Though I sincerely doubt Reed had gone far. He’d be watching us both like hawks.
My wolf was in no hurry to go anywhere, but after a few moments of push and pull, I was back on two legs.
“Okay,” I said hoarsely.
She turned around and kept her eyes pinned to my face. “What the fuck? Just tell me what the actual fuck, so I can decide what to do with you.”
I sighed. “She didn’t want the bond. She was activelymourningthe bond. I thought… I thought she would be happier with you than with me.” I rubbed at the space between my pecs, the aching hole where the shut-down connection between us now lived. “I’d clearly outstayed my welcome, but I couldn’t let her be alone either. She’snotalone, is she?”
Come to think of it, that was probably why I was so exhausted. It was new. It was supposed to be the happiest, most connected time of my life, and I’d forced it so tightly shut that it was sapping my strength to keep it that way.
“Oh, you dickhead. She wasn’t mourning you. She was mourning… the life she thought she’d live.” Fiona threw her hands up. “And no, of course she’s not alone. She’s with Olivia and Lucien. Maybe Galyna too, by now. I lost cell signal a while back because you ran so fucking far away like none of us have anything better to do than hunt your ass down.”
I arched an eyebrow, not really sure what she wanted me to say, or do, for that matter. But I’dfeltwhat Elodie was feeling. And that was not that she wanted me to stick around. She didn’twant this bond, and I wasn’t going to force it on her, no matter how badly it hurt me to close it, to keep my distance.
My wolf was still oddly silent on the matter, and for the first time, I found that frustrating. He always cut through the haze, saw everything clearly. So why, now when I needed him most, was he leaving me to figure it out alone?
“I didn’t want to leave.”
“You’re a grown-ass man. If you left, it was because you wanted to,” she argued, hands on hips. “Nobody forced you to chicken out.”
“No, she didn’t force me, but she shouldn’t have to. If she doesn’t want to be mated to me, I won’t force her. This isn’t some stupid fairy tale where I lock the little woman in a tower. She has agency! She has a choice!”
“So why did you take it away from her? Stay and fight! Stay and tell her you’ll love her through it, you colossally stupid bag of testosterone! That’s what she needs. That’s what gets you through it as mates. And for the love of the moon, you don’t justknow everythingabout what your mate is thinking and feeling because of the bond. Sometimes, you still have to have a damn conversation.” Lightning flashed overhead, striking a few feet to my left. I jumped, eyes wide at the now-smoking forest floor.
Reed stepped out of the forest, coming up to wrap Fiona in a hug from behind. “Easy, Stormy. I know you mean well, but a forest fire is not the answer to anyone’s problems.”
She huffed. “I’d have put it out if one started.”
He chuckled again, as if her wildly dangerous tantrum was no more offensive than swatting a fly. Then he glanced my way. “You know she’s right, don’t you?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know that at all. I knew what I felt, what I experienced firsthand. The pain, the sorrow, the grief. How else could that be interpreted other than that I’d overstayed my welcome?
Reed’s expression was surprisingly apologetic. “Look, man, even with a bond in your chest—it’s not black and white. There is no cut-and-dried with emotions. And the first time you feel your mate go through something, it’s… overwhelming. It’s too much too fast, and you guys went hard mode. She was going through one of the hardest losses of her life while you were celebrating, and I can only imagine how awful a blow that must have been. But you love her, right?”
“Of course,” I said, broken at the admission. “So damn much. More than anything.”
That seemed to drain all the fight out of Fiona, who sighed. “Well, then, you’d better get your ass back over there andtell her that. She thinks you abandoned her.”
At that, my wolf growled. We would neverabandonher. She was ours, for the rest of her life. But were Reed and Fiona right? Did she still want us? Was it possible I’d misinterpreted it all?
I couldn’t risk reopening the bond, not if I wasn’t sure. There was no way I’d have the strength to close it a second time.
But if there wasany chanceshe didn’t want to reject the bond, that she didn’t want to go back to the maidens instead of living as our mate… I had to try. I had to hear her out, no matter how much it would hurt if she officially rejected the bond.
On something so important, there could be no miscommunications, no assumptions. I had to hear it direct from her lips.
My wolf burst back out of my skin, and he raced into the woods, the distance between us and our mate disappearing one tearing stride at a time.
I’m coming, Elodie. I’m coming.
Chapter 53
Elodie
Olivia and I made our way back to the castle after a while. She’d brushed off any questions about the state of the pack, the war prep, anything I’d missed while in my heat.
Probably because it was a mess, and she thought I was too fragile to deal with it. Any other day, I’d have been offended. I was the furthest thing from fragile. But today?
