The Awakening: Liam (Entangled Covet) (11 page)

Jeep?”

“Since I haven’t shifted in four years, I got out of the habit of carrying any extras with me. Sorry.”

He’d known it was a long shot even asking.

“Miles probably does,” Brit continued. “Just stay in here and I’ll go see.”

Without another word, he left in search of the doctor. Liam sat down heavily on one of the leather

chairs positioned beside an empty hospital bed, braced his elbows on his knees, and hung his head. Talk

about a major kick to the balls. While he should be basking in the afterglow of shifting for the first time in

months, he was consumed by the way she’d looked him dead in the eyes and called that kiss nothing more

than instinct.

Bull-fucking-shit.

Yeah, she’d been scared for her life, but her response to his touch had been more than some damn need

to feel something other than terror.

Goddamn it. She’d made him whole again. While it had been nothing but a kiss to her, it had changed

his entire world.
Nobody
should have that kind of power over someone else.

How fucking fair was that? Why should he have to suffer, while she was allowed to go about her life as

if she hadn’t ruined his?

Because she didn’t know. Couldn’t know.

The anger seeped out of his body as exhaustion crashed over him. And he wouldn’t change that.

If anything good had come from all of this, it was being reconnected to his beast—at least for now.

Since she was determined to leave him again, he didn’t know how long that would last. But he’d enjoy each

moment he and his beast were in sync until they were forced to part for a second time.

Liam closed his eyes.
Dea
, it had felt so good to allow the beast to emerge without a fight. As his body

had changed forms, liberating tingles had erupted all over him as raw power filled every crevice of his

essence. He’d felt invincible. Worthy.

Then he’d looked at Ava.

It’d been the first time he’d looked upon her through his beast’s eyes, and it had been enough to steal

his breath. She’d been beautiful, with her body encircled in a halo of gold…his beacon to peace.

Revealing himself to his mate had been a moment he’d waited a lifetime for. And though he could’ve

done without the circumstance behind it, her reaction was what every shifter prayed for when allowing their

beast to emerge to their human mate for the first time: acceptance.

The door opened, breaking into his thoughts, and Brit eased inside with a pair of black nylon jogging

pants and a blue, long-sleeved cotton shirt. Wordlessly, Liam put them on. A little tight around the chest

and biceps, but they would work until he could get some clothes that fit.

“What the hell gives, man? Brit finally asked.

He didn’t want the entire building aware of what had happened, but he trusted Brit enough to be honest.

“She rejected me, Brit. Fucking again.”

Brit’s eyes widened in surprise. “Whoa. I sure as hell didn’t see that coming.”

“
That’s
your reaction?” He’d just told one of his best friends he’d been rejected for a second time and

that was his lackluster response? Yeah, Brit wasn’t known for being the best in these situations, but damn it,

a little more emotion would’ve been welcome, maybe some anger on Liam’s behalf. “Where’s Aidan when

I need him?”

Brit didn’t even flinch, just shrugged. “I know I suck at this shit. Always have. Aidan is better in these

situations, but I can’t help that it surprised me. I thought you guys were back together.”

Startled by his admission, Liam stared at his friend. Brit had never been a fan of the
Drall
or of Ava,

especially after the
Dsershon,
and he advocated avoidance of both at all costs
.
This was a huge statement

coming from him. “Why would you think that?”

“Geez, man, she was terrified for you.” He raked a hand through his dark hair and sat down on the chair

beside Liam’s. “She was solely focused on getting help for you. It took me minutes even to get her to realize

that she was safe.”

Warmth spread in his chest, but he stifled it before he let his hopes go back up. Maybe Brit was wrong,

“How do you know it wasn’t from being chased?”

“Naw, man. It wasn’t like that. When she realized I had her and tried to stop her from going back in to

get you, she attempted to claw my eyes out. Hell, as I dragged her back, she shrieked at the top of her lungs

that she couldn’t live without you. That’s hard to misinterpret, Liam.”

She’d been that afraid for him? Had admitted she couldn’t live without him in the height of her terror?

So, why had she just rejected him again?

He hadn’t realized he’d asked the question out loud until Brit shrugged and said, “I don’t know why.

But I can say with complete confidence that the woman has feelings for you. Big-time.”

Before he could dissect her motivations further, the door opened again and Val stepped inside. “Liam,

do you have a moment? I need to get a statement.”

“Yeah, sure.”

She glared at Brit, who pretty much snarled right back at her. A few days together hadn’t fixed whatever

issue they had.

“Don’t you have a ticket to write or something?” she asked Brit.

“It’s called being here for a friend.” Brit slapped his forehead. “Oh that’s right, I forgot. You don’t have

any, so you wouldn’t be able to grasp that concept.”

Her lips pressed together tight. “In case you’ve forgotten Officer Townsend, you’ve called in sick the

last two days, even though your help wasn’t needed.” She
tsked
. “Oh
that’s
right, you
weren’t
any help.

You were just along for the ride. Was it nice taking a trip down memory lane?”

“You know what? Go to hell.” Muttering a string of obscenities under his breath, he jerked to his feet.

“Sorry, man, I’ve got to go. I’ve had more of the Sniff Princess than I can take. Three days of her shit is

enough to break a saint, and you know I’m no fucking saint.” As he passed her, his face contorted with

disgust, he said, “There’s a reason you’re alone, you know? Nobody wants a cold-hearted bitch as a mate.

They want soft, supple…sweet. Three qualities you will never have.”

When the door slammed behind him, Val flinched and closed her eyes. When she opened them, a hint

of sadness shone through before she squared her shoulders, and Val Calhoun, hard-nosed detective, was

back in the room. The moment of vulnerability from her stunned Liam. “Why do you two treat each other

like that?” he asked.

