His eyes flicked back and forth between mine.
“Look at her, and I’ll fucking do it.”
His lip was slightly curled in a snarl, looking just like the wolves I’d fought in the dark.
“If I find out you did this, I’ll banish you to the darkness.” I turned my back on him, tempting him to attack me because I’d love nothing more than a justification for the violence I wantedto unleash. But he let me go, burning holes into my back with his stare.
Hanne and the guys worked to salvage the garden. Others joined in to help because everyone’s lives depended on its success. I didn’t come for Allegra right away because that conversation needed to happen in private. The last thing I wanted to do was humiliate her in front of the tribe. With Krull, he had it coming.
When hours had passed and the tension had settled, I found Allegra with the girls, all of them working with the fur they’d skinned from the coyotes to make more clothes for the tribe, along with baby clothes for the new arrivals.
She looked up at me before I arrived, like she knew this conversation was bound to happen.
I nodded toward the trees and walked off so she would follow me.
She came to my side, and the two of us walked down the path and left the Gathering. Hanne didn’t notice me leave, too absorbed in the garden. The seeds had been scattered when the dirt had been shoveled into a pile, so everyone was combing for every single seed they could find.
I noticed Allegra didn’t look at the garden when he walked by.
When we were far enough away that no one would hear shouts or see tears, I faced her directly. I normally would have had a private conversation within the confines of my cabin, but the last thing I wanted to do was make Hanne uncomfortable by being alone with Allegra—in the place where I’d bedded her.
I wanted to come at her hard and start a relentless interrogation, but unlike Krull, I actually knew her. Knew her well. I knew I would have better success if I came at her gently. “Are you okay?”
The guard in her eyes dropped when she heard the question. Surprise came and went before the softness emerged. “Not really.”
I sympathized, but only so much. I’d already moved on, and I wished she wouldn’t guilt me for it. “I’m not sure how to make this better. We live in such close proximity that it’s not a relationship I can easily hide.” And it wasn’t a relationship I wanted to hide at all.
She crossed her arms over her chest, and her eyes dropped.
I waited for her to say something more, to help me resolve this. “I know she’s pretty and she’s smart…but I’m both of those things too.”
“You are, Allegra.” But there was no comparison between the two. Allegra didn’t have an ounce of the bravery that Hanne possessed. And Hanne was so proud that she never would have pursued me if their situations were reversed. She would let me go because she knew she’d find something better. She wouldn’t settle for less, and that was the kind of woman I wanted. “I don’t want to justify my feelings. I don’t owe you an explanation. Our relationship was purely physical, and there was no misunderstanding about that.” I struggled to have a conversation I’d had so many fucking times, to be burdened by her feelings that I’d never asked for. Now, I looked like the asshole, when I’d been honest with my intentions from the beginning. “I’m sorry that you’re hurting, but?—”
“Morco, I love you. And I can’t pretend I don’t.”
Fuck. I did my best not to show my frustration, but it must have flashed across my face in a split second because she looked like she was about to cry.
“I’m sorry that’s such an inconvenience to you.”
“Allegra, what do you expect me to do with that? You know I’m not going to say it back, so you’re just making me feel worse when I’ve never intentionally tried to hurt you. It’s fucked up, honestly.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she sniffled loudly as she blinked furiously to pull them back.
I tried to be gentle, but I’d somehow made the situation worse. “Allegra, did you destroy Hanne’s garden?”
She wiped her eyes with the backs of her forearms and sniffled again.
My eyes penetrated her gaze and dug for the information beneath the surface. “Allegra.”
“Give me a second.”
“It’s not a hard question to answer.”
She crossed her arms again and wouldn’t look at me.
I hadn’t believed she would do something like that, but now I didn’t know. “Allegra.”
“I didn’t do it,” she snapped. “You think I’d be capable of that?”
