together, committing. Looking back, Liam realized that for as bad as their breakup was, it would have been worse if they had stayed together.
Catching Kelson cheating had made Liam question everything he thought he knew, and doubt his own ability to read people, even with his shifter senses and the talent his Leo birth sign supposedly had in that regard. Kelson had been unfaithful, and Liam suspected that the guy he caught his boyfriend with wasn’t the first. Still, Kelson had twisted everything to make it all Liam’s fault, and when Liam had stood up to him, it got nasty.
Kelson had stalked him, posted pictures online Liam hadn’t known about and trashed him on social media. Finally, Liam obtained a restraining order and then suddenly Kelson went silent.
Liam hoped it meant Kelson had lost interest. Instead, he was hiring a hitman.
He meant it when he had sworn off men. And then Russ showed up. Suddenly, everything Liam thought he knew about himself and his shifter side had changed.
I thought fated mates were just in romance books. But I can’t deny what I feel when I’m with Russ, and the feeling seems mutual.
That’s because he’s not a dumbass, his fox snarked. He’s not fighting finding his mate. He’d probably love to bite you if you’d let him.
Were mating bites even real? Liam wondered. And if they were, did they create the kind of bond he’d read about in those steamy books?
One way to find out, his fox said.
Liam stared at the ceiling, trying to sort out the storm of conflicting feelings threatening to burst out of his chest. I’m not fighting it. I just need to understand. Be sure. I was so wrong about Kelson—
Did anything with that mangy cur feel at all like just touching Russ does? His fox had never liked Kelson, but at the time, Liam had been ignoring his other half—which was a mistake. Even if he did once confess the truth about being a shifter to Kelson in a misguided moment of trust. Of course Kelson had mocked him, believing none of it.
But he must have believed. Or else he wouldn’t have hired a Huntsman.
Liam realized he hadn’t answered his fox. No. This doesn’t feel like it did with Kelson. Not at all. I just wish everything wasn’t happening at once—the move, Russ, new job, and maybe a contract on my head.
Another reason why having a protective wolf isn’t a bad idea.
Liam sighed. I wish I knew whether that hitman is still after me. I should tell the cops—and Russ. And Jeffries. But tell them what? I’ve got no details about who the guy was who came after me. I can’t prove it. If Jeb found out more, he’d have let me know.
His friend Jeb was also a shifter and had warned him about the Huntsman, since Liam had remained friends with a few people who stayed in touch with Kelson. Apparently, Kelson had been on a bender and bragged about putting out the hit to a friend, who made sure Jeb knew. Jeb had heard the legends about Huntsmen and took the threat seriously. With Jeb’s warning, Liam had barely escaped.
I’m overthinking the best sex of my life. I need to sleep, start my new job, and take things one day at a time.
Even so, Liam lay awake for a long while, waiting to hear the fire trucks return. Please let him be all right, he begged the universe. He finally fell asleep, but the trucks still weren’t back.
His first official day at the library turned out to be a success. Linda and Maddi were sharp, creative, and excited about possibilities. Their brainstorming session had them all humming with energy and new ideas, and by the end of the day, they had worked up a plan for the summer and opportunities for the fall.
Liam came home jittery as fuck. He had a text from Russ letting him know he’d gotten in safely during the wee hours, but that he was wiped out and going to sleep. That left Liam on his own, and he decided that another run in his fur was what he needed.
This time, he thought he would run somewhere a little farther afield. Liam entered the woods behind the new section of the cemetery and went away from town, through a stretch of forest, past a motel and an old, refurbished mansion, and then into another patch of woods behind a small lakeside cluster of summer cabins.
He raised his face to the