“My wolf will take care of it.”
From what I’ve seen of her wolf, she’s slow to heal Angel. Possibly the result of the stress, or something the WSSO did to her.
“Angel, I’m walking toward you. Just to keep you company, nothing more. You’re running in woods you don’t know, without a plan. That’s a dangerous combo.”
I don’t hear any noise up ahead, but her scent remains strongin the wind. Branches break beneath my bare feet, warning her of my approach. She’s had enough surprises and betrayals.
When I catch up to her, she’s sitting with her back against a tree, knees pulled up to her chest, head resting on her knees. And a very tired look on her face.
I crouch in front of her. “I know I said you didn’t have to talk, but I need to know what you want, my Angel.”
“Don’t call me that.”
My wolf starts to growl, but I shut him down. This isn’t about him or me. “Okay, Angelina, then.” The name Angelina sounds wrong on my lips, but she’s fragile right now. “I could carry you out of here, get you to our pack’s doctor to treat your wounds. Or take you to Devil’s Peak. I’d find some clothing and shoes for you and you can enter the town on your own, hop on a bus, go anywhere you’d like. I’ll pay for it. Somehow.”
“Why would you do that for me?”
“Oh, Angel,” I slip up and call her Angel, but she doesn’t object this time. “It will kill me to see you to leave, but I’d do anything to make you happy. Just tell me what you need.”
“I need my pack to be alive, to never have been attacked, to never have?—”
“Met me?”
Her head rises. Clouded blue eyes meet me. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you want everything to go back the way it was? No death, no betrayals. No choices.”
She nods.
“I can’t make that happen. But I can help you adjust to my pack, if that’s what you want. It’s what I’ve been trying to do since you returned with me.” I massage my temples. “I fucked things up, didn’t I? This whole time, trying to make you a part of my pack, to like it and call it home because it’s my home… That wasn’t fair to you.”
“He’s gone by now, isn’t he?”
“Ronin? Maybe. I’m not sure what Drake will do, but Haydenwon’t let him follow us. I’ll escort you wherever you want to go. You won’t have to see Ronin again, unless… unless you want to.”
She throws her head back, looking up at the small patch of blue sky showing through the dense canopy. “I never wanted to mate him, let alone blood-bond him. Before we were attacked, I’d been trying to figure out how to avoid it, all while knowing I wouldn’t be able to. My alpha decreed I would blood-bond Ronin. We don’t…didn’t… choose our mates in my pack. In that way, being taken by the WSSO was a blessing. Even if Ronin had rescued me, I would have resisted mating him.”
“Why?”
“Because he isn’t you, Garrett.” Her eyes shine with hope and vulnerability at the same time.
“You didn’t know me, back then.”
“I knew I didn’t want Ronin. But I suspect a part of me knew you were out there somewhere. No, I didn’t know your name, your pack, or anything about you, but I knew there was someone for me, and it wasn’t Ronin. I never allowed myself to seek that special shifter because I never thought I had any choice but to follow my alpha’s orders.”
My body stiffens, and while I fear asking, I have to. “Angel, do you want to leave me? I don’t mean go with Ronin, but to leave me, the pack… all of us? Have I pressured you? Or…” I inhale sharply. “Or… would you like me to go with you, no matter where it is you want to go?”
A slight cry escapes her, then she rises, and I’m sure she’s going to run again. She does… right into my arms. “I don’t want to lose you, Garrett, but how can I be with you when I don’t even know who I am anymore?”
CHAPTER FORTY
ANGEL
As the late-day sun wanes, a chill enters my bones. I’m exhausted, injured, and emotionally drained. We’re not far from Garrett’s pack, and while I’m eager to arrive and crawl into a bed, any bed, I’m so on edge it’s not funny.
Never have I cried so much as in Garrett’s arms after I asked him a question he couldn’t answer.
How can I be with you when I no longer know who I am?
