Kryptonite

I kept my head down as I followed Cody and my mate - Liam, I had learned - out of the office. As soon as we were in the hall, though, Cody rounded on me, shoving me into the wall.

“What the hell was that, Rose? Huh?” he snapped. 

“I-I-I’m sorry!” I gasped, “I swear, I didn’t-”

His wolf surfaced, growling in my face. “I saw how torn up you were when you got back. I know you saw something, and I know you lied to me about needing to go up there myself.” Tears stung my eyes as spittle flew. “You’re fucking lucky we had someone up there to pick up the pieces. What the fuck do you think this looks like for your future as a scout here?”

I closed my eyes and let out a sob. I didn’t know how to put into words what happened up there, but I wished I could. Anything to repair my name. 

I barely noticed when Cody was pulled away. It was a musical voice that pulled me back into the room. 

“It wasn’t her fault,” my mate growled. 

“Not her fault?” Cody demanded. “She fuckin’ baled up there, and she came back a piece of work. I asked her if I needed to go up myself and she said no!”

I couldn’t take my eyes off of Liam. His face grew hard, and I watched as he chose his words carefully. “I sent her away. She didn’t know anything happened.”

“Then how do you explain the way she turned up back here?”

“We got in a… disagreement,” Liam grumbled. “I didn’t think she would be helpful, and I sent her away.”

“Didn’t think she’d be helpful? She’s one of our best.” My head spun at Cody’s complete one-eighty. Not unusual for him, but still dizzying. 

Liam squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I made a bad call,” he said through gritted teeth.

Cody narrowed his eyes. “You don’t make bad calls.” 

And with that, Cody turned abruptly and stormed back into his office. 

My feet were anchored in place, making it impossible to move out of my mate’s predatory gaze. Each step he took toward me sapped more air out of the hallway. 

“Careful, Bunny. You wouldn’t want to scare yourself to death,” he breathed. He reached out, brushing the back of his hand along my cheek. 

I closed my eyes, his touch sending me on a tailspin. 

I wasn’t surprised when I opened my eyes to see he was gone. 

I gave myself a couple moments to compose myself before making my way back to Cody’s office. I hadn’t been dismissed yet; I couldn’t just leave. I didn’t see how I was needed and it was the last place I wanted to be, but I hadn’t been dismissed. 

Maybe I needed to have a bit more backbone. 

I slipped in quietly, taking my seat. Even my mate didn’t seem to notice. 

“I just don’t understand how there’s complete radio silence for over two weeks,” Cody quipped. “Did he just hit the pause button on his vendetta against rogues? I mean, it’s not like they would just disappear.”

“Hear me out,” the Alpha - sorry, Oliver - drawled. “Maybe, just maybe, they did disappear. Do you not think the two weeks there was no activity aligned pretty well with the two weeks Thom was gearing up the rogues to assist with Lya’s rescue mission?”

Lya nodded in agreement. “And the rogue that turned up was the rogue I specifically told to find me at the Snow Moon Pack. She got here, just the wrong town.” 

Cody looked away, grumbling to himself. 

“So if that’s all figured out and my best friend is off the hook for abandoning post, I am going back to bed. There’s nothing more to do until Danica shifts, anyhow.” Lya looked back at me, reaching her hand out. “C’mon, let’s go. Cody will apologize tomorrow.” She sent a pointed look over her shoulder back at the Gamma before leading me out. 

“I am so sorry, Luna. If I had known something was going to happen, I never would have left! I wasn’t expecting to meet -”

“Rose, it’s fine,” Lya reassured me, cutting me off. “I’m not mad. I don’t know my brother well, but I do know he can be very difficult to get along with. I’m not surprised he ran you off, taking all the glory.” 

I offered a halfhearted smile. Maybe I just wasn’t meant to tell anyone about Liam being my mate. “Thanks for standing up for me, at least.”

Lya rolled her eyes. “Like you wouldn’t do the same for me. Besides, apparently Cody finally rejected Ellie, and he’s just been unreasonable.”

“Doing the thing where he’s only tolerable when war planning?” I asked. 

She nodded, her unkempt auburn curls bouncing around her face. “As little as I know about him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts one just to take his mind off of it. Apparently, she cheated on him.”

My eyes grew wide. Fated mates didn’t cheat. 

“Speaking of, breakfast tomorrow at Lucy’s?” Lya asked. Speaking of? What could that mean?

“Yeah, sure.” I glanced around. “I think I’m gonna go for a run. But I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

Lya gave me a quick hug goodbye before rushing off to find Oliver and head back to the packhouse. He was right, she really should be sleeping. Her two weeks as a prisoner had taken its toll. 

The pack was more silent than usual. Wolves were typically out and about at night, enjoying the time under the moon. I didn’t complain, though. I wanted some silence. I shifted quickly, cautiously allowing Freyja to come forward. Part of me worried she would try and hunt her mate down, but I also knew she was just as hurt as I was. I hoped she would be responsible and let sleeping dogs lie. 

'It isn’t his wolf we have a problem with,' she meekly informed me. 'I’m sorry. You deserve better.' 

I didn’t respond. It was just me that was the problem. That just made things worse. I slunk back further, trying to hide from the world. 

We ran in silence for hours, the world flashing by around us. We saw no one other than patrols, and they kept to themselves, focusing on their task at hand. Everyone’s guards seemed to be up, as if they were expecting hunters to come popping out of the woodwork. That was very low on the list of possibilities, though. They wouldn’t have left the battle if the job wasn’t finished. 

The sun was just beginning to think about rising when Freyja brought me back to the pile of clothes. I shifted quickly, starting on the trek back to my apartment, hoping for a few hours of sleep before breakfast with Lya, and undoubtedly also Anna. 

Maybe they would have some words of advice for me. I mean, they were my two closest friends, both mated, and both relationships had rocky starts. 

I was still within the trees when a familiar voice I equal parts loved and dreaded paralyzed me. 

“Bunny.”