Maybe he’d fight me. But I could be swift. I’m smaller than he is; I could easily tumble away and….
“But I do know what it’s like to feel like you have no choice.”
He turns to look at me.
I stand frozen, just as I had before.
“But that’s the thing about freedom. There’s always a choice, but you never know if you’re making the right one until it’s done.” He motions with one hand for me to go to him.
I shouldn’t. He could very well grab me and throw me over this cliff. Eliminate me as a threat.
Because I know he sees me as a threat. Because I’m an alpha. Because I’m not useful to him anymore. Because I’ve infiltrated his pack and poisoned them with my love.
My love.
But something deep inside of me tells me he won’t hurt me.
It’s something I haven’t really felt since that day. The day I saw him. On the edge of this cliff.
I ran from him then, and somehow…
Somehow he still found me. He still captured me.
I couldn’t escape him then, and I don’t think I can escape him now. I wish I had more time. I wish that I had more.
I take two steps forward, carefully. It feels like an eternity until I am beside him. We both stand there, bathed in the light of the moon as he looks over the water. I know how cold it is, how choppy. How heavy the waves are as they try to pull you under.
Could he survive them as I had? Or would his heavy frame sink to the bottom?
“I could kill you right now,” I say. The words are simple. True. I could.
He doesn’t move or growl. “Of course you could. You could have killed me the moment you saw me, all those weeks ago.” He turns to me, his gaze finding mine. “But you didn’t.”
I don’t want to meet his gaze, but I do. Because I have no choice. Not really. Something inside of me responds to him of its own accord, the same way it did then.
I justknow.He won’t hurt me. He can’t.
Because he’s my mate.
“I could kill you, too,” he says softly. He moves closer to me, his towering frame making me feel small. So many men have made me feel small, but Gage doesn’t make me feelsmall.
“You won’t,” I say, my voice barely a whisper, “but you should.”
He reaches out for me, and I brace for the touch. I ready myself for the impact, his growl.
His teeth.
But those things never come. Instead, I feel his hand around my throat, his thumb grazing my throbbing vein. I feel the warmth of his palm as it rests on my neck, and he purrs.
“Is that what you want, Auryn?” he asks. “Because the choice is yours, not mine.”
I look up at him, noting his eyes are glistening. I lean into his touch, into his palm, and I know death is inevitable.
I always thought it would look like blood and flesh. I never knew it would look so beautiful.
“I want…” I close my eyes, feeling the warmth spread through my body. The air is cold, and my own chest rumbles with a deep purr. “To stop running,” I say.
Gage’s arms pull me in close, and I suck in a breath, keeping my eyes closed. I prepare for the cold water, but it never comes. The deep purr that vibrates against me makes me whine.
