She looks up at me, chest heaving, face streaked with tears and melted snow. Her hair is a wild mess, curls tangled and dripping. Her eyes are red and swollen.
She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“Why?” Her voice is raw, broken. “Why are you doing this?”
I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.
What am I supposed to say? That she’s my fated mate? That I’ve been waiting for her my whole life without knowing it? That the cruel, vicious words I threw at her were a desperate attempt to push her away before I lost control completely?
She won’t believe me. She’ll think it’s another manipulation, another cruelty, another reason to hate me.
And she’d be right to think that. After everything I’ve done.
“The storm.” My voice sounds like gravel. “It’s too dangerous. You have to stay until it clears.”
“You ripped off my car door.”
“Yes.”
“You crushed my phone.”
“Yes.”
“You carried me in here against my will.”
“Yes.”
“And now you’re putting me in the chair you told me never to touch?”
I don’t have an answer for that one.
She laughs. It’s not a happy sound. “You’re insane. You’re actually, certifiably insane.”
“Probably.”
“Let me leave.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Because you’re mine. Because my bear will die if you walk out that door. Because the thought of losing you makes me want to tear my own heart out.
“Because the storm will kill you,” I say instead. “And whatever you think of me, I won’t have your death on my conscience.”
She stares at me for a long moment. Tears still sliding down her cheeks. Body still trembling.
Then she stands up from the chair, moves past me without a word, and walks down the hallway to the guest room.
The door slams. The lock clicks.
And I’m alone.
10
TOLIN
The door slams.
