Slowly, he stood. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to wait for you to reach out first?”
Kira’s eyes widened at his question. She stared at him for a long moment before she nodded once. “I think that will be best. But I can’t promise how long that will be.”
Joshua’s wolf whimpered. It didn’t want to leave her. Would it help if he told her that she was his mate? No. Because that was telling her things, not listening to what she had to say. He nodded and slunk toward the door, hating the sight of the flowers she didn’t want. Maybe he’d drop them off at the clinic. Brighten the place up.
At the doorway, he stopped and looked back. “Kira?”
“Yeah?”
“I hope you find more than I could. About the witch hunters.”
Kira bit her lip. “And I hope…” she trailed off as though she was uncertain what to say—or how to say it.
Joshua slipped away, heart heavy. He wanted to go back and demand more, to hear precisely what he needed to do to fix this. She said she had already told him. But when?
You took that choice away from me.
The thought was like a spear going straight through his heart. He came to a stop, his hands clenched around the flower stems. That was it. The trust between them hadn’t broken just because he kept secrets from her. It was because he’d made decisions for her, too. He’d decided to break up with her for her good. He decided they would obey the council and marry for her good. He decided he’d never give her children for her good.
He always ’decided for her good’ and never told her so she could make the choice herself. How would he react if someone did the same thing to him?
He wouldn’t even give him another chance.
The revelation made his chest lighten. He turned, wanting to run back and tell her that he understood now—only to stop after a few steps. She told him to wait until she reached out. How could he say that he could listen to her now, only for his actions to show that he wasn’t listening? He hovered there, caught between going back to explain his revelation and respecting her wishes.
He let out a heavy breath. Respect. That’s where he’d fallen short before, not respecting her to make her own choices.
So he turned away again. He wasn’t going to force himself into her life. If there was space for him, she would let him know.
And if not?
Then it was her choice.
***
A few days went by before Kira messaged him again, asking to meet up. Joshua was eager to agree, and they arranged to meet at his office. As he waited for her arrival, he sorted through his tangle of thoughts and jotted things down to make sure he’d be able to tell her everything that he wanted to say.
Kira arrived looking like a goddess. She wore simple clothes, her hair braided with frizzy strands escaping. Dark circles ringed under her eyes, but when she smiled, it was genuine.
They stared awkwardly at one another for a moment, uncertain.
“How have you been?” Joshua finally asked.
Kira made a strangled noise in her throat. “Let’s skip the small talk, okay? It just makes everything else more difficult. Gwen heard from Rafael that you’ve been wanting to talk to me.”
Joshua’s heart sank. Was that the only reason she’d come? Because she was getting pressured? He tried not to dwell on the unsettled thought. “I do. I understand why you’re upset with me. I shouldn’t have been making all these choices, keeping you in the dark, and acting as though you weren’t capable of making your own decisions. And I’m sorry for it. All of it. Especially for not hearing when you told me the first time.”
Kira chewed her thumb, as though she hadn’t expected him to react this way. “Oh. Thank you.”
“There is more, if I may?” Joshua leaned forward and tapped his notebook, smiling wryly. “I’ve written a few things down to try to find the right words.”
Kira nodded at him.
He opened the notebook and glanced over his notes. “Mark and Susan have tried to be supportive. They have tried to reassure me that it’s not my fault that my first parents died. But ever since I learned about witch hunters, I’ve known it’s because of the curse that activated with my birth. I don’t know if that curse is still active. My parents have gotten into serious accidents. I think it’s my fault. I have no proof, but maybe it’s even my fault the demons have returned.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Kira spluttered. “The magic keeping them locked away is degrading.”
“But it’s all happened since I was born.”
