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Well, okay, then. It looked like we were having this conversation right now, but it was probably for the best. If there was one thing I was certain of, regardless of where the hunter and I stood, it was that my feelings for Carlos were in the past. I’d moved on, even if he was hoping to rekindle something.
“About that.” I slipped a hand into my jacket’s pocket. “I’m glad you brought it up, because I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I read your letter, and I really appreciate—”
“Tala Davenport?” An SF member poked his head into the room. He wore one of the gleaming obsidian suits and had military written all over him. “We’re ready for you.” He gave Carlos a curt nod. “Private Lopez.”
Carlos saluted. “Corporal Braxton, sir.”
“We’re leaving now?” I glanced toward the garage. The flying spaceship, or whatever it was, was fired up and near the mouth of the hanger, obviously ready for takeoff.
“Yes, ma’am,” the SF member replied. “I’m Corporal Braxton of Squad Twenty-eight. We’ll be escorting you to your safe house.”
“Thank you, sir,” Carlos said, then ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Would it be okay if we spoke for another minute, sir?”
The corporal dipped his head. “Two minutes.”
Once the SF member left and strode back to the team assembled near the flying contraption, Carlos took a step closer to me. A pineapple and sunshine fragrance rose from him. Oh gods, this was so awkward. I felt like I was about to break up with someone that I wasn’t even with.
Carlos brushed my side, and a golden glow lit his eyes just as a slight scent of musk rose from him.
My wolf snarled and let out a rumble of rage.
I stepped back, breaking my contact with him.
“What were you saying before we were interrupted?” he said huskily and took another step forward, seemingly oblivious to the space I’d just put between us.
I twisted my hands, then fidgeted from foot to foot. “Um, I was about to say that I really appreciate what you wrote in your letter, and I—”
“Tala Davenport?” A robotic voice blared through the speaker in the room. “Please report to the garage immediately.”
I halted, my body stiffening. Apparently, our two minutes were up.
Carlos’s nostrils flared, but he reached for my bags, taking all of them. A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he gave me an understanding smile. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Oh, okay, thanks.” I ran a hand through my hair, because I didn’t know what else to say or do given that we’d nearly launched into a conversation about our non-existent relationship that one participant was hoping to rekindle and the other wasn’t. Not awkward at all.
The rumble of the aircraft filled the large garage when we entered it.
“What is that?” I asked as we walked toward the plane.
“An infinity craft,” Carlos replied. “It’s how we often transport when portal keys aren’t used.”
Squad Twenty-eight stood at attention, several members rushing forward to whisk my bags away, which left me standing by my ex as they all waited for me to climb aboard.
I ran a hand through my hair again as my stomach let out another growl. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”
Carlos nodded, his expression impossible to read, yet his eyes swam with veiled emotions.
I was about to open my mouth, to try to figure out a way to tell him before I left that things were over between us without coming across as insensitive, when he abruptly pulled me into a hug.
His large frame swallowed mine as his scent washed over me. My wolf let out a vicious snarl, but Carlos’s affection caught me so much by surprise that I automatically hugged him back.
“Think about what I said in my letter,” he whispered into my ear. “We can talk about it later.”
Before I could respond or pull back, he pressed a soft kiss to my neck, just below my ear. A shiver ran through me since that was a sensitive area on me and my ex knew that.
His crooked grin was splitting his face when he pulled back, ’cause he no doubt sensed my physical reaction, even though internally my wolf’s hackles were entirely raised. Yep, Mrs. Wolfy was not happy about that sexy gesture.
Another rush of that sunshine and pineapple fragrance burst from Carlos. Even amidst the scent of gasoline from the infinity craft, I detected it.
Shit. I really needed to learn how to filter these scents so I wasn’t being constantly bombarded, and I really needed to set things straight with Carlos. He was honestly hoping we would get back together, and that wasn’t happening.
I squeezed Carlos’s hand in an awkward goodbye. “We’ll talk soon.”
He nodded, that hopeful scent still there, and I hated that I couldn’t tell him right here and now that things were over between us. But with Squad Twenty-eight members surrounding us, I didn’t want an audience for that conversation. When I rejected Carlos once and for all, it would be in private so he didn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of his co-workers watching the entire ordeal. Carlos deserved better than that.
I gave my ex one last smile then climbed aboard the craft. It rumbled beneath me as a squad member directed me to my seat, then buckled me up.
The entire time, Carlos stood in the garage, hands stuffed into his pockets as he watched me leave.
My stomach dipped when the infinity craft lifted, as if hovering in mid-air, then a wash of magic prickled my senses as the exterior shimmered from an invisibility cloaking spell layering it.
Following that, the craft shot out of the garage and into the night. My jaw dropped and my stomach bottomed-out from the force of it, but then my attention snagged to the bright moon hovering in the sky.
My wolf perked up, her attention gluing to it too.
Oh crap.
But even though she grew aware, all of her attention focusing on that glowing orb, I didn’t feel that restlessness from her, that need to shift. But I could have shifted, if I’d wanted to. Already, I could feel her magic shimmering under my skin, the call of that lunar body pulling at both of us.
It wasn’t like last night, though. It wasn’t inevitable and completely out of my control.
So I pulled up my witch magic, much like I had earlier tonight when I’d shoved my wolf down.
She gave a low growl, but that was it, and then she curled up and stuffed her nose under her tail.
Phew. Crisis avoided.
I sank my head back against my seat and closed my eyes. More than ever, I knew I’d made the right choice to leave the hunter just so I could avoid my wolf’s incessant pushing to be free and with her mate.
Settling more in my chair, I tried to relax into the flight, but what I’d left behind still lingered at the forefront of my thoughts. Because it wasn’t just the two werewolf males who I still had unresolved issues with. Nope. It was so much more than that. I still had a psycho sorcerer hunting me, I had a magic shop that I hadn’t even checked in with in nearly three days, and I hadn’t spoken with my best friend yet to even lament my first shift. Prisha had no idea that my wolf was a pushy bitch.
I sighed. What a freakin’ month.