The silence stretched between us for a long time before she finally said, “I just want you both to be happy.”
The tears that threatened moments before returned, spilling out onto my cheeks. I sucked in a ragged breath. “I want to be happy, Ricki, but I don’t think it will be with him.”
“We’ll see,” she said cryptically. I heard a loud crash in the background and three little voices calling out for their mama. “Shit. I gotta go. I love you, Chloe. Be safe.”
“I love you too, darlin’. Call me again soon.”
When she disconnected, I got to my feet and turned to go back into the cabin, freezing when I saw Lachlan watching me from the other side of the screen door. He wore nothing but a pair of jeans and a few stray droplets of water. I’d been so distracted by my conversation with Ricki, I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings, which was a good way to get killed considering the danger we were in.
“Hey, I didn’t hear you,” I commented, moving toward him.
I opened the screen door and squeezed by him, trying to ignore the way my breasts tingled when they brushed his naked chest. I carried my coffee mug to the kitchen and set it in the sink.
Lachlan stood only a few feet from me when I turned, his expression concerned. “You’ve been crying,” he declared, the sentence sounding more like an accusation than a statement of fact. “Who were you talking to?”
His tone made my hackles rise. “A friend,” I answered. “And it wasn’t their fault I was crying.”
Lach’s expression softened. “What’s bothering you?”
Shit, I couldn’t tell him the truth. I’d faced down my own death several times in the last thirty-five years. I’d been afraid more times than I could count, but nothing struck bone-deep terror in my heart as much as the thought of telling Lachlan he was my mate. Despite Ricki’s beliefs, I knew that his response would be one of shock, gentle rejection, and very likely, pity.
Instead, I told a half-truth and prayed he wouldn’t be able to smell it. “It’s just being here and seeing people from my childhood…it brings back old memories. It reminds me of what I’ve lost.”
When I said the words, I suddenly realized they weren’t a lie. They were true. However, having him here somehow made it bearable.
Before I realized what was happening, Lach’s arms closed around me, pulling me against his chest. In my bare feet, my forehead fit against the curve of his neck as though the spot were created just for me. He held me close, one hand cupping the back of my head and the other wound around my waist.
The sensation of his bare torso against my body was overwhelming. I’d never allowed myself to imagine that he might hold me like this one day—as if he truly cared about me. Cherished me.
“It’s okay, Chloe,” he murmured against my temple. “Let me take the burden. Just let go.”
My arms went around his waist and I closed my eyes, feeling another tear trickle down my cheek. Then I did as he said.
I let go.
I let myself feel the heat of his body against mine. I relished it. When I relaxed, giving him more of my weight, he did exactly as he said he would. He took the burden, holding me up. With each inhale, I drew in his scent, knowing that it would permeate my clothes and stay with me the rest of the day.
I let myself imagine what it would be like if he held me like this every day for the rest of my life.
That was when reality returned. There would be no embraces in the kitchen every day. No kisses or declarations of love from Lachlan. Because he still loved his mate, a woman who died protecting him.
There was no future for me with Lach and though I thought I’d accepted it, I realized a small seed of hope was still there.
But with this embrace, he’d managed to achieve what I had not. He shattered that seed.
I took a few moments to gather myself and, when I was certain my eyes would remain dry, I opened them.
Then I once again did what he commanded. I let go.
Of Lachlan.
Chapter Sixteen
Lachlan
Iwatched Chloeas she washed the breakfast dishes and I mulled. Something was different.Shewas different.
Yesterday, I’d been surprised by the anger that rose up inside me when I heard her say, “I love you” to her friend on the phone. I’d been sure she was talking to a male wolf. I had to tamp down on the urge to walk outside, yank the phone from her hands, and throw it as far as I could.
