He swallowed hard and wished he could go back, do it all over again so he could carry less guilt. That’s what a selfish man like him did—worried about his own comfort first. “I wish I would’ve never changed you,” he admitted low.
“Well, you did, and now I have the wolf. No take-backs on shit decisions.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, I wish I would’ve never changed your personality.”
Her lip snarled up, and a growl escaped her. “My personality is fine.”
The threatening sound she made in her throat lifted the fine hairs on his arms. He wasn’t scared of anything, but this she-wolf was off. She was sick. She was ready to bleed something. Someday, Summer was going to end up as a man-eater, if she wasn’t murdering humans already. Sometimes a shifter got a bad animal. She got a bad wolf, and there was no one to blame but her Maker. Wes.
She stood, tall and strong, crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s in the Wichita Pack. He’s Leif’s enforcer.”
No.
Wes shook his head. It was a lie.
No.
Sam would never join Leif. Not after what that monster had done to them. He wouldn’t.
Chest heaving, Wes closed his eyes and focused on the bonds he’d worked so hard to shut down completely. Being open hurt. He could feel wisps of those bonds to Hunter, to Bryson, to their mates, Sadey and Maris. To…to…Summer. The cloudy black one was to Leif. But… “I can’t feel Sam at all.”
“I told you,” Summer said as she passed by and ran into his shoulder hard enough to jolt him backward. “He ain’t Sam anymore. He’s Bones now.”
“What do you want from me?” Wes asked, choking on the words.
“To free Sam. To kill Leif’s entire pack or die trying,” she said lightly as she disappeared down the hallway.
Oh, was that all? She just wanted his death?
“Why would you care so much about Sam being avenged?” he asked.
“Because…” She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “Because,” she said softer, “once upon a time, you three Kaids were my family. And maybe we aren’t that anymore, but I still want all of you to be okay and be happy.”
She could’ve knocked him over with a feather right now. His chest was on fire with ache, but he didn’t understand all the emotions flooding him. “Summer, who said you aren’t family still?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“There it is,” she whispered. Summer lifted her chin higher, and anger flashed through her eyes. “There’s that sincerity in your eyes I used to pray for when I belonged to you. Pity you couldn’t find it back then when I could still be saved.”
“Summer—”
“No, Wes. I don’t need your pity. I want one thing from you, and that’s for you to kill Leif. Do it slow if you can. I’ll watch.”
“And if I die going after Leif and whatever army he turned his pack into?” Wes asked darkly.
She didn’t even flinch. Her eyes remained emotionless as she murmured, “Then I’ll watch that, too.”
The sweet Summer he used to know was dead and long gone. He’d killed her, so he supposed this was fair—a death for a death.
“I’ll pack my things.”
Chapter Two
As quietly as she could, Summer Rayne blew out a shaking breath. She couldn’t let him hear her, couldn’t let him know he affected her still. The oversize kitchen table creaked as she locked her arms against it. Never in her lifetime would she have guessed he would go and build up a ranch for him and his brother. Oh, he’d always been a worker, but this place…
She swallowed hard and looked around at his house, decorated with a moose antler chandelier, exposed beams, and stone hearth that stretched from hardwood floors to log ceiling. Stainless steel appliances sparkled from the large kitchen, and the beige granite countertops were perfectly clean and bare of dirty dishes. When she’d been with him, he had been human and a messy sort of bachelor.
Perhaps the wolf made him keep his den clean.
God, he looked good. Wes was even broader in the shoulders than she remembered. More chiseled. Bigger, stronger. He still had the bright blue eyes that slanted up slightly to make him look dangerous with every look. Those cheekbones could cut glass, and he wore scruff on his face now. He’d grown his hair out, too. It was a dirty blond that reached his jawline. No smile lines, but that was no surprise. He wasn’t a happy sort of man. He’d never had them except around her when she made him laugh. She could do that once upon a time, but now?
Summer looked at her reflection in the window near the table. A reflection she still didn’t recognize. Now, she was all darkness.
He’d turned her into this. And even though it had been an accidental bite from a newly created werewolf, it was what he did afterward that had scarred her for life. He’d left her all alone. Newly turned. With no one to talk to. No one to explain the changes in her body. No one to explain her new life…
No one to save her.
He’d just vanished. And landed here, in this mansion, on the biggest ranch in the area, apparently. He was doing great while she would never be doing great again.
Tears burned her eyes, and she blinked them away fast.
The worst part…the very, very worst part…was being betrayed by the only person she’d ever loved. Betrayal like that made a heart go cold. It stunted any chance of finding love again because she wouldn’t dare risk opening up to another. Perhaps she would’ve been a good, logical, and safe werewolf, but her animal had been forged from heartbreak. And along the way, Summer had accepted her new self. Didn’t mean she didn’t wish she could go back and do things differently. She would’ve never given Wes Kaid the time of day if she’d known what she knew now.
At least he’d given her the wolf, though, so she wouldn’t every be truly alone. Bright side.
But she hated him.
The wolf inside of her snarled.
Fine, she probably hated him.
Another growl, and she sighed.
She really wanted to hate him.
Biting her bottom lip to punish herself for tearing up, Summer straightened her spine and put some steel into her voice when she called, “Do you want me to go get Hunter?”
“No,” came the somber answer.
“What? Why?” she asked.
He didn’t answer. She could hear him rustling around in his room and imagined him throwing a bunch of random clothes in the duffle bag she’d seen in his closet when she’d snooped around for a female’s things. In her defense, her wolf needed to know if another woman was shacked up with Wes. Surprising the wolf was a very bad idea.
Either Wes was single, or his lady dressed like a cowboy.
Probably single. Wes was a disaster to date. Any woman who made it through his gauntlet of distance, emotional baggage, head games, and rejections for any amount of time had her respect. She’d only lasted three years, and lookey what had happened? Permanent damage and an eternally skewed view of the unfairer sex. But he was hot, so at least he had that going for him. Really, unfairly, incomprehensively attractive. That was the lure, that and some bone-deep sexual attraction that drew the ladies in like they were hungry fish and he was a tasty worm. Not her, though. Not anymore. Summer didn’t even like worms. She was unaffected by him.