“You’re unbelievable.” I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “Leave. Now.”
“I’m not going anywhere until we talk.”
I want to scream. I want to hit him. I want to drag him back to my cottage and finish what that kiss started.
I turn on my heel and stalk toward home. “You want to talk? Follow me.”
Ten minutes later, we’re sitting in my living room with matching cups of coffee. I sit in the armchair while he sits on the couch, and I make sure there’s plenty of space between us.
“You came to talk, so talk.”
Connor stares into his mug. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be. But the mating bond was the fastest way to bring you under pack protection. Your ex has resources and tracked you across three states. Without the bond, you’re vulnerable.”
“That doesn’t excuse what you did.” I set my coffee down harder than necessary. “Dragging me through town. Forcing me into a ceremony. You’re no better than an animal.”
“What happened in the woods wasn’t force. I gave you every chance to walk away. If you had turned around and left, I would have let you go.”
“Like hell you would.”
“I would have.” His eyes meet mine. “You kissed me back, Fern. You wrapped yourself around me and begged me not to stop. That was your choice.”
Heat floods my cheeks. “You were determined for us to consummate this stupid mating bond.”
Something flashes across his face. “There’s nothing stupid about being connected to your fated mate. Your one true love. The soul you’ve been tied to since the beginning of time. Wolves spend their whole lives hoping the bond will find them.”
His words crack something in my chest. He truly believes this. He sees our forced union as something beautiful and destined.
But I’m not from his world.
“None of that makes up for treating me like a medieval bride and then disappearing.” I force the words out past the tightness in my throat.
Connor stands and crosses the space between us. He crouches in front of my chair and brings us to eye level. His scent surrounds me, and my heart pounds.
“I would never willingly hurt you,” he insists. “Everything I’ve done has been to keep you safe.”
My heart skips. Part of me wants to reach out and touch him. Part of me wants to kiss him again and lose myself in the heat of his body.
I close my eyes instead.
“It’s too late, Connor. You already have.”
Silence.
When I open my eyes, he’s gone. The front door stands open and lets in the cool evening breeze. The space where he crouched is empty.
He left without a word.
Again.
Chapter 14 - Connor
I make it three steps off her porch before the scent hits me.
Human. Male. The same one I caught in the woods near that campsite with Dylan.
I freeze with one foot on the bottom step and pull the evening breeze into my lungs. The smell is faint but unmistakable. A man’s sweat and cheap cologne and something else underneath. Something that makes my wolf snarl.
He’s been here. Recently.
