She turned away from him, which was hard to take. He looked at the sharp, angular lines of her shoulders as she hunched up, her whole body cramped with an unhappiness she was apparently going to do her best to never, ever express. He hated seeing her like this—but now he felt like trying to talk her out of it had only made things worse. Now she was talking to her own fears, not to him.
Was this it? Would they never leave Mountainview’s borders for more than an hour or two? He would miss the open road, and it would break his heart to never have the chance to share his favorite places with her. How could he go the rest of his life without seeing Lydia’s face when she saw the Grand Canyon? But he would still do it, for her. He’d seen enough of the world, so it wouldn’t be the worst thing to stay home, now that he’d finally found it.
But watching Lydia, with her adventurous spirit and need for freedom, slowly wither away inside the trap she’d made for herself ... thatwouldbe the worst thing. It was even more painful because he knew it didn’t have to be that way. There was no reason they couldn’t have a different relationship with the pack than the one Ruth had built.
But would he ever be able to get Lydia to see that?
That was all he’d wanted to show her, but instead, he’d managed to convince her that he was on his way out the door. Maybe this was the worst possible time to have this conversation, and it was his own fault for bringing all this up on the eve of Ruth’s funeral. He should have known that Lydia wouldn’t be in the right head-space to reevaluate her whole life. It was time to drop it for now.
He took a deep breath. “I’m stressing you out, and I’m sorry. I just want you to know that no matter what, I’m never going to leave you. That was never what I was saying.”
Lydia’s face softened. “I know. I mean—” She rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the tears. “I freaked out, but I know you’re here for me. I do. It’s just that I don’t ever want to stop you from being happy.”
“You won’t. You couldn’t.”
He wrapped his arms around her, and she pressed her still-damp face against his chest, letting out a long, unsteady breath of her own. He was relieved that as tense as things had gotten just now, she was still prepared to cuddle up to him without a second thought. Their mate bond was as strong as it had ever been, and holding each other felt as right and easy as ever.
That meant it was okay to risk the hard conversations. It would take a lot more than that to drive a real wedge between them.
Even if he never convinced her to give herself a break, he could at least be sure it was okay to try. And he wasgoingto try again, both for her sake and the sake of the pack.
“I love you,” he said against her temple.
“I love you too.” Her breathing was steadier now. “But you’ll tell me if you’re ever unhappy here, won’t you?”
“I will. And you’ll tellme?”
He knew that was a risky question. Even if Lydia honestly meant to tell him when the pressures of Mountainview were getting to her, he wasn’t sure if she’d be able to bring herself to do it. But if she promised she would, he’d know she meant it—
Before she could say anything, though, there was a knock at the door.
As much as Case had vowed to humor any and all appeals from the pack during this difficult time, he swore to himself that if a dishwasher was involved in thisat all, he was going to lose it.
Be patient, he told himself.Whoever it is, they don’t know that this is a bad time.
“I’ll get it,” he said, pressing one last kiss to Lydia’s forehead.
“Thanks.” She rubbed her eyes again, making a distinctly sheepish face. “I could probably use a minute to calm down, but I’ll join you. If it’s something complicated, stall them.”
He had to admit he was intrigued by what kinds of complicated issues they could—and eventually would—get. His wolf perked up at that too, always interested in learning more about being a good alpha to its pack. Case gave it a mental scratch behind the ears as he headed for the door.
He opened it up.
“Hey,” Reeve said, his mouth widening in a threatening grin. “Did you miss me?”
Before Case could answer, Reeve crooked his finger, and a lean young woman stepped up onto the porch beside him.
“By the way,” Reeve said, “I wanted you to meet my new mate.”
22
Lydia was glad she was taking a moment to pull herself together.
Of course, if there was ever a time in her life when she could have appeared in front of her packmates with tear-stains on her face, this was it. But when she knew that her eyelids were still red and puffy not from grief but from a horrible bout of stress crying, it felt different. She didn’t want them to see such obvious evidence that Case was right: shedidfeel trapped here, and she knew it. She just wasn’t sure there was anything she could do about it, not if she wanted to protect Mountainview.
But what if Case was right about Mountainview too? What if the town could look out for itself—and for its alphas—more than Ruth had ever let it? What if it even wanted to?
She had been so sure he wouldn’t want to stay, and so sure she couldn’t leave, that she had never let herself think that maybeneitherof those things were true.
