Saving Sarah (6 page)

The moment he was gone, Sarah collapsed on the couch. What in the hell was wrong with her? Maybe she was losing it. Sarah clicked on the TV and settled for the preview channel. It wasn’t long before she grew bored and turned it off. Both Devon and Gavin kept popping into her head, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Should she call her ex and get that part of her life over with so she could move on with the new part?

As much as she didn’t want to, she knew what had to be done. It wasn’t a conversation that could happen over the phone. She’d have to find him and confront this problem face to face.

Sarah stood and walked outside. The truck he drove was parked three spaces down from hers. She walked along the sidewalk until it turned, and she stood in front of his door. He opened it before she knocked.

“I was hoping you’d come by.”

“Let’s get this over with.” Sarah walked around him into his apartment. She stumbled to a stop, looking around. Pictures of them, together, covered almost every available space on the walls. The breath completely left her body at the memories so clearly in front of her.

“Sarah, why don’t you have a seat? You know, I’ve had these pictures with me the whole time I’ve been gone. Even if I couldn’t be with you, having the memories displayed helped.”

Numbly, she sat down on his blue cushions. “Why did you leave me? Go ahead and finish.” She tried to control her emotions but knew it wouldn’t be long before she broke. Just seeing their past surrounding her caused an ache like nothing she’d ever experienced. The need to flee kept pushing against her brain. A picture caught her attention, and she immediately stood, walking over to look at it.

The girl looked so young. She and Devon were kissing on the beach. The pink and orange of the sky, as the sun set, looked faded with time. But she remembered that day as clearly as if it had just been taken. It was shortly after she found out she was pregnant. They were so much in love then. At least she thought they were.

“That one is my favorite. We were so happy then. Do you remember?”

“Every day, Devon.” She sighed. “Now go on.”

“Sarah.” He turned her around to look at him. “What I’m about to say cannot leave this room. You have to promise me that when I tell you, you’re not going to freak out. It’s going to sound outrageous and unbelievable, but I promise you that what I’m saying is the truth.”

“Just tell me, Devon. I don’t care what it is. I need to know.”

“Do you remember the summer I went through all those problems? I got in a lot of trouble with my mother for the stupid, reckless things I did.”

“Yes, of course, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Devon pulled her to the couch so they could both sit down. “That summer, I found out something that changed my life. My father visited for the first time and told me something so unbelievable, he had to end up showing me for himself. I have a feeling that’s exactly what I’m going to have to do with you.”

“Devon, just tell me,” Sarah said, losing patience.

“I know everyone’s heard legends about werewolves.”

Sarah’s palm connected with his cheek before she knew she’d raised it. “You are not fucking going there, Devon. I think I deserve a better excuse than that.”

 
“Just here me out, please. It’s the reason why I had to leave. When my father died, they expected me to take over. I haven’t found a replacement good enough for me to come back, until now.”

Sarah’s palm connected with his cheek, again, but she didn’t stop at that. She went wild swinging her fists, and attacking him. “What kind of piss poor excuse is that? You expect me to believe that crap, Devon! A freaking legacy you took over from your father? You son of bitch!”

Sarah jumped up and headed for the door. A fucking werewolf. Ridiculous! Next he’d be telling her that little green men ate breakfast with him every Sunday, and fairies really did exist.
 

Devon leaped from the couch so fast, he beat her to the door before she got two steps away from where’d she had been sitting.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me. Don’t make me show you. I don’t want to scare you, but I need you to believe and trust me.”

“Either you grow fur or else I’m screaming bloody murder until you move your ass out of my way. Fucking werewolf. You must think I’m the most gullible person in the…”

Horrified, she watched Devon’s features morph. The trembling of his body was quickly followed by his limbs contorting. Clothes fell to the floor and suddenly she was staring at a very large, black wolf. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. It was like she’d just seen a horrible car accident. It was impossible, and yet she couldn’t deny what was standing in front of her. Tears streamed down her face as her reality crashed to the ground. It couldn’t be real.

Stumbling backward, she fell over her feet and landed hard on the floor. She continued to crawl backwards until her back pressed against the wall and there was nowhere else to go. No words would come for a long time.

He hadn’t so much as moved since he’d changed. She was almost afraid to speak, but there were so many questions and she didn’t even know where to begin. Sucking in a deep breath, she forced the words out “You really are a wolf, aren’t you? I thought…”

He turned human just as fast. The powerful, nude body that stood before her was not the same one she’d seen when he left. “You had to know. I didn’t have a choice. Sarah, I couldn’t take you with me. It’s dangerous at times, and I knew you would be safer here. If I kept contact with you, a rival could have found out. But you
had
to know I planned on coming back to you. I told you the day I left that I would be back.”

Oh, hell no. She felt the anger come back until she was sure she’d choke. “I never thought it would be almost sixteen years later, Devon. I thought you were just going to the fucking store or something! You said, “I’ll be back,” and kissed me goodbye. I was so drugged up on pain meds, I didn’t even barely remember you telling me.

“For the first two years, I hardly left your mother’s house. You never called, never even wrote. What in the hell was I supposed to think?”

