Warner stares at me, face slack, as if I slapped him.Guilt rushes through me.That was the worst response that could have popped out of my mouth.
The worst, but also the truth.
He regains control over his expression, entreating me with his amber eyes.“That was before you came here, right?Before we met.Hell, Zoey.I’m gone for you.I can’t be the only one feeling this way.”
He fists his hand over his heart, and I know exactly what he means.
The affection I have for Warner is more than I’ve ever experienced toward someone outside of my family.It’s hard to believe it came on so fast.That in just a few weeks, this man twined himself around my heart.He dug his claws into it, and I’m afraid of the pain that’ll accompany prying that grip loose.
Hopefully, I won’t have to.
“You’re not the only one.”I pick at a corner of foil on my forgotten burrito.A minute ago, I was half starved.Now, the idea of food makes me nauseous.
“Then, stay.You already have the cabin, and friends, and me.All you have to do is change your plans.Please, Zoey”—Warner cups my elbows and rests his forehead against mine—“don’t end this.”
From the strain of his voice, a bystander would think I have a knife in his ribs and that I’m twisting it.
The feel of him surrounding me is tempting.But I’m not one to lose my head, even if I have lost my heart.
And when I think of staying here, with the risk of that darkness crashing over me again while I’m out in the middle of the woods, alone without the safety net of my family …
Alone like Minnie …
I’ll drown.
Panic chokes me.
I swallow.Then swallow again, trying my best to stifle the tears pressing against the backs of my eyes.
This was an experiment.Turns out, it was a failed one.
“Selling my grandma’s cabin doesn’t have to mean the end of us,” I whisper hoarsely.
His fingers briefly dig into my skin, but they relax before he hurts me.“What are you saying?”
“Denver isn’t a death sentence.Couples do long-distance all the time.”
Warner physically flinches at that suggestion, leaning away from me and shoving up from the table.Then, he starts to pace, an anxious energy buzzing off him.
“No.My kind can’t do long-distance.Going days, even weeks without seeing you … without touching you?”His fingers tangle in his hair as a frustrated growl leaks from the back of his throat.“Being separated from my mate would be torture.”
There’s that word again.Mate.It’s heavy, hanging between us.Something he expects from me.Something I don’t even understand.
I probably never will.
Maybe this is why there’s a separation between the humans and wolves of Pine Falls.We don’t follow the same rules.
And with his dismissal of my compromise, the one bit of hope I had withers.
“I don’t want to torture you.”I know what mental turmoil is, and the idea I’d be the catalyst for Warner’s brings on a wave of self-disgust.So, even as the words make my stomach churn and my throat tighten, they still find a way out.“Maybe … you should mate someone else.”
Warner stops pacing, staring at me like I’m the embodiment of a horror movie.
With the first sentence done, I hope the rest won’t cut as much.“I’m not a local.I’m not a wolf.You’re talking about forever, and I haven’t even figured out what’s happening in my life next week.You deserve better than me, Warner.Someone who knows where she belongs.Someone who will be a good mate.”
Nope.That all still hurt.
“I don’t want anyone else.”
