CHAPTER 15
***WALKER***
Walker had a roaring fire going when Maddie came back into the room a few minutes later, a tray with three steaming mugs and a package of cookies on it in her hands. She set it down on the coffee table in front of the woman, then sat next to her and held out her arms for the baby.
“Let me hold him while you have some coffee,” she said. “I don’t know how you like it, but I found some canned milk and sugar in the cabinet.”
“Oh, thank you,” the woman said, reluctantly handing the child over. “I don’t know what to say, you’ve both been so kind, I thought we were going…”
The woman’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t think about that now,” he said, adding another log to the fire before taking one of the mugs for himself. “You’re both safe, that’s all that matters.”
The woman let out a long sigh. “You’re right,” she said, then looked over at Maddie. “I guess I should introduce us. I’m Betty, and this is my son, Carter. We were on our way to my parents’ house when the storm hit.”
“He’s adorable,” Maddie said, making faces at the little boy. “How old is he?”
“He just turned two,” Betty said proudly. “He’s a bit small for his age, but he makes up for it in volume, believe me.”
“I know what you mean, my son…I mean, my friend’s son can really get going when he wants to,” Maddie said, a wistful look on her face. “Anyway, this guy is a real cutie, you should be proud of him.”
“Oh, I am,” Betty said, finishing off her coffee. “I can take him again if he’s getting heavy.”
Walker watched Maddie reluctantly hand over the baby, then she got to her feet. “I’m going to see what else I can find in the kitchen,” she said, ignoring her coffee. “I think we might be here for a little while. We’re going to need to eat.”
She rushed out of the room before he could remind her that they had burgers in the car, but he’d seen the tears in her eyes and thought maybe she needed a few minutes to herself. Seeing him shift must have been a huge shock, but she was handling it like a champion. Still, he wasn’t sure leaving her alone for too long was a good idea; it was possible the calm was all just an act.
He waited a few more minutes, then got up and threw some more wood on the fire. “If you’re okay here alone, I’m going to go get some more wood,” he said. “It’s going to get cold tonight, we’re going to need it.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Betty said, some color finally appearing in her cheeks. “I think I’ll just sit here and soak up the heat, maybe nibble on one of those cookies.”
“Okay, but if you need something, just give a yell,” he said, grabbing his coat. “We’ll just be in the other room.”
He found Maddie staring into an open cabinet, a frown on her face, but when she heard him, she closed the door and turned to face him. “It feels a little bit like I’m in a bad dream,” she said, then shook her head. “That’s not right, I’m not scared, just confused…”
“I’m sorry, Maddie, it’s not an easy thing to tell someone, even someone you care about,” he said, taking a step toward her, hoping she didn’t shy away from him. “I was working up the nerve to tell you, I just couldn’t figure out how. Does this change things between us?”
She looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Does it change things?” she repeated. “Of course it does, you’re…magical…”
“But I’m still me,” he said, taking another step toward her. “I would never hurt you, Maddie. I could never hurt you. You mean too much to me. Besides, the dragon wouldn’t let me. He’s kinda attached to you. It’s sort of a thing that happens with shifters.”
She turned to face him fully. “What does that mean?” she asked, eyes wide. “How can he be…attached to me?”
He realized that he might have said too much too soon. “Are you sure you want to have this discussion now?” he asked. “Maybe we should wait until we get home.”
She got that look on her face again, the one that told him he was being stupid. “Okay, I guess that was a dumb suggestion,” he said, then sighed. “Shifter’s bond with their perfect mate. Evidently, it doesn’t matter if they’re ready or not, and once that bond is created, it can never be broken. I didn’t think we went that far, I mean, I knew it was close, that’s why I pulled away, it freaked me out. I wasn’t ready, a lifetime commitment is a lot for a nineteen-year-old to handle.”
“What do you mean, it can never be broken?” Maddie asked, her voice very quiet, a look in her eyes that he couldn’t read. “Now I’m starting to freak out.”
He figured it was better just to lay it all out for her. “It means that we’ll love each other for the rest of our lives, it means that when we’re separated, we’ll never be happy,” he said. “It means that to feel right, we have to be together. I really don’t know how this happened, Maddie. I really did try to stop it. Usually, it takeslonger to develop; it just happened a lot faster with us. If it helps any, I’m not afraid of it anymore.”
“Well, good for you,” she hissed at him. “Do you have any idea what my life has been like since freshman year? Do you have any idea how many times I cried myself to sleep, how many times I tried to move on only to find myself physically sick at the thought of being with someone else? You know what’s even worse, while I was suffering, you were out there living it up, sleeping with anyone you wanted to. If this is love, I don’t want anything to do with it. Just go away and leave me alone.”
***Maddie***
Maddie whirled around. The last thing she wanted was for Walker to see her crying; it was bad enough she was going to feel this way for the rest of her life. Taking deep breaths and trying to hold back the tears, she willed him to go away, but a few seconds later, she felt his hands on her shoulders. A wave of warmth immediately spread through her, and she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. She was stuck, she’d never get over him. She’d be miserable for the rest of her life, Walker could just run around doing anything he wanted, and no matter what, she’d still be there waiting for him.
“Maddie, there’s never been anyone but you,” he said, then sighed. “I might have dated all those women, but I never slept with any of them. I kept thinking I’d find one who I would want enough to go through with it, but it never happened. None of them was you.”
She froze for a second, his words slowly sinking in, then turned to face him so she could look into his eyes, what she believed all these years suddenly at war with the truth she sensed in his words. After studying him for a long time, thefight went out of her, and deep down, she knew that there had never been anyone but her. However, a tiny, wounded part of her wasn’t ready to believe.
