“I did.”
Her gaze darts to her shoulder, and I know she’s looking at the gashes there, where the glass clawed at her as I dragged her out after she’d died.
“Was there any way…” She pauses a second, then clears her throat. “Could you have saved my mom?”
The hurt in her voice is palpable, stabbing me right through the mark that welds me to her.
“She was gone by the time I found you. There wasn’t time.”
“Oh.” Her disappointment tugs at my gut. As badly as I want to tell her the full truth of it—that I’ll protect her for eternity—I don’t. I can’t say the words. Not yet. Though, there’s nothing I want more than to share the beauty of what we are. Who she is to me.
My love. My mate.
My Tempest.
She’s a storm that’s swept me up and consumed me so deeply that I’m both irrevocably broken and beautifully changed by her. Forever.
“Can I see you? Yourtrueform,” she clarifies.
We sit there in silence a moment as I hold my tongue, choosing my words carefully. Maybe, just maybe, she’s moreready to believe in me than I’m giving her credit for. But I refuse to overwhelm her. To release our delicate truth into the wind just to have it come back and smack me in the face.
“Not yet. But soon.”
19
JOLIE
My eyes water, my entire body frozen in place, attention pinned to the wolf in front of me. I’m too scared to blink and find him gone. If it’s rude to stare this long, he doesn’t seem to care. It’s as if he’s watching me as intently as I’m watching him, our gazes piercing into each other.
Not yet. But soon?
Why does it feel like this man—being—only speaks in riddles? I spent all day waiting for answers. Now that I have a few of them, I barely understand any more than I did an hour ago.
If anything, I’m more confused.
“What’s swirling through that mind of yours, Tempest?”Jax’s deep voice startles me back into the present.
Tempest.
The memory of dancing beneath the moonlight leaps to the forefront of my mind, recalling how I’d leaned into the caress of the wind as it carried my body to the music…
I rub my arms, trying to smooth down the goose bumps that have sprung up, realizing I’m still only in my bra. I spot my shirt and quickly snatch it off the floor, pulling it over my head.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,”Jax purrs.
I swear the vibration of his words shakes me from the inside.
What the heck, Jolie?
I clear my throat. “You know, that line isn’t as cute as you think it is.”
Though, his words don’t exactly disturb me either.But they should,that logical little voice echoes in my mind. The one that still can’t make sense of this, no matter how many answers I get. I straighten up, tugging the hem of my shirt into place. It’s oversized, falling just above my knees, Ballet Potomacwritten across the chest in elegant script. Sitting on the bed, I tuck my legs under me, the chill in the room becoming more manageable. “I don’t know about where you’re from, but around here, that’s more creepy than anything.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be creepy.”He chuckles, as if amused.
“How long have you been watching me?”
“Since I awoke for winter.”
