And now Tammy had given him a second treasure—the coaster, and now the rock.
Did she know what she was doing to him? Did she understand what she was doing to his dragon?
No, she couldn’t. If she did know, she would’ve never placed this little pulsing rock onto the palm of his hand. She would’ve never played with a bond that was thickening between them with each encounter.
No human woman in their right mind would ever,everpurposefully tether themselves to a Sentry Dragon.
You’ve ruined me.Her hushed words from last night whispered across his mind.
She had no idea.
Chapter Nine
Tawk didn’t have much to move. It only took him two trips into the rental house and everything he had with him was sitting in a small pile on the living room floor.
He rested his hands on his hips and looked around this place with new eyes. He still couldn’t believe Wreck was letting him stay here. He couldn’t believe he’d called a meeting with him, and he definitely couldn’t believe Jess had been the driving force behind it.
He’d been afraid she would be the one to keep him booted out of Wreck’s Mountains. Not that he’d done her wrong or anything, but he would’ve understood if she had wanted to cut ties with all of Sister’s Edge, him included.
Tammy was working her early shift still, and though he’d been tempted to zoom right over to the bar and tell her he was moving in next door to her, he thought better of it and was giving himself some time to do some grocery shopping and move his stuff in and feel settled before she got off work. That and he’d stopped by a specialty store in town to pick her up a little graduation present for tomorrow. It was nothing special, but he thought she would like it. That errand had taken a while, so
He checked the clock on the microwave, but it was blinking zero. The power must’ve been out at some point while this place was waiting on a new tenant.
Garret had sent him over some paperwork to electronically sign and an invoice for the deposit and first month’s payment. Wreck was allowing Tawk to be month-to-month until the Alpha of the Cold Foot Crew decided what to do with him—bring him closer, allow him to stay down here in town, or chase him out of the territory completely.
Tawk got the feeling Wreck was just waiting for him to fuck something up, but he kind of understood. If he was Wreck, he would be wary of anyone from Sister’s Edge too. That Crew had gone downhill lately, and Wreck was building a good thing here. He was right to be protective of his people.
Derek, Tawk’s last Alpha, probably could use some lessons from Wreck Itall.
Tawk walked to the hallway and placed his hands on either side of the open doorway of the bedroom, and leaned in, studying the bed and dresser. Everything was simple and clean and uncluttered.
It was strange being in a house without the constant noise and chaos of roommates. It almost felt too quiet in here. Would he be able to get used to this? God, his life was so up in the air right now.
Inside of him, the dragon prickled at his skin, pushing, swelling, asking for time.
“Not now,” he murmured, troubled, but for no reason he could decipher.
He pushed off the frame and sauntered to the living room to check the front window. He could see Tammy’s driveway from here. He was disappointed to find her driveway still empty. Geez. Maybe he was a freaking stalker. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, and he’d been trying.
There was a charcoal gray SUV parked across the street that hadn’t been here when he’d pulled in. Tawk narrowed his eyes at it. The lights were still on, but it was just parked in front of an empty lot.
If it was Aaron waiting for Tammy to come home, he was going to throttle him. Tawk yanked open the door and looked up and down the street to make sure there weren’t witnesses. He jogged across the street and knocked on the dark tinted window. He checked up the street again as the window rolled down, butwhere he’d expected to see Aaron’s dumbass face, instead, there sat someone he’d never expected.
Connor Edge.
Fuck.
Tawk backed off a few steps, but he could taste the power of the witch-blooded already. It was weaker than what he siphoned from Jess, which meant one thing. Her brother, Samuel, was here with Connor. Samuel’s mate Misty was present too, if his senses were right. There were three heartbeats in that SUV
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
Connor shoved open the door and got out, leaned against the SUV. “Now is that how you greet an old friend?”
“You and I were never friends,” Tawk growled. “Answer my question.”
Connor chuckled darkly and lifted his arm, exposing his missing hand. “You know, sometimes I still feel my hand. They call it phantom pains. I have this ache like my hand is hurt, and I forget for a minute, and I look down and remember what that bitch did.”
“Jess isn’t the bitch,” Tawk said easily. “You are.” He looked through the open window at Samuel, who sat in the passenger’s seat. “And you should be sticking up for your sister, not hanging out with the man who hurt her. Why are you here? If it’s to hurt Jess, you’ll have to deal with the dragon.”
