The Awakening: Liam (Entangled Covet) (21 page)

went through this alone.”

She tightened her hold on him. “I felt like I had to, but I can’t keep hurting you, not knowing what I

know now. Not knowing how he used my love for my sister to destroy you. Not knowing I had the ability

to fix this terrible thing happening to you. I fixed it, right Liam? Please tell me I fixed it.” Her voice caught

again, and she pressed her lips together, tears blurring the handsome face before her.

A warm palm caressed her cheek. “Ava, your love will
always
fix me.”

Her shoulders started to shake with sobs and he dragged her to him again.

“A couple of days ago you asked me if I trusted you and I hesitated,” she said against his chest. “I’m

trusting you now, Liam, with my sister’s life. She’s still in danger. He can’t know I told you. He’ll kill her.”

Liam’s arms tightened around her. “Nothing is going to happen to Emma. I swear it.” He stepped back

and swallowed. “I think you need to get back in the house now.”

She knew he was right, but she loathed leaving things hanging between them. “We’ll find a—”

He snatched her crutches off the ground and held them out. “Ava. Go in the house.”

Taking them, she saw his determination shining down at her. She gave a jerky nod and did as he asked.

Praying she hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of her life.

…

As the door closed behind Ava, Liam squeezed his eyes closed. He wanted to call her back, but he

couldn’t be around her right now, not when the truth was battering him from the inside, leaving him and

his beast stunned while the true reality of the situation took root.

He’d known this maniac was after him. His menacing utterance at Ava’s, and his actions during their

captivity all but proved that. But the lengths he’d gone to—

Liam fisted his hands, soaking in the double-edged truth. Ava hadn’t left him because she didn’t love

him, didn’t have room in her life for him, hadn’t left him because of what he was. She did love him. As he

was, and she’d wanted him in her life. But she’d been forced from his side, from his arms—the first

domino sending the forward momentum to bring the rest crashing down. Destroying him slowly from the

inside.

What had he
done
to this man?

Why would any shifter want to put another shifter through this kind of living hell?

Everything other than
why
was completely clear now.

None of this had anything to do with Ava or Emma. They were just pawns in this sick fuck’s plan.

Emma used to get to Ava. Ava used to get to Liam.

Liam had been the fucker’s target from the very beginning, made to believe Ava had rejected him, so

he’d sink deep into
Dsershon,
so he cursed the
Fewshon
, cursed her, cursed the weak, pathetic man he’d

become.

And it had all been done to him deliberately. Meticulously planned, ruthlessly carried out.

His tormenter had wanted him to be
Dserted
, and had used Ava and her sister to make sure it happened.

But
Dsershon
wasn’t all the man had planned for him, Liam was absolutely certain. The psychopath

was out to make him suffer the ultimate hell of a
Dserted
shifter: Ava’s death.

Somewhere along the line Liam had clearly slighted the wrong man—a crazy, spiteful shifter who

wanted Liam’s mate to be lost to him forever.

He didn’t give a damn about the reason. It wasn’t going to happen. Whatever misdeed Liam had

unknowingly committed Ava would not pay the price. He would sacrifice his own life before that

happened. To keep Ava safe, to ensure she lived a long, happy life, ge’d do anything.

Even if it was without him.

He turned to gaze down at the finished hope chest sitting on the workbench. As he ran his hand over the

smooth, flat surface of the lid, H\he opened it then traced his fingers along the deep grooves of blackened

wood burned so carefully on the bottom of the lid.

Ava would bond to him willingly now, give him the peace he craved, save him from hell, ensure their

eternity together. Everything he wanted.

But the moment she placed her mark on him, it meant sacrificing Emma. And he couldn’t let her do

that. Not when she’d gone to such great lengths to protect her sister. Swallowing, he closed the lid. He

needed to move the chest, make sure she never saw the inside.

Maybe one day, when this was all over, he’d be able to give it to her, knowing they could safely love

the way they were meant to, when no harm would come to anyone because of their bonding.

As it stood, only one person would truly suffer now.

Him.

And he’d make certain it stayed that way.

“Liam?”

He blinked at the intrusive female voice. He turned to find Val standing in the garage doorway leading

to the house.

“Hey, sorry. Ava told me you were back here.” She tilted her head and studied him, a sympathetic look

on her face. He cursed her for seeing him lost in his own sadness, his own regret.

She stepped into the garage. “We caught a muted scent about fifty yards from the house.”

He straightened, completely alert. “When?”

“About forty-five minutes ago.”

“And you’re just telling me?”

“I don’t have time to stop my investigation just because you want a minute to minute update. I’m telling

you now. Be happy with that.”

Liam ground his teeth, knowing she was right but not liking her answer anyway. “And?”

“He must have heard us coming and took off. He’s using chloroform to cover his scent now. He’d used

Formaldehyde before. Now we know he’s switching them up and can be better prepared. He’ll probably

use propane or some other classic chemical for masking next. But we’re onto him. He won’t be able to

come close to the house without one of my team being on him.”

He nodded, and Val left. They had to catch this fuck. It was the only way he and Ava would have any

chance of a future together.

But he was prepared to do whatever he must to ensure that Ava had one.

Even if it meant he must die.

Chapter 11

“How could he have gotten within fifty yards of the house?” Ava glared the detective, who’d come back

through the kitchen after speaking with Liam.

“Miss Michaels, you need to stay inside at all times. I haven’t gone up against another shifter like this in

a long time. He knows the weaknesses in my abilities, and he is exploiting them.”