“I’m sorry, Sarah. I am. Please, you have to forgive me. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“You left me at the most crucial time in my life. I needed you, and you disappeared. You can’t make that time up.”

“I was just as heartbroken as you, Sarah. Never think that I didn’t mourn the loss of our child. I still do, every day! You don’t think I wonder what he or she would have looked like? I can’t even come close to children without feeling the pain of our loss. You weren’t the only one alone. If I would have stayed here, they would have found me and forced me to leave. That would have put you and my mother at risk. We’d just lost the baby. I couldn’t lose anyone else!”

Sarah pushed herself off the floor to stand. “You could have left a note explaining things instead of leaving me to worry about whether or not you were even alive.”

“Would you have believed a note?”

She watched him walk over to her until only inches separated them. “No, probably not, but at least it would be something. All your mother and I knew was that you had left.”

Fingertips traced down her jaw line, and all remnants of the devastating thoughts vanished. Something strange stirred in her insides until she rested her palms against his hard, wide chest so she wouldn’t mold her body against his. Deep down, she hated not being able to control herself.

“Sarah, don’t fight the way you feel.” His hands ran up her back, pulling her closer. “I love you. Please tell me a part of you is still open to loving me back.”

She quickly pulled away. Isn’t this what she spent years trying to avoid? Opening herself up to Gavin was one thing. He’d never hurt her, She could feel it. Devon on the other hand had.

“I can’t do this right now. It’s too much. I’ll keep your secret, but I have to go.”

Sarah quickly ran out of the apartment and back toward her own before he could stop her. She was surprised to see Gavin standing at her door with flowers. Once again, he’d come back. She couldn’t help but love his perfect timing. The last thing she wanted to think about was what she just learned. Gavin could help her with that.

Chapter 7

“I couldn’t leave. I’m sorry. I thought I’d take you up on your offer to stay over.”

Sarah nodded, and turned back to see Devon standing at his door. All he was wearing was a pair of shorts. The built of his body combined with the expression on his face caused her to turn away before she was tempted to stare longer. She quickly pulled the irresistible blond inside her apartment. “I’m glad.” She inhaled the roses deeply and tried to smile. “Thank you, they’re beautiful.”

“Are you all right? You’ve been crying. Did you learn what happened with…Devon?”

Taking the flowers from him, she made her way to the table, placing them in the vase. She nodded at him as she headed over to fill it with water. When she reached the table, she finally looked up.

“Yes, he told me.”

“And you’re sure you’re okay?”

“I will be, I think.” Walking over to the couch, she waited for Gavin to sit down, but he didn’t.

“And he told you what he is?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, not sure if he meant what she thought he did, and she wasn’t about to risk Devon’s secret. She might be angry with her ex at the moment, but she’d never betray him no matter what happened in their past.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

Gavin smiled. “You’re getting defensive. I can feel it. I can tell he told you. You’re taking the news of what we are rather well. But I knew you would.”

“You’re a…a…” Sarah couldn’t get the word out of her mouth. So, that’s what they were talking in code about earlier.

“Werewolf, yes. Your…ex is afraid I’ll mark you as my mate, but I wasn’t about to do that until you knew and consented. To be marked by a werewolf has its pleasures and pains. For one, we’d never really be able to be apart. It would cause us physical pain much like now, but worse. As for the pleasures, well,” he laughed, “someday maybe we’ll find out that part.”

“And…” she recalled the conversation earlier, “Ayden, he’s one too?”

“Yes, he’s alpha for this area. Every major city has one. Houston, Austin, Dallas…Waco.”

Trying to process all the information, she placed her head in her palms. How was it that no one knew werewolves existed? By the sound of it, they weren’t anywhere near extinct.

“Wait.” Sarah brought up her head to look at him. “Oh god, Stephen and Brandon are friends with Ayden. And what about Trevor? I’m assuming he’s one, too.”

“Trevor is., As for Stephen, the name rings a bell, but it’s a pretty common name. If you’re talking about the Brandon I think you’re talking about, then no, he’s not a wolf.”

“Well, the Brandon I know has dark hair, very pale, with the most gorgeous eyes. He’s one of my friend Evelyn’s boyfriends.”

“Vampire, not werewolf. And I’ve heard about that couple. It was a first actually, vampire, werewolf, and human. Remarkable, if I say so myself.”

“Vampire,” Sarah whispered. If she wasn’t shocked before, she sure the hell was now. “If you tell me there are such things as mermaids, I think I’ll go into a shock induced coma. Vampire!”

Gavin laughed, pulling her into his lap on the couch. “Not that I’m aware of, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Don’t say that. Just hold me.”

The warmth felt so inviting Sarah snuggled into his chest. He smelled of the ocean and spring, all wrapped into one. Something about him calmed her and promised she’d never hurt again. She wanted more than anything to believe that, but the fresh pain from tonight told her otherwise.

“Gavin,” she looked up, “the way I feel with you, is it because of what you are? Because I promise, this is totally out of character for me. I don’t do relationships. At all.”