Nate went very still beside me, but thankfully said nothing. I could sense his eyes burning into the side of my face, but I didn’t look at him. I was too shocked at Rick’s crazy assumptions.
“I’m not fucking pregnant!” Anger swelled in my chest. “We discussed this the other day. I’mnotpregnant. I’m on the pill, and you usually use a condom.”
I grimaced and threw Nate an apologetic look. He relaxed a bit and nodded to me.
“Bullshit,” Rick said. “I know you are. How the hell do you explain the symptoms? Feeling like you’re gonna puke all the time, headaches and shit? It’s textbook.”
I’d had enough. There was only so much I could take, and his willful ignorance was more than I could handle.
“Listen.”I took a step toward him. “We might as well have it out right now. I got attacked in that garage by”—I glanced around to make sure no one was listening or nearby—“a feral shifter. He bit me on the back of my neck. The reason I feel like shit is because I’m turning into one ofyou.”
The rage on Rick’s face vanished as soon as I said this. His forehead smoothed, and the grimace on his lips morphed into a smile. The change was fast and acute, like peeling a mask away. Almost like watching Nate shift. Just like that, Rick became a completely different creature. Icy fingers of fear ran up my spine, sending gooseflesh down my arms.
“That’s wonderful, Cam. This is amazing.” He let out a happy laugh, then leaned back and took a deep breath. “Oh, wow, this is better than I could have imagined. I thought I smelled something on you, but after this prick showed up”—he waved at Nate—“I assumed it was his lone wolf stink. If we’re both shifters, then the chances of us conceiving aremuchhigher.”
That caught me off guard. The change in demeanor was confusing, and his lack of concern for me was shocking.
“Rick, do you want to tell me why you seem more worried about a mythical baby inside me rather than my actual safety? I mean, there’s still a fucking serial killer shifter after me.” I glared at him, my anger on full display. “I’ve been attacked, and you don’t really seem to give a shit. For someone who so desperately wants to stay with me, you don’t seem to care about me.”
His smile faded. “What? I… uh, of course, I’m worried about you, Cameron. What a crazy thing to say.”
“It doesn’t sound like you care about me.”
“I see,” he said, throwing a withering look at Nate. “You’re just trying to find some way of making me the bad guy so you can jump back in the sack with this piece of shit.” He chopped his hand down like a knife blade. “This is over with him. Whatever it was, we’ll chalk it up to a mistake. You come with me, and we’ll act like nothing happened. We’ll go on as we did before.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. God, could he really be so out of touch? “I seem to remember you almost murdering someone last night, Rick. I’m not going with you. Not now, and not ever.”
The words were out, and I couldn’t take them back. I prepared for his tirade, but instead of screaming at me, his murderous glare slid to Nate, who still sat on his bike, inspecting Rick like he was a dead bug on his shoe.
Rick growled. “You goddamn mongrel. You did this. You turned her against me. What do you think she could want with some low-rent piece of trash like you? Probably can’t even afford a home. Sleeping in gutters. Pathetic.”
I’d never seen Rick act so prejudiced. Was this all because Nate was a lone wolf? Did he feel the same way about me because I was poor? If so, I wouldn’t stand for it.
“You need to watch your mouth,” I said. “Nate’s no more low-rent than I am. What are you saying? That I’m a piece of shit, too?”
Rick didn’t take his eyes off Nate, but he winced with irritation and waved me off. “Your situation can be remedied. We’ll fix you up, make you presentable in a few months.”
That did it. I slapped him across his cheek. His head snapped back, and he stumbled backward, tripping over his feet and falling on his ass.
“You never loved me,” I said, baring my teeth at him in rage. “All you wanted was some arm candy to show off.”
Rick sat, stunned, holding his cheek and staring at me like a man seeing something for the first time.
“What the fuck, Cam?” he hissed. “Jesus.”
“For the final time. We’re done, Rick,” I said. “Go home.”
“Wait a minute,” he said, scrambling to his feet. “We aren’t done here.”
The look of mad rage had returned, even as the red outline of my handprint shone on his face. He snarled at me and jammed a thumb into his chest.
“I say when we’re done. Got it? You stupid bitch. Come here.”
He stepped forward, reaching out to grab me. Nate, who I’d thought was still on his bike, appeared like a ghost, slapping his hand away.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” he growled.
Rick’s eyes widened, and a terrifying grin nearly split his face apart.
