Shameful by May Dawson
36
Legacy
I was sittingat the end of the dock, my bare feet dangling over the water far below, when footsteps vibrated the wood behindme.
Killian reached me on nearly soundless feet, then stopped behind me. “Is it okay if I sit withyou?”
“I’m not mad, Killian.” I patted the end of thedock.
He sat beside me, and the dark heady scent that was his own—more appealing than any cologne—washed over me. His broad shoulder brushed mine, then he shiftedaway.
“Are you okay?” Killian asked.
I laughed. “Would you have come out to check on Rhett or West? I’ve taken punches before, Killian.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because Rhett always deserves a punch in the face, and West can’t get any grouchier, a bit of a beat-down just improves hismood.”
I watched the waves as they were whipped by the wind. Dark clouds hung low over the horizon. There was a storm coming. From the corner of my eye, I could see Killian watching my face. He’d been trying to make me smile, and he licked his lips when I didn’t. His lips were soft above that big, hardjaw.
“I’d appreciate if you saw me as an equal,” I said, my voice coming out surprisingly soft. But maybe that was no surprise; I was always tongue tied around Killian. “I’ve trained hard all my life. Getting decked across the jaw, even by the amazing Killian Kierney, is not a big deal tome.”
“I do see you as an equal.” He sounded horrified, and he swiped his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. “Legacy, I can respect you as my equal, as a fierce fighter, as a ridiculously smart warrior—and I can still acknowledge you are a woman, and you’re different than me. Just because you can take a punch doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter that Ihit—”
“You and West and Rhett need to figure this out, not you and me,” I interrupted him, trying to hide the effect his words had on me, even though I could feel my cheeks glowing like they’d gone nuclear. “I don’t care that you hit me. It was an accident.”
“I care,” hesaid.
Killian was trying to make up with me. The thought made me smile, and I was afraid he could see right through me. I’d had this big crush on him when I was growing up, and it was strange to see him try to impressme.
“If you want to make it up to me, then talk to West. No punching. That’s not actually as effective a communication method as you seem to think.”
He looked at me sulkily, but then his gaze caught the bruise again. He touched my chin gently, tilting my face up so he could get a better look, and my heart stuttered at his touch. Was this the first time he’d touched me when we weren’t just training?
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice tender. It was hard to resist.
“It really doesn’t matter.”
He looked as if he were going to disagree, and then he looked as if he were going to kiss me, but he did neither.
“I’d like to see you healed,” he said. “Come for a run withme?”
As wolves.
I hesitated. “Rhett suggested I might not want to shift until I’m… over things.”
Until I was over Lucas.
“You won’t turn feral,” Killian promised me, then an unexpected spark of mischief entered his gaze. “If you do, I’mhere.”
“Okay,” Isaid.
The two of us shed our clothes and went for a run. He was an enormous black-and-gray wolf, even bigger than Lucas had been, and I stopped to stare for a second at how beautiful hewas.
Then Killian nipped me, and I ran, and the chase was on. The two of us streaked through the woods. I tried to pin him, and he slipped loose and raced off instead of pinning me back. I grinned, and he looked back at me over his shoulder, looking as if he were grinning too. He had a playful side that I hadn’t seen before.
While we were running, I caught a bad scent, too sweet, rank. Vampire. I knew that scent—I even knew hisscent.
I let out a growl and broke off from our play, racing through the woods, on the scent of the vampire.
Killian scrambled after me. He caught up to me, and the two of us exchanged a look. He bobbed his head, and we ran on together, moving so fast that the pines seemed to blur around us. The scent grew stronger and stronger, and I skidded to a stop. It smelled so wrong, not just like vampire but like wolf. I couldn’t make sense ofit.
Then suddenly, Killian yelped.
I turned to see him flying through the air. He landed hard on the grass, rolled over once, slamming into a tree and came to a stop. He whined, trying to raise hishead.
Blood spread across his coat, staining his white fur crimson.
I threw my body in front of him as I whirled to face the vampire.
The vampire from the café grinned at me, his rifle still in his shoulder. His finger was on the trigger, and he looked self-satisfied as he held the barrel onme.
“Hello there, Legacy Quinn. Why don’t you shift for me so we can have a goodtalk?”