Kara rolled her eyes. “You should, considering the big-ass scandal you caused.”
“Touché, little healer.” The djinn tipped her head.
“I can already see the title of the made-for-TV special,” said Kara, using her hands as if to emphasize the title. “Sex, Lies, and Cotton Candy.”
“Not bad, but it’s not my story we’re discussing.” Myanin looked at Dillon. “Carry on. We will all keep our mouths closed.” She looked pointedly at Kara. “And judge you silently instead.”
Dillon gave her a dry look. “Thank you for that.”
His mate took his hand and entwined their fingers. “We can tell them together. It is, after all, not just your story.”
Dillon nodded and then opened the door to their past. A past part of him wished he could change, but one he would never consider changing. Because, as Tanya said, it resulted in the birth of his daughter and grandson. “Once upon a time, my parents were killed by hunters who mistook them for natural wolves. After that, I lived as a lone wolf…”
Chapter
One
“Just because you've moved out and grown up doesn't mean you stop needing your parents. In moments of folly, their words are your guiding light. When life kicks you to the curb, they are there to hold you up. When you’ve been too long wandering in the wilderness, they help you find the path back home. But, as with many things in life, you don’t understand the importance of their presence until they’re no longer there.” ~Dillon
1980
Dillon didn’t exactly throw his stuff in his duffel bag, but he didn’t bother folding his clothes neatly, either. Colin, his pack mate and the closest thing he had to a brother, watched. “You can’t just leave,” Colin told him.
Dillon didn’t pause. “I have to, Colin.” Dillon stepped around him and grabbed some shirts from his closet. He was traveling light, not just because he didn’t require many creature comforts, but because he had no idea where he was headed or what he would need when he got there. Dillon only knew one thing: he had to leave his pack. Every day he remained at the pack headquarters, he was reminded of his parents. Daily, hourly, every minute, he saw their faces, heard their voices. Like ghosts hiding in the shadows, they haunted him. It was beginning to drive him mad, and his wolf couldn’t heal when every time they got near his parents’ home on the pack compound, he smelled their scent. It was like continually reopening a wound.
“Where are you going to go?” his friend asked, with anxiousness lacing his voice.
“South.” Dillon zipped the duffle and pulled the straps onto his back. “I’ve already told our alpha. He understands, though he doesn’t like it. And he’s asked that I check in periodically.”
“Will you come back?”
The worry in Colin’s eyes gutted Dillon, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt at the loss of his parents. Stupid humans hunting wild wolves. That’s how his parents had been killed. Shot by a greedy hunter who cared nothing for the animals he murdered.
“I don’t know,” Dillon answered honestly. “I have no family left. My grandparents were killed by rogue wolves. There’s no one else.”
“You have me. And you have your pack.”
His friend wasn’t a dominant wolf. He was kindhearted and gentle. And though their alpha didn’t put up with dominant wolves giving the less dominant ones crap, that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. Dillon had kicked a few of their asses for picking on Colin. “You may not be dominant, brother, but you’re still a wolf. Let your beast release that pent-up anger inside of you, and I promise those idiots won’t mess with you again.”
Dillon pulled Colin into a hug and pounded him on the back with his fist. “You’re going to be fine, C.” It was the nickname Dillon had given him when they were children.
“Promise you’ll keep in touch.” Colin patted Dillon and then released him.
“You know I will.”
Dillon marched out of his house with his friend on his heels. He tossed his bag into the back of his truck bed and then climbed into the cab. He rolled down the window and lifted his chin at Colin. “Take care.”
Colin’s eyes glimmered with unshed tears. Dillon understood his pain. Pack was family. Losing a pack member was like losing a piece of yourself, no matter how it happened.
He backed out of the driveway and drove swiftly to the entrance of their pack’s property. He couldn’t say any more goodbyes. Colin wanted to go with him, and while Dillon would have enjoyed his company, Dillon needed some alone time. He felt as if his pain was going to overwhelm him, and he didn’t want reminders of the life he had previously shared with his parents—not even Colin, because he was a part of those memories.
Without even looking in the rearview mirror, Dillon drove through the gate and out onto the highway. He’d never before considered facing a future that didn’t include his parents. They’d never meet his future true mate, hold their grandchildren, or get to watch them grow up. He’d never hear his mother’s boisterous laughter or listen to his father tell the same stories over and over again because he loved to relive his past. There would forever be a hole inside of Dillon where they belonged. Dillon didn’t know how to cope with his pain. Perhaps he was running, as his alpha had suggested. But running away was still better than staying at home, waiting for his loved ones to come back, and hoping that it was only a nightmare from which he would eventually awaken.
“Screw that.” He rolled down the windows and let the roar of the wind fill the silence. Dillon had no plan except to drive until he was tired of driving. Maybe that wouldn’t be until he reached the ocean, in which case he may or may not just drive right into it. If he couldn’t find some purpose in his life, some meaning other than living with the grief that filled him, then Dillon couldn’t promise he wouldn’t take his truck for a dive into the depths of the sea.
With those dark thoughts filling his mind, he drove into the night.
Some months later, Dillon reached a campground called Wolf Lake Park. It was nine minutes from a small town called Coldspring, Texas. As far as he knew, there were no packs in the area. On his journey, Dillon had quickly learned he didn’t like motels with their overwhelming strange smells. And sleeping in his truck got old. So he’d purchased a small travel trailer and stayed at campsites when he needed to rest.
“A fitting place to end my journey.” He was tired of running and tired of driving, not to mention, too much farther and he’d just hit the ocean. He parked his truck and camper in the assigned spot. Dillon climbed out of his truck and walked over to the picnic table that was near a firepit. He sat and then stretched out on his back on the bench and closed his eyes, soaking up the afternoon sun. He sighed. It had been months since he’d left his pack, and the pain still hadn’t eased. Maybe it never would. Maybe he’d build a life here, away from other packs. He’d leave the dangers of being a Canis lupus behind and just live like humans did. A lone wolf. And no doubt the only actual wolf in Wolf Lake Park.
Dillon took a deep breath and let it out slowly before sitting back up and then standing. He stretched his back, his vertebrae popping as he did. His wolf itched beneath his skin, hoping to phase and go on a run, but Dillon told the beast no. He didn’t know if he’d ever take his wolf form again. His final memories with his parents were of their last hunt together, running through the forest with the wind whipping through his fur. Pushing those thoughts away, he went to work setting up the camper as he’d done dozens and dozens of times. Only this time, maybe it would be the last time.