I couldn’t think of anything to use as a signal that would not be suspicious to Derek or Levi, except a small pillow with a bunny stitched onto it, which I thought was poetic, so I put it on my windowsill as soon as the night fell. For hours, I waited; it seemed silly—it could take days for Liam to notice . . . unless he came by regularly. It was a thought I played with, but a hypothesis proven true when I heard clinking on the window.
Peeking around the blinds, I jumped back as small pebbles bounced off the glass. Silver eyes stared at me. I walked back to the window then mouthed, “Hold on,” to him.
Sneaking out of the house made me feel like I was in high school again. I half expected to see my mom waiting in he living room with an amused grin on her face, the same one she always had when I created a new way to sneak out the front door.
Instead, it was just silence that breathed back at me.
Carefully, I opened the screen door so the rusty hinges would not give me away. I closed the door with what could be considered bomb squad–approved care before darting across the lawn and over to the bushes in front of my room, where familiar silver eyes on a familiar black wolf watched me.
Liam trotted over to me and licked my hand, then turned and darted into the forest. I looked behind me and trotted after him, my eyes able to see surprisingly well in the dark as I curled and turned around trees.
Once we were past the stone columns, he jumped into the air, bones cracking and joints shifting until he was standing in front of me in very human skin. Human skin covered by black tights that did not leave much to the imagination. I looked away while he jogged behind a tree.
“What are you doing?”
“Burrows!” he whispered. “We’ve got them all over. They have extra clothes. Sometimes supplies.” He stepped back out in a matching set of Pepto Bismol–pink sweats that were too short for him. “Sometimes we don’t get the best options.
We’re always pranking each other with horrible clothes.”
I covered my mouth, stopping the laugh, and bit back a smile. “I’m glad you saw the rabbit.”
“The rabbit is our code now,” he answered, taking a seat on the grass.
I walked into the moonlight and sat across from him.
“The rabbit knows all.”
He snorted a quiet laugh and leaned to the side, resting on his forearms. “So what are we gathered for?”
I shrugged. “I think I needed a friend who isn’t Levi. Or Derek. Or Elliot.”
“Mother hen driving you up the wall?”
I narrowed my gaze at him.
He shrugged. “Love Derek. Love the guy. Good as gold.
Elliot is badass, though. Savage man.”
I sighed and picked at the grass. “My ex is looking for me. He sent people up.”
“I know.” My gaze snapped to his. Liam sighed with an apologetic smile. “I heard Dad talking about it. He sent my friend’s mom, our head tracker, to look into it. Sounds like Elliot compelled him?”
I shook my head. “Won’t matter. He’ll just keep looking.”
Liam cocked his head. “You know he wouldn’t even apologize? He almost fucking killed me and he couldn’t even say sorry.” I scoffed a laugh. “I had never been to the ER until I met him. I had never dealt with police until I met him. And apparently, it’s all my fucking fault.”
“You want to kill him?” He shrugged casually. “I know a guy.”
“Is his name Elliot?” I laughed.
Liam shook his head. “Death is way too easy for that bastard.”
I nodded in agreement. “It is. I just don’t want him to send more people here.”
“You can’t go back.”
“I’m never going back,” I said, a growl vibrating over my voice.
Liam sucked in a breath and shook his head slowly. “For the record, I never want to piss you off. Your eyes look nuts when you’re mad.”
“Nuts?”
He nodded. “Like a hurricane or a winter storm on the bay. Nuts, but still pretty.”
I bit my lip as a blush crawled over my cheeks. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut. I had no business flirting with Levi’s nephew in my current situation. The thought of someone touching me, even Liam, made my skin crawl.
“Charlotte?”
“Sorry,” I answered quietly. “My mind wanders.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what?” I cocked my head.
“For whatever happened before. Whatever drove you to us. Dad said you were in bad shape.” He paused. This time his eyes flickered to the grass. “I’d fucking kill him if I ever saw him.”
I shoved back the feelings that felt so enticing yet so dangerous. I looked away then quietly stood up. “I should go.”
Liam nodded. “Yeah, not sure if Levi’s up. But we’d better not push our luck.”
“Not without a rabbit’s foot.”
Liam jumped up with a big nod. “That’s for fucking sure.
I’ll get you some more before your shift.”
“You don’t have to.”
He tossed his hands up. “We’re friends. And you need all the extra luck you can get, wild one.”
He wasn’t wrong there. “Just try not to decimate the rabbit population.”
He stared at me for a moment, opening his mouth before he closed it. His hand went to his hair again, feet backpedaling to the forest.
“Check the woodpile tomorrow,” he told me.
I bit my lip with a nod. This time, it was my turn to disappear into the forest.
