Wyatt
Wyatt had a lot to think about. His mind was working overtime as he strode along the street, searching once more for the mystery man he’d seen watching him a couple of days earlier. It was finally starting to sink in that Amelia wasn’t in any danger. That meant he had to make a decision about their future—or more precisely, whether or not they had one. He wanted her more than he ever imagined possible, but the fact was, just by being with him, there was a chance her life would be in danger, no matter what she tried to say, and how brave she was being about it.
Sure, Amelia had said she never wanted to return to the clan, but what if she changed her mind at some point in the future? She would be burning bridges that couldn’t be rebuilt, and whatever she seemed to think, he knew he wasn’t worth that. Because one day, shecouldchange her mind. And he wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. Perhaps her fatherwasa bully, but he was still her father. And even if she never wanted to see him again, was she fully prepared to never see her mother again, too? Or any of her friends? How could he ask her to make that kind of sacrifice for him? He was her mate, he was supposed to give her everything she ever wanted, not take things from her.
What sort of man would that make him?
An honest one.
He bit back a laugh. Was honesty worth his mate’s future?
She has chosen. All we do by leaving is take away her choice.The dragon’s voice rolled around his head, and he let out a soft groan. He’d fought against his every instinct in an effort to protect his mate, but how could he argue with that?
And when it came down to it, with every second that passed, the decision was less and less his to make. With every second, the mate bond called to him, and with every second, his need to answer grew.
The truth was, his decision had been made the moment he first laid eyes on her.
He could no more deny his mate than he could deny his own name, and if she was sure she was ready to make the commitment then he owed it to both of them to embrace their bond.
Joy filled his heart as he turned and headed back towards his house. He couldn’t wait to take her in his arms, to tell her he’d been an idiot, and beg her to forgive him. He’d never wanted to beg someone so much in life as he did now.
He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her since her none too subtle attempt to seduce him the day before. She’d made her feelings on their mate bond abundantly clear and now it was time for him to do the same.
Wyatt was determined to show Amelia that he wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him, and he was ready to embrace their bond—and ready to start their future together. He would face whatever consequences might arise from his decision without complaint or reproach, but he couldn’t keep living in the past. It was time to stop punishing himself for something he did as a teenager and it was time to finally start living again. And above all, it was time to live that life with the perfect, gorgeous, incredible woman the fates had somehow decided was meant for him.
A cheesy grin slid into place on his face, and he quickened his pace, in a hurry to get home and lay eyes on his mate. He was about halfway up the street when he caught sight of a man standing outside his front door. His heart thudded. Wyatt’s eyesight was impeccable and even from that distance away he could tell it was the same man from the other day.
“Hey!” he shouted just as the man knocked on the door.
Wyatt sprinted along the sidewalk, praying Amelia was taking a shower and wouldn’t hear the knock.
“Hey!” he shouted again, and the man started to turn toward him just as the door opened and Amelia peered out into the night.
Wyatt feet slapped against the pavement as he sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him, but what happened next unfolded as if he was watching it in slow motion. Amelia evidently recognized the man and tried to close the door in his face, but he put his foot in the way then lunged at her. Her blood-curdling scream rang out loudly making the hair on the back of Wyatt’s head stand on end and his stomach lurch violently. As the man stepped back, Wyatt saw the glint of the knife in his hand.
“No!” he shouted, pushing his legs to work harder.
The man dropped the knife then shifted into a dragon right before Wyatt’s eyes and took off up into the night sky. Before Wyatt could reach his mate, Amelia dropped to her knees, her hands clutching her stomach. Red blood coated her fingers. So much blood.
“Amelia!”
He reached his mate and dropped to his knees by her side, gently pulling her hand away to assess the wound.
“Baby?” he said, and the worried expression on her face told him all he needed to know. “Oh, God.”
She shook her head. “I…”
Wyatt lifted her from the ground and carried her into the house, kicking the door closed behind him. He put her down on the living room floor and pulled up her t-shirt to get a better look. The bleeding hadn’t slowed, even marginally, and the wound wasn’t knitting together. At this rate, she was going to bleed out. And fast.
“Fuck!”
He couldn’t call 911. Most packs or prides had doctors they could call upon to treat them in the event of an accident. Shifters healed so quickly that unless the wound was life threatening, chances were they could heal from it themselves. But Wyatt had no clan, and Amelia had turned her back on it, too. They had no-one they could call on, and even if they had still had connections with the clan, no-one would arrive in time now.
The position of Amelia’s wound told Wyatt it shouldn’t have hit any major organs, which meant it shouldn’t be life threating, so why wasn’t it healing? Panic clouded his mind and tears formed behind his eyes, driving out anything but the terror of his mate’s mortality. He’d just found his mate—he couldnotlose her so soon.
He tried to clear his mind so that he was better able to think of a solution. This was not the time to break down, not now. He was all she had, and that meant he’d have to be enough. He drew in a sharp breath and set his jaw, examining the injury more closely.
“Wyatt?” Amelia said and reached out her hand for him to take.
