Five Weeks (Seven Series #3)(31)

“I know what I am.”
He nodded and looked at me slyly. “You sure do. But when are you going to accept it?”
He knew me too well. I’d always struggled with my upbringing in a house full of cougars and had never known what it felt like to be bonded with anyone.
Except Jericho. In a strange way, I used to think of him as my pack. Maybe that’s why I still felt a strong connection with him. He was the only one who knew my fear of joining a family. It’s an instinct all Shifter wolves had, including myself, and even Jericho once admitted he’d one day settle down in a pack. I’d always told him it didn’t matter to me.
I’d lied.
 

Chapter 7
Austin was a big enough city that I knew the odds of running into Handlebars again were slim to none—as long as I stayed out of Hawk’s territory.
I checked out a few motels, but the prices were outside my budget. With my hair pulled back in a messy knot, I parked my car in front of McDonald’s and called Hawk.
“Better pick up,” I murmured.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Hawk! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”
“Miss me already?”
“Are you sitting around waiting for this to go away or doing something about it?”
“Working on it,” he replied.
“Does that mean you’re paying him back what you owe? I have a man after me. He’s big and he’s scary, but he’s still a human and my wolf can kick his ass.”
“You aren’t supposed to shift in front of humans.”
“And you aren’t supposed to work for drug lords. Hawk, please. Let me know how this is all going to work out so I can make plans.”
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
I shifted in my seat and watched a kid inside the restaurant smearing ketchup on the window. “You know where to find me if you want to talk, but don’t start any trouble and get me fired.”
“I can protect you, Izzy. Say the word and I’ll come pick you up.”
No way. I kept wondering why I was giving Hawk a second chance, but I saw the good side in him and believed in redemption. What if my staying made all the difference in turning his life around?
“Say yes. I want you back.”
Was I overreacting? No one said relationships were easy. “Where are you hiding out?”
“Can’t tell you, but I can show you. Come on, Iz. I don’t like the idea of you sleeping God knows where or with who. Help me sort this shit out and we’ll go back to the way it was.”
I tapped my finger on the steering wheel, feeling the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, each trying to give me sage advice.
“Who’s watching out for you? Huh? Come back to me and I’ll make it right. You can’t keep running when things don’t go your way.”
Hypocrite. Although, he had a point. I could have bailed on him, but I was tired of being the girl who always ran out on people. If I left him, he wouldn’t pay off this Delgado guy, and I’d still have that crazy human tackling me every chance he got. Going back to Hawk seemed like the obvious choice to me. I’d be able to talk some sense into him and find out what was really going on. If it didn’t work out, I’d make him call this big-shot dealer and let him know we weren’t an item anymore and to stop chasing me down. I also didn’t have a dime in my pocket.
And my gas was running low.
“Do you promise you’ll sit down and tell me everything? Be honest with me from here on out?”
He chuckled. “A promise is a promise. Where are you?”
“Pick me up after work. I get off at four.”
***
After Isabelle stormed out of the house, Jericho had let his wolf run loose on the property to release the tension that had built up. Isabelle had a way of working him over like no other woman could. She’d wind him up until he felt constricted by his emotions.
Jericho didn’t like feeling emotions. It’s why he’d turned to drugs all those years ago. Things got worse when Izzy had walked out and Denver forced him into a human rehab center. Those kinds of places didn’t exist in the Breed world, so he didn’t have a choice. In confinement, he couldn’t let his wolf out, so he was forced to confront the emotions he’d repressed for years. Feelings of inadequacy among his brothers, feelings of solitude when fame hit that had made him feel like nothing more than a used napkin that women wanted to blot their lipstick on.
Years had passed since then, and every now and again, he still enjoyed a little weed. But never the hard-core stuff. The best numbing agent? Avoiding the things that caused him pain.
Relationships.
Love.
Success.
And recently, traveling. He’d seen many cities, but the emptiness consumed him, despite the fact he always had someone to warm his bed. So when his younger brother, Austin, called everyone up and said he wanted to form a pack, Jericho had thought, “Why the hell not?”