“Nothing.”
Anders is quiet, but there’s a knowing look in his eyes.
“What a crock of shit,” Gunnar says from the shore. “Something’s wrong. Tell us.”
Sighing, I splash water over my shoulders to rinse off the soap. “It’s nothing you can fix.”
“Try me.” Gunnar cracks his knuckles. His claws are sharp, and there’s a feral glow to his eyes. “If someone has harmed you, they won’t live to see another day.”
I appreciate his protectiveness, but I shake my head. “I… had my heart broken. I fell for someone and they didn’t return my feelings.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Wulfric says. “Did they say why?”
My reflection ripples on the surface of the pool. I don’t recognize the man looking back at me with bruises under his eyes, his cheeks gaunt. “No.”
“There will be others,” Wulfric says.
My jaw clenches until my teeth ache.
There was only one, and you took him from me.The words burn the back of my throat like bile. How I want to rage at him, tear into him with words and with claws.
But I can’t. Just as Wulfric bears responsibility, so do I. No one forced me to stay. I made my choice. I chose my brothers. I let Soren go.
Anders gives me a knowing look and says through our bond,“I’m not letting you give up. I didn’t watch you pine and mope for years only for you to give up at the slightest inconvenience.”
I take a deep breath to keep my composure, pretending to rinse soap from my shoulders although they’re clean already.“I did not pine. And this is more than an inconvenience. He doesn’t remember me. Worse than that, he was frightened of me.”
Anders scoffs, earning him an odd look from Wulfric. He disappears under the water, then surfaces some way off.I swim out to the center of the pool with him. Quietly, Anders murmurs, “Of course he was frightened. No doubt you went charging in and made a spectacle of yourself.”
“Because I thought he knew who I was,” I hiss.
“Well, he didn’t. Jamie punched me in the face when we first met.”
My mouth slips open. Jamie hit him? Sweet slip of a thing, Jamie?
“Wish I’d been there to see that.”
He smacks the back of my head, making me chuckle. “Point is, you’ve got to have some tact. They don’t like being told that you’re from the past and you’ve come to knot and mate them.”
“But Soren’s not a human.”
Anders huffs. “He’s spent years in their world and for whatever reason, he’s lost his memories. He may very well believe he is one of them. So you’ve got to play by their rules, as Jamie says.”
“What’s the point? He doesn’t remember me.”
Anders snaps, “Then you’ll just have to make him fall in love with you again, idiot!”
Could he be right? Is it possible for me to find a way to earn Soren’s love?
“I did it before…” It had taken years, and my feelings had changed so slowly I hadn’t noticed it myself. Surely I can do it again.
“Are you willing to try? Is he worth it?”
My heart skips. “Of course he is!” Within me, hope blossoms like flowers in spring.
Anders grins, eyes lighting up. “Good. Now listen. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
“Where are we going?” I ask as Anders rows us out into the sea.
