Ouachita Mated(12)

Maybe this odd reprieve was what he needed. The relief from his inner turmoil.

Running. Huh. Who would’ve guessed.

Other shifters ran the woods with their animals often, and now he knew why. But Magic hated any time he gave to his panther. If he could cut the animal from him, he would’ve already done it. He didn’t want to be a werecat. He didn’t want to be slave to his instinct. He wanted to tell the cat no, and have it actually listen. Without a fight. Without hating himself.

He wanted all of the fucking guilt and stress and aching to just… stop.

That’s what he really wanted.

Maybe if he’d told Doc Davis that earlier, she could’ve helped him.

Then again, maybe not.

They ran two more miles, both of them dripping with sweat by the time Josie slowed the machine. She gripped the bars as she set the pace for the cool down, her breath coming in heavy puffs.

But Magic didn’t want to stop. Not when he finally had some measure of relief.

“That…” She took several deep breaths. “That was a good run, Magic.”

He’d always liked how she said his name. With a heavy M and her tongue barely tapping the C.

Or maybe he hated it. He was so twisted up, it was hard to tell which feelings were which anymore.

For example, part of him loved that little human, Clara, simply because she made Eagan so happy. The cat was all googly-eyed and proud of their union  . He was steady and not floundering anymore. Solid.

For now. At least for now.

Didn’t prove anything though. It had been the same with Renner, and now look at him. Actually, Renner seemed fine. Bethany on the other hand…

But another part of Magic hated Clara for what she’d done to their clan. Not the stealing, the mating. She and Eagan had started a domino effect, and somehow, Magic was going to have to find a way to stop it before anyone else got hurt.

The task seemed impossible. The Goliath of responsibilities. And the most frustrating part was he wanted to believe. He’d had hope. He’d wanted more for his clan. Matings, young, the whole shebang.

Just not at the price of anymore lives.

He slowed his machine to a walk, watching Josie as her breathing became normal again.

“Feel better?” she asked.

He gave her a nod, and she smiled. A genuine smile, like his answer made her happy. And it was disarming. He hadn’t made anyone happy in a very long time. None of his clan ever smiled at him like that.

“Good,” she said. “Me too.”

“So…” Magic hesitated. Did he want to go down this rabbit hole? But that smile, it got to him, and pulled at his heart a little. “What Ryan said, about you being in trouble… you okay?”

Her gaze shifted away, her smile vanishing. “Yeah, fine. Asshole boss just tried to manhandle me so I put him in his place. Then he fired me. Like a real man. But it’s not a problem, really. I was looking for a change anyway.”

Magic gawked at her. The careless way she just described someone assaulting her blew his mind. And the mere idea of some smarmy bastard cornering her made his panther crave blood. He could shred the guy until he was nothing more than ribbons of human and she’d never have to worry about him again.

“No man has the right to put his hands on you like that,” he ground out.

She glanced at him, a crook of her lips catching before falling back to a neutral expression. “I know. That’s why I grabbed his sack and gave it a good hard twist. He had the tiniest balls too. I swear I’ve never felt nuts that small before.”

Magic’s jaw dropped. Damn, she was a firecracker. Apparently his human shredding skills wouldn’t be needed at this time.

He cleared his throat so he could speak. “Good. Fucker deserved it.”

“On that, oh angry one, we agree.”

She stopped her machine and stepped off, wiping her face with the towel around her neck. The rest of her skin still glistened though, and it caught his attention for the shittiest of reasons.

He wanted to lick her. Taste what her skin mixed with sweat was like. Set his hot tongue against that hot flush where all the blood had rushed to the surface from her exertion. Hers would be hotter, he knew.

No!

Damn it, no.

But his cock was already rising to the occasion, hard for something he hadn’t had in ten years. Something he didn’t want… to want.

Magic turned off the treadmill and stepped away, giving Josie his back. Snatching a towel from the shelf, he did his own wipe down, and then using the band around his wrist, he pulled his hair up into a bun on top of his head.

Deep breaths. Deep fucking breaths, and turkey sandwiches and cleaning fish and those damned spreadsheets Layna made him use for every fucking thing. Whatever would take his mind off Josie’s body.