#Chapter 58: Getaway Driver
I’m pacing my living room, a glass of whiskey in hand, lost in my thoughts. The night has been a

coc ktail of emotions—high spirits at the party, laughter with Abby… And then, of course, there was the

palpable tension with Chloe.

I thought I had managed to keep my feelings under wraps, maintain the casual facade. But Chloe had

to go and ruin it, filling the air with words like poison darts.

“Stay away from him,” she had whispered to Abby, not knowing that I was within earshot.

Who the hell does she think she is?

I throw myself onto the leather chair, my fingers gripping the armrests, the echo of Chloe’s words still

fresh in my mind. “Stay away from him,” she had said, as though her voice could erect a wall between

Abby and me—a wall I’m not certain even I could scale at this point.

“What is her problem?” I growl to myself, my thoughts a whirlwind of frustration.

“She clearly dislikes you,” my wolf interjects, his voice a rumbling presence in the depths of my

consciousness.

“You think I can’t see that? And it’s not the first time, either,” I retort, my mind slipping back in time, to

another party, another confrontation.

It had been a similar occasion. Friends, laughter, a lively atmosphere.

Abby had been radiant, the center of my universe. But then Chloe had started arguing with me. About

what, I can barely remember.

What I do recall is the anger, my territorial instincts flaring up, the undeniable urge to assert my

dominance. I had ended up kicking her out of the party.

The aftermath was equally vivid. Abby had been furious, her eyes ablaze with a fire I had rarely seen.

“You’re trying to ruin my friendships, Karl,” she had yelled, her voice strained with emotion. She had left

with Chloe, her best friend, her confidant. Abby hadn’t come home for two days. When she finally did,

the atmosphere between us had been colder than a winter night.

me, her voice heavy with disappointment when I tried

my friends, then don’t expect any affection from

weight of the past settling

I ask out loud. “If I ever have a chance with Abby again,

tiptoeing around her

remarks, a touch of reproach

What do

okay? I know I screwed up. And I’m working d mn

voice tinged with bitterness. “But it’s like no

willing to give me a

whispers, his voice softening. “She might not fully realize it

allow you back into her life, even in the small ways

has.”

the words sink in, a tiny glimmer of hope

my wolf is right. Maybe Abby does see the changes in me. And maybe, just maybe, that will

to rebuild

on the coffee table, ripping me from my internal

my ever-efficient

“Hello?”

need to come home next weekend,” she says without preamble.

meeting. Can you come?”

skirting ever since

off

gritting my teeth. “I’ll

feeling the weight of my double life—the life I left behind and the one I’m struggling to

juggling act, and sometimes I drop

buzzes again, pulling me back to the present. This time, it’s Abby.

of dread mingling with anticipation. It’s late.

calling?

trying to keep my voice

it’s… It’s me,” she stammers, her voice tinged with anxiety. “I had to get

lost. And—”

get you,” I

replaced by a primal urge

grab my coat and head for the door, locking my apartment with an

I’m in my car in record time, my

over what the hell is going on

like a couple of lovestruck

life because her best friend tells her to keep her distance. And

up in the middle of the night when she needs me

in their narrative, or

short as my phone indicates that I’m nearing Abby’s location. My

eventually catching sight

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