Blind Wolf (A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance #1)(23)

"Katherine, don't," Damien said.

"Strange," Katherine said. "I would have thought you would seduce her a lot more easily. But I suppose shifting into wolf form would scare off any human."

Julia's breath rasped between her lips.

"I'm leaving," she said.

"Guess we are too," Katherine said pointedly. "Back on the move."

"Julia, please wait," Damien said. He followed her footsteps toward the trail. "I need to talk with you about all this."

"There's nothing you can say that I want to hear," Julia said. Her anger washed red over Damien's mind, like storm clouds full of bloody wrath.

"What if there are other wolves?" Damien pleaded.

"Then they'll kill me."

"Julia, don't do this—"

"Go back to your goddamn pack and forget about me!" Julia said. Her voice was trembling, on the edge of tears, but all Damien sensed was rage in the air. She stormed off and left Damien standing alone.

"I can't," Damien whispered, but she was already gone.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Julia

Julia went straight up to her room when she got home. Granny Dee was in the kitchen baking and the last thing Julia wanted to do was explain why she was crying her eyes out.

Oh, that guy I fell madly in love with? Yeah, he's a werewolf. Oh, and he already has a girlfriend. She's a werewolf too. And they wanted to take our house.

Sure. That would go over really well. Julia fell onto her bed and sobbed into her pillow, muffling her cries as best as she could. The long day of hiking and sun had tired her out, and she cried herself to sleep, her bathing suit still on.

When she woke up, it was nighttime and Granny Dee was knocking on the door. Julia fumbled for the switch and turned on her lamp.

"Julia? Julia, it's time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry," Julia called.

"Are you okay?" The sympathy in Granny Dee's voice only made it hurt more.

"I'm fine," Julia said. "Just tired."

There was a pause.

"Okay," Granny Dee said. "If you want to talk, let me know."

"I will," Julia said. She sat up, dizziness rushing through her head. Her phone had six missed calls from Damien. Only one message. She dialed into her voicemail, her hand trembling as it held the phone up to her ear.

"Julia..." Damien's voice sounded tired. "I need to talk with you. Just once more. I—I can't leave here without talking to you. I hope to see you soon. Call me, please."

Julia deleted the message and lay back on the bed. The night air in summer had always been soothing, but tonight it stifled Julia's breathing. She stared at her ceiling. One crack in the plaster had always captured her imagination, the lamplight playing shadows over it and creating all manner of faces and creatures in the twists and turns of the cracks. Now she saw a wolf's face staring at her from the ceiling crack, the line of its tail extending out. She rolled over and out of bed.

Granny Dee left Julia alone when she needed it, and now when she tiptoed down the stairs, she could hear her grandmother in the downstairs bedroom listening to one of her jazz records. Quietly, she slipped out of the back door and into the meadow behind the house.

Fireflies everywhere. Julia walked forward, arms outstretched, feeling as though she was floating across the field. She looked up at the sky, and the stars and the lights of the fireflies seemed to blend together, white and yellow dots of light swirling around her.

Then she felt it.

The same feeling that she had gotten when she first saw Damien in the library. Her eyes swept across the woods, looking for something, anything. The sense that there was somebody near her made her whole body vibrate with anticipation instead of fright, a strange reaction.

It was nothing. She was imagining things. She turned to go back inside.

"Don't go." The voice came from out of the darkness. His voice. She spun back and saw Damien walking slowly across the field, as calmly and gracefully as if he had not been blind. The dim moonlight showed only the outline of his figure, but as he came closer Julia saw that his eyes still glowed with a golden hue, and his white shirt reflected blue in the light of the moon. Although her brain told her that she should be scared—he was a monster, after all!—she wasn't in the least bit afraid.

"Damien." Julia lost her voice as Damien stopped in front of her. She'd forgotten what she wanted to say, or maybe she had known all along that there were no words that could describe what was in her heart at that moment. The longing, the desire, and the blunt agony of knowledge that no amount of either would bring him to her. Yet there he stood.

"Julia, I need to talk to you."

She cleared her throat.

"Then talk."

"I should have told you earlier. I don't want this to come between us more than it already has."

"You've already chosen someone else," Julia said. "That's clear enough."

"I don't want her," Damien said. "Not now. Not after—"

"After what?"

"Not after I've found you. We were only together by necessity. Neither of us had mates."

"She must love you, though?"

"She owes me her life, and I am the leader of the pack. Truth be told, she would rather be with someone else. The only binds she has toward me are feelings of obligation. Not love."