I can feel it, though. “Savi is not our enemy,” I tell him.
Then I wrap myself around him and hold on while he rages a little bit. While he gets his panic out of his system. While he gets my scent all over him and can relax.
Eventually he pulls away and moves back on the bed, raking his hands over his face. Through his hair that is falling everywhere today, making him look like a wolf gone Viking.
“The full moon is three days from now,” he says when he speaks again. “We need to talk about that.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I assure him. “It’s a winter moon. It’s going to rise late and sullen and take its sweet time getting up there, too. And no matter when it does, I’ll be right there beside you, ready to go.”
The words I think he’s been waiting for all this time, not very patiently.
Today he frowns at me. “I don’t want you to do that.”
Something in me stutters at that. I realize that I’m holding my breath, but I can’t bring myself to let it go. Not yet.
“Maddox.” Ty reaches over and pulls my hands into his. “I’m releasing you from this. You deserve a king who knows his own people. Who can see it when someone’s got a knife to his back, and that’s clearly not me. After all the ways you stood up for this pack, and for me, when neither they nor I thanked you for it ...” He shakes his head. “I think you deserve better.”
That stuttering thing in me shifts. This I can deal with. This is not ... him not wanting me.
I would rather face Vinca all by myself than face Ty not wanting me.
The truth of that feels like a new sort of ache, everywhere.
I wrap my fingers around his. “I do deserve better,” I agree, and his dark eyes blaze at that.Good,I think.Dick. “What is this noble bullshit? This isn’t the king who is supposed to claim me at last beneath the full Wolf Moon. This sounds like some whiny bitch.”
“Hey. Watch yourself.”
I hold his gaze and keep it steady. “I don’t need your self-pity, Ty.”
The funny part is that my heart actually hurts for him. It feels like a weight in my chest, but I also know that the worst thing I could do right now is cry. Try to hold him. Make this soft. That’s the last thing he needs.
At the end of the day, Ty is a warrior king. One of the most sacred jobs I have is to make sure he can fight. That’s what he needs, so that’s what I do. “Connor betrayed you. That sucks. I’m sure that others will betray you, in time, because no matter what else is happening in this world we can be sure that people who suck will find new ways to keep on sucking. But it won’t be me.”
I say that last part a little more intensely than the rest. And I keep going. “What I need is for you not to betray me, either.”
He scowls. “I’m trying to do you a favor.”
“I don’t want it,” I shoot back at him in the same intense tone. “And anyway, you can’t release me. Don’t you know? There’s only one way out. If you want a different mate, you’re going to have to kill me. My mother told me that. It’s the only way you can clear the slate and let fate sort you out.”
He growls at that, which I guess tells me how he feels about murdering me.
Still, a girl likes to be sure. I let go of his hands and lean closer, tilting my head back to expose my neck to him. “Go on. Rip my throat out. End it now.”
“You little shit,” he growls at me.
I tilt my head back even farther. “One bite and it will all be over. I’m sure that will solve all your problems.”
He leans forward and puts his mouth on my neck. He bites down, too—but it’s not to hurt me.
Quite the opposite.
Ty licks my pulse, laughing when it picks up. His hand wraps around the back of my neck, and he tugs my head around so he can look at me.
“Never say I didn’t give you a way out, babe,” he tells me, his voice serious. “And you better always remember you didn’t want it.”
“Oh no,” I murmur. “I guess we’re stuck with each other. You’re going to have to meet me when the full moon rises after all, and get ready to run when it hits that zenith.”
It’s a lot later, and I’m a lot limper and giddier, when we both hear some barking from outside that indicates he’s needed. He bites me on the throat again, a little warning nip, and rolls away.
