“You have every right to be.”
“Not because you hurt me, Logan.”
“Then why?”
“I’m angry because you didn’t save him.”
Logan dragged in a deep breath and stroked her wet hair. “I’m angry for the same reason.”
****
Should he tell her why he’d marked her? Winter was soft and hurt. That asshole mate of hers had busted up her insides and made her hunch into herself, just a ball of cement against the world with hairline cracks that let her sweet demeanor leak through. She probably thought that was weakness, but it wasn’t.
He couldn’t tell her his bear wouldn’t have killed her. That he was just trying to make sure she was scarred forever. The fucked-up monster in his middle had claimed his mate in only the way Logan’s broken bear could. Without permission and too roughly. Too much pain, too much blood—that was Logan’s punishment.
She’d checked her phone on the side of that road, gone pale from a message Logan just knew was from her ex-mate, and something awful had happened inside of him. The possessiveness had nearly blinded him, and that first touch of her hand on his dick had sealed her fate. It was clear as water what she was doing. She was using him to forget Brody. But Logan’s bear would be good-goddamned if he was a balm for that prick.
He’d grown desperate to make her belong to only Logan. And when Logan had refused to give into the temptation to bite her right over Brody’s claiming mark, his bear had revolted and forced the issue. He’d created chaos and trauma that Winter didn’t deserve. Even now, his bear was constricted in his middle watching her, adoring her, stalking her like the fucking psychopath he was.
What was it? Was this some messed up way for his bear to try to save himself? By attaching to something beautiful. To something whole and perfect. Was this bond Logan felt in his chest some desperate attempt to chain himself to this world?
It wasn’t fair to Winter. They were strangers, and it wasn’t her fault her kindness had earned the devotion of a beast.
Look what he’d done to her in one day. She was naked in his arms, broken down sobbing, arm still running pink under the steaming shower water. This was his effect on people he tried to care for.
Logan hated himself for what he’d done. For what he’d allowed. He hadn’t been able to stop the bear from marking her, but then, he hadn’t tried that hard, had he? He could’ve put up a bigger effort to stop the Change. He could’ve held on until she sped away. But he didn’t. He lost himself in the stupid momentary idea that he could keep something beautiful like Winter, but he couldn’t.
He was a hurricane, and she was a butterfly. A butterfly with an inner strength that showed in how she was handling the aftermath of his attack, but a fragile-winged butterfly nonetheless. What chance did she have against the storm that raged within him?
Winter was his mate, a desperation-claim after just a few hours of knowing her, but he could never, ever tell her that. Nothing had changed from this morning until now. Logan was still on a straight path to Hell, and she deserved better than another mate who would leave her alone in the world.
Chapter Eight
Logan was toweling off his dark hair in front of the mirror, but Winter didn’t miss his anxiety. He tossed a narrow-eyed glare over his shoulder as her phone vibrated in her purse again. She’d been doing a damn fine job of ignoring it, but Logan’s attention had her instincts riled up. With a sigh, she quickly pulled on the T-shirt Logan had brought her. Apparently, he was staying a few doors down and had his luggage already sitting in his room, which would explain how he had tracked her down so easily. There weren’t many motels around here.
Mentally preparing herself, Winter sat on the edge of the bed and plucked her phone from her purse. One glance at the screen, though, and she frowned at all the missed calls—nine of them. None from Brody, all from Ben.
“It’s the alpha from Red Havoc,” she murmured in quick explanation as she connected a call to him.
“Where the fuck are you?” Ben asked on the first ring without a greeting.
“A motel. Why?”
“Kane called, asking if you quit the interview process already. He’s almost done with group interviews. Please tell me you didn’t already walk away.”
“Brody texted me.”
“Shhhit. Winter, don’t come back here for him.”
“I’m not! I’m just telling you what’s happening with your crew. He’s one day married and reaching out to me, Ben. The entire point of this was for me to move on, right?”
“I’ll order him to leave you alone if you just stay and try for the Blackwing Crew.”
Winter lifted the gray cotton sleeve of the T-shirt and studied the angry-looking claw marks across her arm. They were bright red and indented, but the bleeding had stopped, so there was that. “I’m headed to Kane’s territory now.”
“Great!” Ben said, sounding pissed. “Don’t fuck this up.”
The line went dead, and she tossed the cell into her purse and flipped it off. “We have to go. Group interviews are almost over.” She tossed Logan the keys to his smashed-up truck and smiled. “You can drive.”
Logan snorted and shook his head as he made his way across the room to the door. “I was mad about you throwing an ice tea on it.” He threw it open and squinted into the sunlight. “Now look at her.”
“Your truck is a her?” she asked, following him outside.