The Awakening: Britton (Entangled Covet) (8 page)

Nodding, he picked up the evidence bag with the letter. “I knew her conviction wouldn’t go over well.

She was just being a mother, protecting her child. She shouldn’t be punished for that.”

Val froze with the slice in front of her mouth, at a loss for words, shocked that Britton could be so

compassionate. She felt the same way, in fact.

“The law is too rigid,” she said, putting down the food untouched. “If Harwood would just bend a little,

everyone would be happier.”

Britton glanced up from the letter, his piercing blue eyes studying her in a way that made her want to

fidget. Somehow she managed not to.

“You arrested her.”

It was a statement, not an accusation or a question, but she answered anyway. “Yes.”

“What was that like?”

“You haven’t ever arrested someone you didn’t want to?”

“Of course I have, but not for something like that.”

Neither had she. And she hoped never to again. She’d hated that day. The tears. The screaming. The

fear. Keeping on her cop face had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

She’d wanted to weep with Samantha as the mother fought to get to her child. After the van carrying the

child pulled away, Samantha had crumbled sobbing to the ground. Val had gone against protocol and

hadn’t cuffed her; she couldn’t bring herself to take that heartless step. Once the child had been taken into

custody there was no reason to, anyway. Samantha had gone without a fight, shoulders slumped, defeated,

knowing it was over. Her child was gone.

Val sighed. “You can imagine how hard it was.”

“I have a faint idea.”

“It’s times like those that make being head of SPAC so tough. If Samantha had registered the baby with

the High Council as she should have the day he was born, then all of this could’ve been prevented.”

“And she would’ve lost custody of the baby that day instead of three years later. At least she had those

three years.”

“Hidden away. Always afraid of discovery. Really, what kind of life did she, her mate, and the baby

have? They severed ties with their families the moment they realized the baby suffered from the mutation.

They moved thousands of miles away to an unknown town deep in the mountains. No neighbors, no

family. They were alone with no support.”

“They had each other.”

She stared at Britton. Was she really talking to the same man who’d tormented her for almost four

years? She looked away. She hadn’t really given that man a fair shake, had she? She didn’t know the real

Britton; she only knew the one she’d brought the worst out in. “They did have each other. If her mate

hadn’t died, they still would. But he did, and in the end, Samantha lost everything. Her mate, her baby, her

freedom. It’s just not right.”

“You think the High Council got what’s coming to them with this kidnapping and demands?”

She picked at the pizza on her plate. “I don’t think it’s that simple. The High Council is doing what it

thinks is right. The mutation
is
dangerous. To everyone, especially humans. Do I think there’s a more fair

way to handle it? Yes. But they hold onto some of these archaic laws as if modern times haven’t given them

good opportunities to tweak them.”

“Don’t I know it,” Britton said drily. “However, by rights I should be in Kerker, rotting away in some

cell, but they gave me the serum instead. So they are capable of tweaking their laws when they want.”

Val bit her bottom lip, thinking for the first time about his ordeal from his perspective. “What have the

last few years been like?”

After he laid the letter down, he picked up the evidence bag again, flipping the blanket over and over in

his hands. She’d thought he wasn’t going to respond, but at length he said, “Different.”

Well, that was one way to put it. She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. Questions filled her, but

she kept them to herself. No sense pushing her luck. The fact that the two of them were having a civilized,

semi-normal conversation was a miracle.

As the silence stretched and became awkward, she took a bite of her pizza and looked around the room,

searching for other possible topics. Nothing came to mind. Needing something to do, she stood and went to

the counter to get the drinks she’d left there.

“We really don’t appreciate how lucky we are to be what we are.” His words were spoken softly, more

to himself than to her, and as much as she probably should pretend she hadn’t heard him, she couldn’t.

She turned to find him still staring at the blanket, regret shining in those unusual blue eyes of his. “What

do you mean?” she asked.

His gaze darted to hers for a moment before returning to the fabric. “Shifters. We take what we are for

granted.” With an exhale, he leaned back on the chair and tossed the bag onto the table. “I did, anyway. It

took some tough getting used to, but I learned to live as a human, accepted it. Started to believe I really

wasn’t that different than I was before the serum. Do you want to know when I finally realized exactly how

much the High Council had taken away from me?”

“When?”

“When Liam went missing. He needed me, desperately needed my abilities, and I was completely

worthless.” His gaze met hers. “I never thanked you for what you did for him.”

At the sincerity in his voice, she frowned. She didn’t deserve his gratitude. Not after she’d flat-out said

h e
had
been worthless while they’d searched for his friend. Her part in the constant feud hit her again,

along with a flood of shame.

Well, no more. At least not on her part.

She shrugged. “I was only doing my job.”

“Yeah, you were. But you could’ve handed it over to one of the other members of SPAC just so you

wouldn’t have to deal with me. You didn’t, though. You stuck with me, bad attitude and all, and saved

Liam and his mate.”

“
Dea
knows, I’m not the easiest person to deal with, either. Besides, I had the most experience and the

best ability for the job.”

He groaned. “For fuck’s sake, I’m trying to thank you. Would you just take it and shut the hell up?”

A smile threatened to emerge and she pressed her lips together.

Britton Townsend had just made her want to smile. Holy crap. What was the world coming to?

“You’re welcome,” she finally said. All this talk of Samantha Mills, serums, and regrets had made her

lose her appetite. Making a face, she walked over and placed her dish on the counter.

“You need to eat that.” He lifted a slice off his plate, waved it in the air, and took a huge bite. “We’re

going to be doing a ton of hiking over the next few days. We’ll need the calories.”

