Fourteen

 

“I haven’t had time to devote to a relationship,” he said as he sat forward to receive his shepherd’s pie from the waitress.

I felt cheated. He was the first person I’d mentioned Brodie to, and he shut me out in return. I thanked the waitress for my food and ate that in silence while I tried to keep my wolf buried and the memories with it. Alasdair wore his predator like a second skin. The non-magical people could feel it. They moved away from him when he walked, some whispered and glanced at him before they left. Everyone in the pub knew he was an apex predator, even if they couldn’t put the sensation or knowledge into words. I couldn’t imagine wielding my wolf like that.

Alasdair’s phone buzzed as the waitress came over to ask if we wanted dessert.

“It would seem we’re not going to the tailor after all. That was Saoirse, we’re meeting her in Galway this evening.”

“Shame,” I said with a sharp grin.

The idea of wearing a suit was completely absurd. I’ll admit he looked incredible in his, but it was impractical. Suits were for offices and balls, and I had no intention of going to either.

“Don’t worry, there’s a good tailor in Galway. I’m sure we can get you fitted soon,” Alasdair said with an equally sharp grin.

 

 

I had insisted on Alasdair’s giving me the address to the place we were heading to in Galway so I could make my own way there. In turn, he had insisted on keeping my backpack in his car. If it came to it, I’d move on with nothing more than the clothes on my back and my bike. Given my full leathers were in the backpack, I wore my armored jacket. Even made shifters could heal almost anything, given a couple of days and plenty of food, but that didn’t mean I wanted to go through that pain and hassle.

The ride across the country was set to take a couple of hours, perfect to clear my head and figure out what the fuck I was going to do. It was simultaneously a nightmare and dream come true. On one hand, the goddess has chosen me to be a Guardian! On the other hand, that meant working with Alasdair. Yes, he was exactly my type and the image of perfection, but there was still a strong risk that he’d throw me to the hellhounds. Dear goddess, what if he found out about my magic? Surely, all bets would be off then.

I lost myself in the feeling of the bike as I threw it around the corners and watched the hedgerows fly by. To Alasdair’s credit, he remained close behind me in that muscle car of his. He couldn’t stay tight to me around the corners, but he was right behind me on the straights. It wasn’t long before we both began pushing and testing. Just how well could his car handle? I grinned to myself and changed our route to the more scenic twisting path and enjoyed flying down the narrower roads with the growl of his car behind me. It wasn’t as good as a real run, but I still reached our destination riding a high.