. Turning, I marched toward the door.
“Cameron, wait. Come back,” Nate called after me.
I ignored him, picking up my pace, walking as fast as my heels would allow. Before I got to the door, five fingers wrapped around my upper arm like steel bands and yanked me around.
Rick hauled me back inside.
“Let me go,” I demanded. “You’re hurting me, Rick.”
“No,” he snarled, digging his fingers into my arm. “You stay with me.” He pressed his face close to mine, teeth bared like a mad dog. “You hear me? I let you play the little breakup game, but that’s done now. Get your shit together, Cameron. This isn’t over. It’s not over until I say it’s over. Like I said before. You. Are.Mine.”
This man before me was a stranger. A completely different person. For half a second, I readied myself to slap him, but before I could, Nate appeared.
“Get away from her,” he growled, shoving Rick in the chest and wrapping a hand around his throat.
Rick snarled like a dog and raised his gun, jamming the barrel against Nate’s forehead.
“No!” I shrieked and pushed his arm aside.
His hand jerked away an instant before the gun went off. The bullet fired into the ceiling instead of blowing Nate’s brains out.
The three of us froze, the noise deafening. Nate, rather than looking like he’d just evaded death, was staring daggers at Rick,a threatening growl rumbling in his chest. For his part, Rick looked more upset that I’d forced him to miss.
The moment was broken as Nate slapped the gun out of Rick’s hand. The gun clattered to the floor, sliding under a line of lockers.
