THIRTEEN
ELLIOT
“You’re goingto give the damn thing a concussion,” Dax remarked, leaned up against the wall in his garage. He parked in the driveway, so we could use his garage as a miniature boxing gym. We never really used it for boxing; just punched the bag a bit when things got shitty. We’d had big plans for it, but then everyone started meeting their mates and whatnot.
“It’s a punching bag,” I growled back at him, slamming my fist into the thing.
“Should I ask where Lizzy is?” he checked.
“Took Evan to the gym for her first class back,” I grunted, slamming my fists into the bag a couple more times. My form was shitty, but my mind was a wreck. “If I go watch her dance in front of a room full of strangers, while I’m this horny, it won’t end well for anyone.”
Dax snorted. “It’s Zumba. They’re all dancing. And in this town, they’re all women. Have you ever met a male werewolf who would be caught dead at a dancing fitness class?”
I glowered at the bag, punching it harder, faster.
“What’s really going on? You’re not pissed about the Zumba, or the fact that Ev is in the gym’s child care; you’re never pissed.”
I snarled at the bag, throwing every damned ounce of fury, hatred, and violence into the punches. My chest heaved, my wolf burning my spine, and Dax’s hand landed on my shoulder.
I spun to face him, sweat dripping down my skin as I snarled, “I wish the fucker was still alive, so I could kill him, instead of this fucking bag.” I slammed a fist into it again, before ripping my gloves off and throwing them, hard.
Dax let go of me.
My fists clenched and unclenched as I paced the room. “I need a stronger word than fuck,” I snarled back.
Dax grabbed a water bottle off the floor beside the garage door, and tossed it my way. I caught it, and ripped the cap off before chugging the water.
When it was gone, I tossed it to the trash bin, and started pacing again.
“So she told you about whatever happened with SD. I imagine you didn’t get mad in front of her?” Dax checked.
I scoffed at him. “Of course not. I wasn’t mad then, anyway—just fucking shocked.”
Dax nodded. “You’re her protector. You feel like you should’ve been there for her, keeping her safe.”
“Exactly,” I snarled, tossing a hand toward him. “Why the fuck didn’t fate just pair us together in the first place? I should’ve been there, not that fucker. Because I wasn’t, she went through hell, all alone. Sab was there, but she didn’t know—and she still doesn’t.”
“Lizzy trusts you,” Dax said simply.
“Yeah, she fucking does. Because I’m not an asshole,” I snarled back.
“Elliot, stop pacing.”
I glowered at him, but stopped.
“Just stand there, and breathe. Whatever the hell happened, Lizzy is a survivor, and she doesn’t trust easily. But she trusts you.”
I blinked at him.
And blinked again.
He was right.
“What did you tell her you were doing today?” Dax asked.
I shoved a hand through my hair. “Getting everything set up to go back to work tomorrow.”
“Alright, here’s a crazy idea,” Dax said, leaning toward me. “Get everything set up to go back to work tomorrow.”