Free Kept by Shawntelle Madison

phone rang. Didn’t he put it on vibrate like most werewolves? Otherwise, stealth with all that potential noise wasn’t possible.
    “The goblin won’t show up at the front door,” I said. “One thing I do know about them, they prefer people to think they run a regular business with normal business hours.”
    A breeze blew against my cheek and tried to sneak into the warmth of my coat. It whistled softly through an outcropping of trees next to the building.
    The back of the garage looked like any other. A few older tow trucks and cars were parked in the spaces, while one truck blocked the back garage doors.
    The shrill ring of Thorn’s phone continued.
    “Don’t you have voicemail?” I hissed.
    He cursed under his breath and ignored the phone.
    The phone rang incessantly until Thorn grabbed it and made a beeline for the street. Not glancing my way, he spat out, “What is it now?”
    I kept my distance. Enough that I could tell nothing more than that the caller was a woman.
    “Yes, I’m with her .” His face remained stiff, yet anger pooled under the surface. All I could do was wait.
    “Don’t start with me,” Thorn grumbled. “I haven’t touched her. Nor do I plan to, so you can stop calling. You’ll see me when I return.”
    I winced with every stinging syllable. I could barely hear her voice, but Erica didn’t even have to be here to drive the wedge of their pending marriage between us.
    “This isn’t the time or the place for us to get into this,” Thorn said.
    Erica practically screamed into the phone. Thorn had definitely offended her, probably making her feel embarrassedabout her obvious possessiveness. Not that I blamed her. I wouldn’t want to share Thorn either.
    “You’ll be my mate in less than a month. Why can’t you just—”
    And with that, I left with my back stiffened, determined to focus on the mission at hand. I already tortured myself on a daily basis by passing up most Christmas sales. I didn’t need to do it by hearing him try to pacify his wife-to-be.
    I made it no more than five steps before a hand caught my arm. The grip was warm, yet firm.
    “You’re angry.” His voice was soft.
    I shook my head and refused to face him. “Only indifferent.”
    He was silent for a moment but didn’t let go of me. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
    I shrugged as my throat tightened. To speak would expose me. What could he say? What could I say?
    With a sigh, I said, “If you need to go, you should do it now.”
    “Don’t be that way.”
    “If your girlfriend needs you to stay away from me, what are you doing? Why are you here? Are you a glutton for punishment?”
    “I said those things to protect you from her. She doesn’t understand our friendship.”
    It took everything I had to keep my mouth sealed shut. We couldn’t be friends. We couldn’t even be acquaintances. There was no way in hell we could be anything at all if I continued to want him like this.
    A yearning as deep as I felt meant we could never just be friends.
    “Damn it, Natalya.”
    I tugged away again, and he finally let me go. Maybe if I walked fast enough I’d reach the back of the buildingand he’d think seriously about returning home. Maybe after I checked things out, he could take us back to Atlantic City. I could get my own car and we’d part ways amicably. It’d make things easier for both of us.
    I briskly went to the back door and then froze. A sound, very faint, came from the trees to my left. I tilted my head to scan them for movement. It was just the trees, most likely camouflaging small animals. My nose told me I was alone. So why had the hairs on the back of my neck stood up? I turned to look at Thorn, but he’d vanished.
    Damn it, Thorn! Couldn’t you have waited a few more minutes before you listened to me?
    Alone and unsure of where to go, I slowly backed toward the garage as the sound echoed through the trees again. Goblins had spells, but they only went so far. I’d never seen Bill