“I asked you to leave me alone!” Aurora yelled, jumping up so fast that the chair fell over. “I want my Creed back! Not this asshole who doesn’t listen to me and does whatever he wants—accuses me of things I haven’t done and makes me feel like I’m married to Kenneth again!”
I wasn’t sure there was anything she could have said to hurt me worse, but she wasn’t being unfair. She cried harder and hurried from the room.
You have to stop. You have to stop being a jealous animal because I’ll pick her over you. I’ll ask Monroe to rebind you or—I won’t survive without her and she’s done nothing. If you won’t stop abusing our mate, I’ll figure out a way or kill us both.
And my lion believed me.
Good because I wasn’t bluffing. I could fuck up in a lot of ways—and absolutely would—but I couldnotmake Aurora feel like she was trapped back in that “marriage.” I just couldn’t.
My lion sat with it a bit, and after he realized she was still crying and the pain was real, he finally seemed to get it wastruly him. Yeah, idiot. This time was—she’d been out and about picking up awesome meat for us and some tonics from Monroe and my lion lost his mind that she smelled like a bunch of different men.
Yeah, that was what happened when someone went out shopping and to a specialized butcher. Fucking asshole.
I wasn’t sure what to do, but then I called the one male guard I knew Aurora wanted to basically adopt. He was some cub who had had a rough go and honestly I felt bad for him as well.
I told my lion we needed to start dealing with this and fast. She deserved that much from us. He seemed to accept it and luckily the guy was available.
The shitty look he shot me wasn’t appreciated, but he was a vampire, so he really didn’t get it. I sat in the kitchen for hours while they did whatever and my lion basically swatted his tail inside of me.
“Have a nice night,” the guy said as he headed out, shooting a worried glance over his shoulder.
I thanked him for coming but was too scared to do anything. It was another ten minutes before Aurora appeared… Freshly showered.
“I’m so sorry, my mate,” I choked out, understanding she’d showered so she smelled less like another man. I sank to my knees and lowered my head in shame. “I swear that I know. I know it’s—he doesn’t get it, and I don’t have control anymore to shut him up fast enough. I know you would never cheat.I knowyou would never—”
“I want to believe you, but I need to see change this time,” she whispered, her voice raw from all the crying and maybe talking to the guy. “I saw your effort tonight. I need to see more of it.” She turned towards the fridge and sniffled. “I wish I could be stronger for you and not so affected, but this has always been a huge point of contention in my life.
“I’ve constantly been accused of flirting with men or bespelling them. I never have. I am not a flirty woman. I’m not a lustful woman. Only you.Youare the only man I’ve made any sort of advance on because you made me feel whole and seen. I need that man back or I don’t know that I can make it through this. My therapist says I’m backsliding. Please don’t make me.”
I cried when she was gone. She was completely right and the way I’d been treating her was beyond unfair.
I didn’t even try to go into our room or bed that night, simply sitting outside the door in the hallway so she knew I was near. It seemed a bit stalkerish, but… I wanted her to know I wasn’t leaving and would give her the space she wanted.
Both at the same time?
I woke with a pillow behind my head against the wall and a blanket over me. I whispered a thank-you to her and curled up on the floor.
It was where the damn animals belonged after all.
The next morning, she offered to still come with me to my follow-up appointment at ASH… But she didn’t want to. She was struggling with regret and our mating.
Struggling too much and it was completely my fault.
My fucking lion’s fault.
We were quiet the drive over and I wanted to drop her off, but my lion didn’t want her that far away from me in a new place. That gave me pause.
“I think I’m understanding better and know how to bring up what’s going on with me to Ha-joon,” I whispered, shocked down to my core.
“Pardon?” she asked, looking up from her phone and whatever list she was working on.
“I’m not making excuses,” I said firmly, waiting until she nodded. “My lion doesn’t want me to drop you off at the door and let me go park because I won’t be by you somewhere new.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t make sense when youworkedhere and…” She blinked at me. “Do you think your lion didn’t see or sense as much while bound?”
“It makes sense kind of,” I hedged. “Monroe talked about a lot being like looking through water for him, right? The magic acted as a barrier between us. He really might not understand more than I realized.”
Hope filled her eyes but then died as she looked away like she couldn’t risk disappointment again. “I’d prefer to just park and walk together. I could always use the exercise now.”