The word “we” was being tossed around a lot. It felt odd. As if they were a team or something. But it

seemed like they
had
come to an unspoken truce over the last few hours. Okay. She could roll with that.

She took her plate to the table and sat down across from him.

Immediately, his entire body stiffened as his eyes shot to hers, and a deep scowl formed on his face.

She froze, in turn. What in the hell had she done?

Stunned at his sudden turn in mood, she shook her head and held up her hands. “Did I just pop the

invisible bubble you’d placed around yourself?”

The muscle in his jaw clenched a moment before he worked his neck back and forth.

She shoved back her chair, and rose. Whatever. “You’ve got some
serious
issues, Townsend.” She

started to storm to her room.

“Val.” Her name came out hoarse, almost wheezed.

She halted, but didn’t turn around.

A stretch of silence followed, before he whispered, “Sleep well.”

The tension in her shoulders relaxed. It wasn’t an actual apology for his asinine behavior, but it was an

olive branch. The fact that he’d offered her one spoke volumes, because he never had before.

And she would take it, because it showed he was trying.

“You, too,” she mumbled.

She was determined to try, as well. It was high time to put this war between her and Britton to rest. For

good.

…

The next morning, Britton parked Val’s car in front of the cabin. He’d gotten up early, packed their

backpacks, and left before she’d gotten up, heading to the next town over to buy some necessities. Mostly

because he hadn’t been ready to face her yet after the way he’d acted last night. Hell,
he
was still baffled by

his reaction. Not that he’d become Team Val or anything, but talking to her in a civilized manner had been

easier than he’d ever thought possible, and he’d gotten some stuff off his chest, finally thanking her for

saving Liam. It’d felt good…it’d felt right.

Then she’d sat across from him at the table.

And those grateful feelings had gone to shit faster than the Carolina Panthers in the last two minutes of

a game.

And it didn’t make a damn lick of sense as to why. She hadn’t done anything to warrant that behavior.

It bothered him that
she
was trying to get along with him while he was continuing to act like a total ass to

her.

He’d make a conscious effort to be better today.

After he gathered up the grocery bags, he hurried inside and found Val standing on the back deck,

staring out across the mountains, up and ready to go. Her white-blond hair had been straightened and pulled

back into a ponytail. The long-sleeved cotton shirt she wore showed her narrow waist, and tight workout

pants hugged her bottom.

A very nice, perfectly shaped bottom.

He frowned. Since when did he notice Val’s ass?

In his defense, she’d never worn such tight material around him before, mostly wearing pantsuits and

the occasional pair of jeans to work. But spandex?

Holy shit on a stick.

As conflicting thoughts and emotions battled for supremacy, his frown twisted into a scowl. Noticing

her as a woman would only make things worse. “Don’t you have something warmer to wear?”

Like loose sweatpants.

She looked over her shoulder. “They’re lined. Warmest thing I own.”

“Fucking fantastic,” he muttered, placed the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, and went out to grab

the two left in the car.

When he returned, she skirted around him, keeping an obvious distance between them as she entered

the kitchen.

Ouch. He blew out a breath. It bothered him that she was aware of his need for a wide berth. It

shouldn’t. It never had before. But for some odd reason, seeing her edge around him irked him now.

Besides, he didn’t want to start the day off like this. They had too much shit to do and tension between

them was only going to make the time miserable for them both.

He riffled through a bag, then pulled out a small can of coffee and a carton of half and half.

Without a second of hesitation, she closed the distance between them and grabbed his offering. “Oh

Dea
, you’re a life saver! The only thing I found was that instant crap.”

“Yeah. I noticed that this morning.”

More at ease than she was a few moments earlier, she helped him unload. He caught her staring at

something he couldn’t see because the paper bag obstructed his view.

“What?”

She held up a package of Kit Kats, then she put them down and pulled out three cans of Beefaroni.

He blinked at the food. Had he really bought that stuff? He thought back. He’d gone in, grabbed a few

things off the shelves, talked to the clerk, and gotten some good information about the area. When the fuck

had he picked up those things, and why hadn’t he been aware of doing it?

She stared at him. “You’re just full of surprises lately.”

Yeah, no kidding. He didn’t like Kit Kats, nor did he care for canned pasta.

But Val did.

He’d learned that from his time with her searching for Liam. When she was stressed, she’d snack away

on a Kit Kat. During the two days they’d searched for his friend, she’d eaten a lot of them. And she’d pretty

much lived on canned pasta.

How had he remembered it? He’d been so torn up being near her and worried over his friend that her

food preference shouldn’t have stuck with him.

Apparently it had.

Shrugging, he tried to make light of it. “Figured this case would stress you out. Bought the chocolate as

backup.”

“Uh…well…thank you.”

He shrugged again. “Don’t mention it.”

Like, ever.

He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost eight thirty. Fix your coffee while I whip together the eggs.”

Opening the can, she inhaled deeply of the coffee aroma and gave a pleased moan.

An odd sensation tweaked his chest and he froze while cracking an egg. What the hell?

If he didn’t know better, he would’ve called it a zap of attraction. But he
did
know better. This was Val,

and having any attraction to that woman was completely ludicrous. He rubbed his chest.

Hunger pangs. Had to be.

Within minutes he had the eggs going, and the room had filled with the smell of brewing coffee. When

there was enough to make a cup, she yanked out the pot and poured a mug. She took a sip and moaned

again, causing that odd sensation to sizzle in his torso once more.