He found her in the bathroom, standing propped over the sink. Her eyes flew to his in the mirror.
“What’s wrong?” Arlo asked, and she looked away. He touched her arm and she pulled away, folding her arms in front of herself.
“I should have known it was too good to be true,” she whispered. She heaved a breath and straightened, turning to face him but still not looking him in the eye.
“Please tell me what’s wrong. I’ll do whatever you need to help.” Arlo’s heart was breaking. Just a few minutes before, Jacqueline had been laughing with Lainie, and now she looked as though her world was falling apart. “Anything. Just talk to me, please.”
“All right.” Even Jacqueline’s voice was guarded. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, almost but not quite meeting his eyes, as though she was trying to but couldn’t quite force herself to. Her gaze settled somewhere over his shoulder. “Is what Dorothy said true? You want a family. A whole family. Kids.”
Pack, Arlo’s wolf barked, and before Arlo could stop himself or connect the dots, he said, “Of course. Wolves are pack animals. I need a pack.”
And I’d do a better job than this Eric bastard.
“Oh. Well. Good,” Jacqueline blurted, the words falling like bricks. “Good, that’s, that’s—that’s good to know.” She broke off suddenly and pressed her hands against her eyes. “Shit.”
“Jacqueline, for God’s sake, tell me what’s going on,” Arlo pleaded. His instincts were screaming at him to help her, but he didn’t know how. He reached out for her again and she flinched back.
Arlo stepped back and she raised her hands, palms out.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice scratchy, “I’m sorry, I need to go.”
“If you need time, you just need to say,” Arlo reminded her. “I know this is a lot to take in—”
Jacqueline made a noise that was half laugh, half sob. “Time isn’t going to help. This isn’t anything new to take in. It’s the same old—it doesn’t matter.” Her hands dropped. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.” Hesitantly, Jacqueline’s unhappiness like a scar twisting in his chest, Arlo stepped forward and put his arms around her. This time, she let him. Her head fell to rest against his chest.
Arlo held her gently. For a few seconds she didn’t say anything, just breathed. He could feel her heart hammering through her back. Somewhere in the house, a phone rang.
Then she shook her head and pushed herself away from him. Her eyes were dry, and hard, like windows with the shutters closed over them.
“Arlo, I…”
Someone knocked on the door. “Jacqueline? Sorry to interrupt.” It was Lainie, holding a cordless phone. “It’s for you.”
Arlo was about to say Now isn’t a good time when Lainie caught his eye. Even he could see the steel in her gaze.
He’d told her he wouldn’t hurt Jacqueline. And he had. Somehow. He’d failed at the most important thing a shifter needed to do: protecting his mate.
Shame twisted in his gut as Jacqueline ducked around him and took the phone.
“Hello? Oh, Reg… yes… Of course I’ve heard, I called you about them, remember? Oh…”
She listened to the phone for a few more minutes and then hung up. She took a deep breath that pulled at Arlo’s heart—
—and turned to Lainie.
“That was the sheriff,” she said, not even glancing at Arlo. “He’s found Eric and has him at the station. Could we go and pick him up now, do you think? I know it’s no notice at all but—”
“The kids need
him.” Lainie nodded.
“And…” Jacqueline’s eyes did flick to Arlo now, but the pain in them made it hurt more than her ignoring him had. “I should go too. I think it would be best if I was there to vouch for him with the sheriff.”
She held her arms straight at her sides, fists clenched.
Arlo’s mouth was dry. “I can drive you—”