Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
“Why so serious?” One of the werehyenas laughs in my face. “We won!” His buddies cheer.
A wolfish whine catches in my throat as I watch the Charger roll away.
I won the battle and lost the war.
Julia
I shake and sweat the entire way home. This is too much. I can’t take it. Driving up on that scene ground in the fact that Channing doesn’t belong here with us.
He’s in a high-risk job.
He loves danger. He always has. So do his friends.
And I care too much about him to be able to stomach his profession. Not only that, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting him infect Geo with his wild and reckless lifestyle.
No way in hell.
That boy is all I have. He’s my entire world. And to think that Channing dragged him into whatever the hell that was breaks my heart.
It kills me that he wouldn’t know better.
Wouldn’t have more consideration. Wouldn’t stop and think about whether bringing a thirteen-year-old boy into that kind of mayhem would be a good idea.
I mean, I understand he got caught when Geo was with him.
But that means trouble follows him.
And I can’t let it follow him to us.
I just can’t.
No matter how much I love the guy.
No matter how much I wanted him to stay.
It’s time for Channing to go.
I’m not going to stay home while my partner is on missions, holding my breath and dreading the knock on the door from someone telling me he didn’t make it.
I did that once.
I can’t do it again.
Channing
When I get to the house, Julia’s waiting on the porch. She’s thrown a bathrobe over her regular clothes. Her hair holds the faint reek of smoke.
I’ll never forgive myself for tonight.
I put a booted foot on the stair, but don’t get any closer. Her expression is so lost and tired, I want to hold her. But that’s not what she wants right now.
“I don’t know how to be with you,” she says. “When Geoffrey went on tour, I thought because he was a shifter, he would be impervious to danger. When they came to notify me, I thought they were wrong. Geoffrey was invincible. He couldn’t be dead.” Her voice catches. With bare feet and her make up scrubbed off, she looks young and vulnerable. As fragile as she was the day of the funeral. “We buried an empty coffin. I kept thinking he’d come back.” She rubs her eyes, but they’re dry. Like she’s all cried out.
I sit on the step, keeping a foot of distance between us.
“I can’t do this again,” she whispers. I know what she means. I can’t be with you.
“I know.” I stare into the night, my wolf howling inside. He’s trapped in a cage of my own making. I don’t let him crack my facade.
I have to be strong, for her. “Julia… I’m sorry.”
“Thanks for helping Geo. I’ll never forget all you’ve done.” She rises and goes inside, shutting the door.
And just like that, it’s over.
I sit on the stoop, frozen. I stay like that until the night is over and the first light of dawn torches the sky. Buddy stirs in his Charger. I toss the keys to the truck on the front seat. I put the title in Julia’s name. She can give it to Geo on his birthday. Or not.
I’ll be long gone. I have to be.
Julia’s right. Hannibal came after me. Geo was in danger because of me. I couldn’t bear it if danger from my job spilled over to destroy him and Jlulia.
It’s better that I stay away.
Julia
I lie in bed, my pillowcase wet with tears, wondering if I’ve done the right thing. Channing is still here, sitting on the porch, keeping guard. I can sense his presence.
It’d be so easy to call him back inside and lose myself in his scent, his touch.
But when I close my eyes, I see the battlefield of the warehouse parking lot, littered with bodies, and my thirteen-year-old son standing right in the middle of it.
How can Channing keep us safe when his entire life is dangerous? If tonight was any indication, his missions are a thousand times more dangerous than Geoffrey’s.
I can’t love someone like that again. Someone I might lose. And I can’t put my son at risk. If that makes me a coward, so be it. It’s better to be alone than suffer a loss like that again.
The clock beside my bed reads three am. I roll over and tangle with something soft. It’s Channing’s shirt. It smells like Channing, fresh and woodsy. I clutch it to my chest and let the scent soothe me, and finally sleep comes.
In the morning, Channing’s gone. I tell Geo he has a mission, and he’ll be busy. Geo nods, accepting this.
I’m distracted at work, so much so that Mr. van den Berg mentions it after a meeting.