“Then put someone on the job who doesn’t have any weaknesses.” Ava exhaled harshly. “Isn’t the

whole damn species special in one way or another? There has to be someone out there better than you.”

The woman’s eyes flashed as her chin went up. “I’m head of SPAC because I am the best at what I do.

However, I do have my limitations. He is masking his scent. Every other member of my team can only smell

the chemical, can’t pinpoint it to a specific area.
I
can smell the shifter underneath and can follow his scent

more accurately. Tell me, who would you rather have on the job?”

“If you can smell the shifter, why can’t you find him?”

The woman’s fingers clenched then unclenched. Ava was pissing her off, but she really didn’t care. She

didn’t understand what this woman was so good at and why she should keep trusting her to find this

madman when he’d gotten so close to the house.

“Liam smells of worn leather.”

Ava frowned. Why the hell was she talking about how Liam smelled? And was so grossly wrong at that.

“No, he doesn’t. He smells of wood chips.”

“That’s what
you
smell. Every person, shifter and human, has a unique scent that is his very own. You

smell of jasmine. It’s subtle. I have to filter through all the other scents to find it, but
I
can find it. No other

shifter can. That is why I am head of SPAC, and how I’m going to get this asshole. However, I cannot dig

past the chemical smells. Which is why he is using it. I can smell he’s a shifter, but I can’t pinpoint his

unique scent.” She pushed out a breath. “We are doing everything we can to end this quickly. You just have

to trust that.”

She really didn’t have much choice, did she? “What about my sister?”

“Because of the recent events, we have a few more SPAC members watching her.”

“Are you telling me she is going to come home with a whole pack of dogs now?”

The detective’s lips twitched. “Um. No. We only have the one agent working undercover. The rest are

shadowing her. She won’t see them, but they are there.”

Ava nodded. She was still terrified the man would be furious when he couldn’t get to her, and take it

out on Emma. Having more people guarding her sister was a huge relief.

“He’s been chased back, and my team is sweeping the woods. He won’t get that close again. Either way,

don’t leave the house until we have him in custody. Not even to go in the yard. He needs you to get to

Liam. If you die, Liam might as well be dead, too.”

The last sentence had been delivered with such deliberate intensity, Ava’s gaze shot up to the detective.

“Why did you say that?”

“I wasn’t that far into the woods. I overheard your last argument.”

“And?” It was embarrassing, but didn’t answer the question.

The detective stepped toward the front door, a small smile curving her lips, softening her hard features.

“You’ve been a true pain in my ass, but I respect you for trying your damnedest to get answers, even

though no one is willing to give them to you, including myself. So I’m offering you that
tip
to point you

toward some very important information that you’ll need.” With that, she opened the door and left.

Ave knew from her conversation with Jaylin that there was more Liam needed to tell her, but Detective

Calhoun’s words made curiosity claw at her. Liam had said her death would ruin him, and she had

wondered then if it had meant more than her human mind could comprehend. It seemed her suspicions had

been spot on. And he was keeping her in the dark again.

Detective Calhoun had said the team was in the woods right now. That meant the madman wasn’t

anywhere close to the house and probably wouldn’t try again anytime soon. She had to grab this

opportunity while she could.

Slowly she opened the door to the garage, and was disappointed when she found it empty. She stepped

inside, letting the scents of wood and Liam surround her.

The hope chest still sat on the workbench. She walked over to it, running her palm along the top. Yet

another magnificent piece created by the hands of Liam Doyle.

But he’d said the
Dsershon
had kept him from working.

The thought was unimaginable. Woodworking was ingrained in him—a part of him. His eyes had

always lit up when he talked about a project he was building. Pride had resonated off him every time he

finished one. He was alive when he created, and not being able to do so over the past few months was a

testament to just how awful the time had been for him.

Dsershon
.

Seemed a cruel fate for someone as good as Liam.

She lifted the lid of the chest. Air whooshed out of her lungs as she froze, unable to believe what she

was seeing. She stared at the burnt-in symbol, terrified that she was somehow projecting the image onto the

wood, terrified she’d blink and it would disappear. But it didn’t. It stayed seared deep into the wood just as

the symbol had always seared deep into her soul.

This hope chest was hers
.

Tears blurred her vision.

He’d been making this for
her
.

She reached out a shaky finger to outline the sideways figure eight.

The infinity symbol.

Her heart expanded, pressing against her ribs, until she was certain it would explode. It had been too

long since she’d seen the design, felt the overwhelming love that filled her when she looked upon it.

Liam had never left average love notes around the house. No “I love you” scrawled on a piece of paper

placed on her pillow. It had always been this symbol—on her pillow, in her lunch, stuck to the refrigerator.

Words hadn’t been needed. The symbol had said everything.

Them…together…forever.

She’d always thought it was a sweet gesture. Something special between them. But was it like

everything else about him, and meant more? Had some kind of secret meaning?

“You weren’t supposed to see that.” The quietly spoken words came from behind her. “I was just

coming back to get it.”

“When?” It was all she could get past the emotions clogging her throat, but he seemed to understand her

question.

“I started it before we broke up.” He knew exactly what she was asking. “For a long time I couldn’t

work on it…not until recently.”

“Liam.” She breathed his name with everything that spiraled within her: regret, sadness, endless love.

He came to stand beside her, gazing at the symbol. “I was going to give it to you on our wedding night.”

“You’re the fiancé.” She remembered what he told her when he brought the chest to her house.

“No. I was never the fiancé. Wanted to be, but never got the chance.” He shifted his body toward her as