Yeah, you should have led with that,his bear said.
“I’m your mate,” she repeated.
“Yes, and the bond... the one I feel toward you...” He swallowed hard. “It’s real. It’s strong. It connects us eternally.” He held up his hand. “But it doesn’t controlyou. It doesn’t takeyourchoices. It doesn’t claimyou.”
But it had claimed him. Body, heart, and soul.
He stepped close enough that she could see the sincerity in his eyes, but far enough not to crowd her. “Youchoose what happens next.Youchoose if what happened between us means anything more.Youchoose whether you stay or go, or if you want time or want distance. The bond won’t cage you. Neither will I.” Her breath hitched.
“What are you trying to say?” Hannah asked.
He reached out, then stopped himself, his hand hovering an inch from her cheek, but not touching. “I love you enough to let you walk away.”
Hannah stared at him, moonlight casting shadows across her face as she processed his words. The night air seemed to hold its breath around them, waiting. Caleb held his breath, too, hoping, praying that she would understand, that she wouldn’t turn away from him now that she knew everything.
“A bond,” she repeated, testing the word like an unfamiliar language. “Between mates”
“Yes.”
Hannah wrapped her arms around herself, not in rejection but in a gesture of self-protection that Caleb understood all too well. She turned slightly, looking out at the dark pines surrounding them.
“And it’s... predetermined? Like fate?”
“Yes. Fate,” Caleb admitted. “But what happens after...” He took a careful breath. “That’s always a choice. Always.”
Hannah’s gaze returned to him, searching his face with an intensity that made him want to step closer and step back simultaneously. His bear pressed against his consciousness, desperate to comfort her, but Caleb held firm. This moment needed human words, human understanding.
She took a shaky breath. “And if I chose to leave?”
The question cut through him like a blade, but he’d prepared for it. Had known it might come to this. His bear whimpered, the sound echoing inside his mind with visceral pain.
“Then I would let you go,” he said, the words steady despite the ache spreading beneath them. “I would wish you well and hope that you found happiness. And I would...” He swallowed hard. “I would remember these days as the most precious gift I’ve ever been given.”
Hannah’s eyes widened, something shifting in her expression. “You would just... let me walk away? Even though you believe I’m your...”
“Mate,” Caleb supplied again. “Yes. Because loving someone means wanting their freedom more than your own happiness.”
The words hung between them, simple and devastating in their truth. Caleb had never been more certain of anything in his life. He would rather live with the pain of her absence than the knowledge that she’d stayed out of obligation or a sense of duty.
Hannah took a step toward him, then stopped, uncertainty written across her features. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled, just a small curve of her lips, but it sent hope surging through him.
“Can we...” Hannah hesitated. “Can we go back inside? It’s getting cold, and I think... I think I’d like a glass of wine.”
“Wine, huh?” Caleb asked, as relief washed over him.
“Yeah, because that’s the kind of... mate... I am now.”
Chapter Twenty-Three – Hannah
Hannah opened her eyes as the soft dawn light filtered through the curtains. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Caleb’s room. In Caleb’s bed.
Caleb, who lay beside her on his stomach, one arm tucked beneath his pillow, his breathing deep and even. His face was turned toward her, relaxed in sleep, vulnerable in a way that made her heart ache.
She lay perfectly still, afraid to disturb him, afraid to break the spell of this moment. Her body hummed with the memory of his touch—his hands on her skin, his mouth against hers, the feel of him moving inside her.
Her muscles held a pleasant soreness, evidence that last night had been real.
All of it.
