Keeper (The Lost Pack Book 2) by Cullen Claire

Author:Cullen, Claire [Cullen, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2019-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Each step back toward the cottage hurt, but not half as much as it would have if Josh had been on his own two feet. There was something steady and settling about being on Cole’s back, the horse’s warm weight beneath him. But Cole clearly wasn’t okay—angry, troubled, his past eating away at him. Josh had just made the whole situation worse, pushed and pushed until he’d driven the alpha away. He could help, could make it up to him. Just as soon as they got back to the cottage.

The ground leveled off, and Cole trotted faster through the trees. The cottage finally came into view, a light still on in the kitchen window, the back door wide open. Cole went down on his knees at the back door, and Josh clambered off, hobbling until he could lean against the wall and get his weight off his ankle once more. He watched Cole shift back in front of him, and then the alpha swept him off his feet and carried him inside. He laid Josh down on the couch in the small living room.

“I’ll just throw on some clothes and get an ice pack for that ankle. Don’t go anywhere.”

Josh huffed at that.

“Where would I go?” he called after the alpha as Cole retreated from the room.

“Knowing you, anywhere,” Cole said over his shoulder.

Josh deserved that.

Cole returned a few minutes later, barefoot still but dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He had a bandage in one hand and an ice pack in the other. Sitting on the side of the couch, he quickly and efficiently wrapped Josh’s ankle, propped a few cushions under his foot, and settled the ice pack around the injury.

“There, that should hold you for now,” he said. He went to get up again.

“Wait,” Josh said softly. “Stay for a bit, please. You’re angry, and I want to explain.”

“I’m not angry,” Cole insisted, but he did sit back down.

“Not even a little?” he nudged. “After everything I did and said today?”

“I’m not going to police your behavior,” Cole said evenly. “I don’t want to, and I don’t have the right to. Whatever that was about today, I don’t think it had anything to do with Thorn being Mr. July in the firefighter’s calendar.”

Josh let his hand cover Cole’s.

“Everyone knows Mr. July pales in comparison to Mr. March,” he said softly.

“Oh?” Cole said, leaning in. “And who would that be?”

“You, of course,” Josh said, pressing his lips to the alpha’s. See? He could turn this around.

Cole pulled back, his eyebrows drawn down in confusion. “Seriously, Josh? Now? After today, after the past few hours?”

Josh pressed his palm to the alpha’s chest. “I thought I could take your mind off things. Wouldn’t I make a good distraction?” He reached for his T-shirt, tugging it off over his head.

Cole stood up abruptly, staring down at him. “We are not doing this,” he said sharply and stalked from the room.

The rejection stung. Josh was left alone, T-shirt in hand, feeling every bit as pathetic as he looked.

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