Michael nodded. “When is he due back?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Does he know?”
“That you’re here?” Isaac shook his head. “No. I didn’t want to risk telling anyone who isn’t here already.”
“Okay.”
The tension had lifted somewhat, but some lingered, and Isaac had no interest in feeling unsettled in his own territory. They’d never held back from being brutally honest with each other.
“I’m sorry this has hurt you, but I did what I thought was best for you, my pack, and the CEG. I won’t apologise for that.”
Michael met his gaze, eyes the colour of the sea in the waning light. “I wouldn’t ask you to.”
“So we’re good?”
“As far as Sam’s concerned, yes.”
Isaac looked away, training his hearing to see if they were alone. Not that it mattered much here. The fact that he and Michael used to be together was probably the last thing anyone was interested in.
But he’d like to avoid that scrutiny for a while if possible. If they kept doing what they’d done earlier, then everyone would know soon enough.
Which is probably what he wants to talk about.
Not a conversation he was looking forward to, but one they needed to have sooner rather than later. Satisfied that no one was listening in, he said quietly, “Say what you wanted to say earlier.”
Michael waited a beat before answering. “Where do we go from here?”
“I don’t know.” Isaac wished he had a better answer. He’d thought of nothing else all day but was still no closer to sorting out his feelings. “Wait and see how this—” He gestured between them. “––plays out?”
Michael snorted. “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?”
They had.
But that time apart had changed them both.
Isaac sighed, the cool wind coming off the sea clearing his mind enough for him to say whatheneeded to. “We can’t go back, Michael.” He’d said it earlier, but they needed to hear it again.
“I don’t want to go back.”
“What do you want?”
“I—” He broke off and looked away, and Isaac fought the urge to grab his chin and make him face him again. “Do you still love me?” He asked, voice so quiet Isaac strained to hear it. And then he wished he hadn’t, the words like a knife to his heart because the truth was, he didn’t fucking know anymore.
Yes, his wolf whispered.Always.
Isaac let his head fall into his hands and gave in, breathing in a lungful of Michael’s scent and allowing it to envelope him with the warm familiarity it always brought. He loved what they’d been together, loved the idea of them, and up until Michael had arrived at his front door, had thought it would’ve been so easy to fall back into a relationship.
But the reality was not as rose-coloured.
Yes, he still felt the primal urge to protect Michael, and that would never change, but they needed to get to know one another again, to rebuild what the last five years had taken from them. “I do,” he said eventually. “But...”
“But it’s not enough.” The quiet acceptance and hurt in Michael’s voice pulled at Isaac’s chest, tearing at his heart, and as Michael started to get up, he grabbed his hand, stopping him.
“I don’t want anyone else.”
“What do you want?”
