He guessed not.
Maybe he should just follow her. To make sure she was safe.
Trent hurriedly put on his shirt and boxers. He then leapt from one edge of the roof to the next using parkour, a style of free-running he learned in his late teens, to follow Arielle without her noticing. He vaulted, ran, climbed, and swung from one building to another in silent grace. Being a shifter only enhanced his flexibility and physical strength.
He recognized Arielle from the pink hooded sweats she bought recently. She walked fast with her head down, as if she didn’t know where she was going. After following her for a few blocks, he was convinced she didn’t. At one point, she just stood for few a minutes at an intersection as the light went from green to red to green again. As he was crouching on the roof of an apartment building, his heart ached. She was in his line of sight and yet, he couldn’t touch her. Temptation waged a war with his logic. Wanting her didn’t even begin to describe his feeling.
Hissing between his teeth, Trent felt his upper arms sprout with fur and his nails elongated into retractable claws.
Calm down, beast.
His eyes darted in the direction Arielle was walking.
Apparently, Arielle decided not to cross the intersection and instead went to the right, still trudging the sidewalks.
Trent moved. He could smell her, smelled himself on her, and it drove him crazy. Mine. Ours. Their woman. What was he waiting for? The time was now, while the night was the blackest, right before the sunrise.
Arielle paused under the balcony of another brownstone. Trent felt his blood rush to his head. His ears were ringing.
Catch her!
The sweet command felt like a euphoric trance. He leapt in a flash and slunk to the balcony like a dangerous phantom. He climbed out of the railings, hand extending over her, ready to grab her—
And he froze.
She was crying.
Shit.
He snapped back to reality and immediately retreated behind the railing.
If he did this, he was no better than those who had hurt her. He hated to see a woman cry. He hated it even more if he was the cause.
His heart froze in his chest.
What had he almost done?
He was about to commit a grave mistake. If he forced her back like this, it proved that he was being a selfish monster, not because it was what they both needed. He had sworn to protect her, and it was clear that right now, the only person she needed protecting from was him. What a lecherous bastard he was. His parents didn’t raise him to behave like this. He should be a better boyfriend. A better person…
Trent clenched his hand into a fist and brought it to his mouth. He bit down on his knuckles until they bled. The shot of pain jarred some sense into him, sobering him even more. Control your damn beast; he could hear his late father’s voice in the back of his mind. He had been a slow learner compared to his brothers. He managed to rein in his tiger most of the time, but facing his current dilemma, it was easy for him to slip.
He slowly sucked air through his teeth. He had to leave before he slipped again and did the unthinkable.
Slowly he got back to his feet, then climbed to the side of the building and vaulted to the roof. He took another glance in her direction—he couldn’t see her—before he vanished into the early morning light.
~~~
Arielle had only been walking for an hour—she saw the clock at a twenty-four-hour diner—but it felt as if she had been walking for miles. She wiped her tears away and wondered why she let herself be reduced to this state? No problem in the world was without solution and this one was the same. She questioned why she became upset in the first place. Was it because he was a shifter or because he kept that fact hidden from her? Was it because he had betrayed her trust by not telling her such an important fact before they started dating? Was it really a deal breaker that Trent wasn’t fully human?
Did she overreact to this whole situation? So what if he wasn’t entirely human. Was that so bad? Whatever he was, Trent was still the same on the inside. She knew he loved her.
And she loved him.
That thought made her stop in tracks.
A twinge of ache stirred deep inside her chest once she was honest with herself.
Yes, I love him. I love that he’s a sweet and gentle guy, but he can be a demanding and fierce lover. He’s funny and polite and he never leaves the toilet seat up. He’s the man every woman has been dreaming their entire life.