He’s the main reason why I need to get away. Getting Cody back is the last thing I want, but if I stay here, I know exactly what will happen. Cody will keep coming over and I’ll wear down, wanting physical affection, wanting to feel him again. You know the type. Pathetic, needy, accepting scraps of affection. I don’t want to be one of those women, just thinking about it makes me sick. Falling prey to Cody’s manipulation isn’t something I intend to do, and that is why I’ve got to leave this place.
The ringing stops before starting back up again seconds later. Unlacing my fingers, I tuck my hair behind my ears and raise my head. Asshole, flashes across the screen right under the picture of a middle finger. Why I hadn’t taken his name out of my phone, I don’t know. I guess because deleting it made things feel so permanent, which is ridiculous because this is permanent. Going back is definitely not an option, no matter how big the temptation. I won’t allow myself. I refuse to be second best, ever. The phone buzzes again, long and loud as an envelope flashes across the screen. Voicemail. Twenty of them since last night. Why can’t the fucker just leave me alone? Do me one small favor and let me leave in peace?
I stopped listening to the voicemails after the first five from two months ago. In the messages, he was tripping over his apology, trying to explain how this shit storm had happened and how he had no control over it. No control? That pissed me off. No control, sorry my ass. He knew what he intended to do from the minute he walked out of that bar with Sara. Whether he intended to bite her or not I don’t know, but he sure intended to fuck her and that tells me everything I need to know. Betrayal is something you can never take back. This mating is as much as a joke as ours would’ve been. Cody’s animal is just as fucked up as him. I will get over this and I won’t be bitter. On that, I’m determined. Cody and his wayward penis aren’t going to break me.
The phone starts ringing again. Groaning, I snatch it up. The bastard doesn’t give up. I have a good mind to chuck the damn thing into the woods, but I need my phone. I don’t wait for it to stop ringing to turn it off, I slip off the back and remove the battery. The only thing Cody is interested in, is explaining his perspective. Like his fucked-up behavior can ever be explained. Why he’s being so persistent, I don’t know. Nothing he says, nothing he does, will change anything. It will never go away. I want him to leave me alone. Healing is hard enough, but hearing his voice, reading his words, is making moving on damn near impossible. He had to have found out I’m leaving town. It’s the only explanation for this stalkerish behavior. God, why couldn’t he leave me alone?
C H A P T E R 2
Z O E Y
“Hey,” came a deep voice to my right. “I’ve got everything packed up in the truck. Ready to hit the road?”
I didn’t have to turn around to recognize the voice. “Almost,” I mutter.
“I’m not trying to rush you,” he rumbles as he walks over and leans against the wooden railing.
“That’s a first,” I snort. Mace is one of my five stepbrothers, and the one I’m the closest with. I turn around to face him and find myself staring at his broad chest. Tears burn the back of my eyelids again, and my vision blurs.
I’m a little upset that Mace is the one who showed up to take me to Nightshade Falls. Out of all my brothers, he’s the one who breaks down my walls. Just his arms and the sound of his voice comforting me turns me into a weepy mess. I wonder if it’s the same kind of feeling a girl gets with her daddy. Safe, warm, protected, completely okay to let go in daddy’s arms because he would make everything better. Yup, that is Mace.
“Zoe,” his low timbre is like balm for my nerves.
It’s like everything inside of me, all the hurting, all the pain is ready to spill over because he’s right here. Shaking my head, I swallow hard, but the hard lump of emotion clogging my throat makes it almost impossible. I don’t want to break down, not here.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Mace,” I force the words past my lips. This kind of pain goes bone-deep, straight into your soul and wraps around your heart. It throbs and burns inside like a living breathing monster ready to consume any ray of sunshine that might find its way into your dark soul. Once I start crying, once that valve opens, shit is going to just pour out of me and I won’t be able to stop, not with him right there. Call me crazy, but bawling in the front yard of my home, I’m forcing myself to leave is not the way I want to spend my morning.
“I know,” his big hand wraps over my shoulder, “baby sister,” he drawls in that protective way of his.
Tilting my head back, I look up at him. His hazel eyes are tinged a light gold that they get whenever his animal is close to the surface. Out of all my brothers, he is the most serious and the one who worries about me the most or at least, he is the one who shows it the most.
“I’m really okay Mace,” I whisper. Mace coming to pick me up, so I won’t have to trek up the mountain alone, is what I love about my brothers. They are always there when I need them. Even Trex gave me a job at his bar and grill, Claw’s & Paws. Wyatt, my middle brother is a carpenter and he fixed up this big ass horse trailer for me to live in, one of those tiny houses. I’m super excited to see it. Well, as excited as I can be, given the circumstances. At least I’m not alone, not with all these big over-protective brutes watching over me. Even with my life falling apart at the seams, there is always something to be grateful for.
“Lie,” he says gently with a sad smile. “Pain and sadness.” He clucks. “I can smell it.”
Swallowing hard, I jerk my gaze away from him. Damn shifter senses never let you hide anything. “Of course, I’m hurting Mace. The man who was supposed to be my mate is having a mating ceremony with another woman as we speak. His dick shouldn’t have been able to get hard.” The words are sour and taste bitter on my tongue, slicing through my heart like a straight razor.
“You know what that means,” he says gently.
“I know,” I snap. Mace never believed that Cody was good enough for me, or my real mate. Sighing, I rub my hand over the throbbing ache that had taken up permanent residence in my chest. “You just never liked Cody.”
“He’s a piece of shit,” he growls. “If today doesn’t prove that, I don’t know what will.”
He’s right of course. As if cheating on me with my ex-best-friend and mating her wasn’t bad enough, he had to allow it on the same day we planned.
“Today of all days,” I mutter shaking my head. “It’s like they are doing it on purpose to make the wound sting more.” I swear they are getting off on hurting me as much as they can.
“I know,” Mace shakes his head. “I drove past the fucking place on my way over here.” He shrugs. “You can’t change what is.”
“I wouldn’t want to after the shit he’s done.” I take a deep breath trying to steady myself. Cheating is something I’d never be able to forget or forgive. It was one of the things in life that was impossible to explain your way out of. Hell, there wasn’t even an excuse that could ever be good enough to absolve one of the guilt of infidelity. So many things in this life happen out of our control, things we roll the dice on, decisions we have to make that sometimes hurt the people we love. Cheating isn’t one of those things. It is a choice. There is no forgiving someone who made the conscious choice to betray you.