I dropped the ring box on the ground, turning my back on him and telling Rhett, “I’m done here.”
Anger heated me through, and I didn’t notice the cold as I climbed back into the SUV. With hands fisted in my lap, I breathed through my mouth to calm my temper. I wasn’t usually the kind of person to blow up in a rage, but right now, I wanted to climb back out of the car and scream my fury.
Instead, I took three long breaths, watching dense clouds cover the last of the pale light. Rhett settled quietly into the seat beside me, staring.
I didn’t meet his gaze. “Thanks for bringing me. We can leave now.”
Evan was still in front of his trailer, cursing and digging through the snow when we pulled away. Soon the buildings disappeared behind us, and the wilderness closed in.
It felt like evening in the forest. Tiny flakes blew around us, sticking to the windshield in perfect snowflake shapes.
I could barely make them out as my eyes watered. No matter how much I swallowed, the lump in my throat got bigger, until it felt like I couldn’t breathe around it.
My next exhale came out like a sob. I covered my face with my hands, trying and failing to block out the shame and hurt.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Rhett asked softly.
“What’s there to talk about?” I sniffled. “He’s right. Everything he said is true.”
“It doesn’t matter what he thinks.”
“But it’s not just him! He was only repeating what everyone in my life has always told me. ‘You’re too much, Angie. Get it together, Angie. Think before you do things, Angie.’”
The SUV came to a sudden stop. Rhett put it in park on the side of the road, hands gripping the wheel so hard the leather squeaked.
I frowned at the dark trees on either side of us. Why did we stop?
He climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. The footsteps he left in the snow were deep and heavy as he stomped to the forest and turned his back to me.
Of course. Because I was too much for him too, my emotions overwhelming his sensible nature.
Rhett whipped around, golden eyes flashing as he wrenched my door open and took my hand. My seatbelt snapped off my chest, and I slid from the seat so fast I almost lost my footing.
The flakes were larger now, spinning as they fell into Rhett’s dark hair and left sparkly dewdrops. I could almost see the steam rising off him in the cold.
“Everyone in your life?”
I fumbled over my answer, still confused about our abrupt stop. “Yes?”
“Your family? Your friends? They’re all like him?”
“Everyone but my sisters.”
Rhett yanked his hair, looking uncharacteristically unkempt as he came to stand right in my space.
“Don’t you get it? You’re not the problem.”
“I kind of think I am.”
“He didn’t leave because you’re too much. He left because he’s small—and you’re not.” His face hovered over mine, and I licked my lips. “Maybe you never fit with them because that’s not where you belong. You’re too bright for dark places.”
“Then where do I belong?” It was starting to feel like nobody in the world wanted me around. I didn’t have what it took to be normal like everyone expected.
He brushed a flake of snow from my cheek, and it melted into cool droplets. “In a wolf pack. You’ll never be too much for us.”
My eyebrows came together. “But I’m not a shifter.”
“Half of Glacier Run is human.”
