Max’s gaze shot to Talis, and Goddess knew what his shifter senses were telling him, but I needed them both to go inside. No doubt he’d hear our conversation anyway.
“Please,” I added, and it seemed to do the trick because Gabriel gave Max a nudge and they disappeared inside, closing the door behind them.
Talis shoved his hands in his pockets, shoulders rigid. A wildness clung to him, the wolf under his skin easy to imagine as his whole body seemed to vibrate with barely restrained energy.
He wants to shift, I thought.
He wants to lose himself to the freedom of his wolf and run as far away from me as he can get.
“You know Max can still hear us, right?” He eyed me with a blank stare.
It hurt, and I let it, because I deserved it. “I know.”
“I just…” What? What did I want to say to him that could possibly make this okay? Sasha had told me to fix things between us, but as I stood there outside my house, words for once elusive, I realised I’d probably made everything ten times worse. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, meeting eyes so green and vibrant, it was hard to accept the lack of emotion in them.
“What for?”
“For everything.” I drew in a deep breath, Talis’s scent filling my lungs, and a pang of longing caught me by surprise. He smelt of the woods, and the earth, of what I’d come to realise waspack. Probably only a fraction of the things his senses picked up, but it was familiar and comforting in a way that I’d come to rely on.
And I’d missed it in the months we’d been like this.
I missedhim.
But he was right. There was no going back.
“I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
He rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry that you’ve been put in this position by Lady Sarhin. I can talk to her, explain that other members of Rys’s pack can easily—”
“Don’t.” His voice wasn’t cold or angry, just flat. “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve talked things through, and I know exactly where I stand with you. There is nothing unresolved. You’re like any other pack member and I will treat you accordingly. If Rys tells me to guard you, then I will. If he chooses someone else to do it…” He shrugged, like he didn’t give a fuck either way. “Then I’m sure they’ll be equally as vigilant.”
It was essentially the outcome that I’d thought I wanted, but hearing it come out of his mouth, it sounded so cold, sofinal. “Talis—”
“Goodbye, Axel.” He gave me one last long look, the indifference in his eyes faltering for the briefest moment, and the devastation I saw there floored me.
Fuck.
I reached for him, but he was already gone, tearing off towards the trees in a blur of movement. A howl sounded a few seconds later, deep and mournful. It echoed through the forest, hitting me full force as if he’d struck me.
Staggering backwards, I collided with the wall and dropped to my knees, head in my hands.
What the fuck have I done?
* * *
Four setsof eyes swung my way when I returned to the living room.
I focused on Max, curious to know what he’d heard and if he’d shared any of it.
A quick and subtle shake of his head answered that.
“Shall we?” Lady Sarhin gestured to the empty chair. “I need to return through the gateway soon.”
I sat and waited. I might’ve been the central focus of this whole thing, but I was neither a member of the guard nor the paranormal police.
No, I was the reason their lives were all on hold while they watched over me.