“If you remember, your boy started it.” She took the seat Brit had vacated, suddenly looking very

weary.

Yeah, Brit had started it. Three and a half years ago when they’d met and he immediately insulted her by

asking which pound SPAC had rescued her from. To add insult to injury, he’d muttered it must have been

slim pickings that day since all that they’d had left were mangy mutts.

The tone of their relationship had gone downhill from there.

The weird thing was, Brit was never nasty to women. He loved them. All of them, no matter their shape,

size, or culture. Brit believed women were put on this earth for men to treasure—not that he ever wanted to

get saddled with just one—but the sentiment was the same: women were the
Dea’s
gift to men and should

be treated as such.

“That happened a long time ago, Val. Don’t you think it’s past time to bury the hatchet?”

She forced a smile. “I thought so at one time. But he has no desire to, and keeps coming at me. I made a

vow years ago that I wouldn’t let him see how much his shit got to me. And I’ve learned how to deal with

him over the years to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

It was the first time Val had ever acknowledged that Brit’s behavior bothered her. “You went a little

below the belt there, though.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “And he hasn’t before?”

True. Things between those two would never be calm, so there was no reason to kick a dead horse.

“You had some questions for me?”

Val nodded and flipped open her notebook. “Miss Michaels said she didn’t get a good look at her

attacker? Did you?”

“No.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” she muttered. “I guess we’re going on scent only with this one. Not

that it’s a bad thing, it’d just go a hell of a lot quicker if I had some idea of who we were looking for. They

swept the building and didn’t find a single fingerprint. The guy is good. Thorough. Even masks his scent,

which makes it more difficult for me.” She pinned Liam with her gaze. “Don’t tell Britton I said that, okay?

I much prefer it when he believes I’m superior to him.”

Liam held up his hands. “Far be it for me to interfere with this war you two have going on.”

“Thank you. I want to be honest with you. I’m good at my job, but even I have my limitations. I found

you on
your
scent, not the other guy’s. He either forgot to cover yours or believed it would be over before

we found you. I tend to think he wasn’t expecting a friend to follow you when you went to Miss Michael’s

place, much less a cop who would immediately bring in SPAC. Either way, if he’d covered your scent, too,

we’d most likely still be looking for you.”

Her meaning was clear. They’d most likely be dead.

Swallowing, he realized how close Ava had come to truly dying. If Ava had not escaped when she did,

her death would have been imminent. And then it wouldn’t have mattered what happened to him. In fact he

would’ve probably welcomed death.

“Miss Michaels also mentioned your captor injected her with something to make you believe she was

dead.”

“Twice.”

Val shot a look at him. “Twice?”

“He knew too much about
Dsershon
, Val. He might have tortured Ava, but I believe it was all staged to

get at me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I can’t find another explanation. I even goaded him at one point, to buy Ava time to escape, and told

him it wasn’t my fault his mate
Dserted
him. He went fucking ballistic and screamed that it
was
my fault.”

“He blames you because his mate left him? Did you ever come between a shifter and his mate?”

“Never. So I can’t figure out who or what he was talking about.”

Val shifted her body toward him in the chair. “I hate to ask this, Liam, but what about the woman you

hit with your car a few years ago? I wasn’t around back then, but I’ve heard tidbits about the accident over

the years.”

That night was always there in the back of his mind, reminding him that life was precious and could be

taken in a minute. And now he had a new reminder, one that hummed in his blood. He never wanted to feel

it go silent again.

“It couldn’t be because of that. She was human. Married to a human man, and had two very small

human children.” He glanced at the floor, remembering the family that had been devastated by one

senseless act, the two little girls that clung to their daddy while he talked to Liam with red-rimmed eyes. “I

went to them to ask for forgiveness. The husband didn’t blame me. Said I’d been lucky to survive myself,

from the look of the car. Little did he know, right? Had I been human I would most likely have died from

my injuries, too, but I was completely healed twenty-four hours later. It’s unfair that I survived while she

had to leave her loved ones behind.”

“What about the drunk driver? Was it a female? Maybe a mate to a shifter, and he blames you for

getting her locked up?”

“The
she
was a
he
, and he was also human. He also didn’t get locked up. Had himself a kickass

attorney, no prior record, and a prescription for the Xanax in his system. He blew under the legal limit, so it

was the cocktail of beer and drugs that caused him to pass out at the stoplight and then coast into the middle

of the intersection. He pled guilty to driving while impaired. The involuntary manslaughter charges were

reduced to a DUI and he pretty much got a slap on the wrist.”

“And you can’t think of anything else? A bar fight? Flirted with the wrong woman?”

“Geez, Val, for the last eight months I’ve been dealing with
Dsershon
. Before that I was with Ava. And

before that…no, I wasn’t a saint, but I didn’t go looking to cause trouble, either, especially with a bonded

female.”

Val grimaced. “Sorry. I’m just trying to figure this out.”

“Trust me, I am, too, and I’ve got a big fat nothing.” Which meant Ava was still in danger. “What about

Ava?”

“What about her?”

“You guys are going to send her somewhere safe, right?”

Val was silent for a moment. “She’s refused a safe house.”

Liam froze. “Excuse me?”

“She didn’t take the news that her sister wouldn’t be allowed to go with her very well. She was adamant

that if her sister couldn’t go, she wouldn’t go.”

“You couldn’t make an exception, Val?”

“Of course I could. However, the High Council doesn’t. You know as well as I do how strict they are

about SPAC following the laws. Britton didn’t and he’s now serving a twenty year sentence. I might not

have a beast, but I like the perks of being a half-shifter. I don’t have plans to do something to lose that.”