“Since the Alpha said Kentucky.”
She closed her eyes for a second then opened them. “I could feel it. Every time the witches came up, every time Silke mentioned the coven, you went all tense. I kept telling myself I was wrong, that you were just on edge because of Garret.” She uncrossed her arms. “You knew your mother’s coven was here and you never thought to mention it.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“A lie of omission is still a lie,” she bit out. “You’ve known since we left Boston. You had days where I looked you in the face and asked what was wrong and you told me nothing.”
He deserved it. All of it.
“Why?” she pushed. “Why didn’t you tell me? About any of it? You could have told me the coven was here. Even if you weren’t sure it was your mother’s coven, you could have said something when Margaux showed up this morning or even when she came for Tabitha. Instead, you kept it to yourself and when she put the puzzle pieces together, you sat there and let it blow up in front of everyone.”
“What difference would it have made? They threw my mother out. They let her die alone. Why would I want anything to do with them?”
“That’s not the point and you know it. The point is you didn’t trust me with it. Again.” Her voice caught on the last word. “New York, when you lied about who you were. Boston, when you wouldn’t tell me about your mother. And now here. The same thing, over and over. Every time I think we’ve moved past it, there’s another lie hiding in the dark.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I should have told you. But right now, the coven doesn’t matter. Margaux doesn’t matter. What matters is what happened tonight.”
“Don’t change the subject?—”
“I’m not changing the subject. I’m telling you what’s important.” He pushed off the door. “Those men came for me. They were trained, they were organized, and they found us twenty miles from here. Garret’s scent was in that hallway. He tracked us down, Olivia.”
She went quiet.
“Garret won’t stop. He didn’t stop when they put him in a Lycan prison. He didn’t stop when we moved across the country. He’ll keep coming, and as long as I’m near you, you’re a target.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I have to find him. And I have to stop him. It’s the only way to keep you and the baby safe.”
“Stop him.” She repeated it back flat. “You mean kill him.”
He didn’t answer.
“You don’t have to do that. Lone Wolf is working on finding Garret, and the High Council and the Alpha are doing everything?—”
“The High Council couldn’t keep him locked up. Hell, Lone Wolf couldn’t even keep him out of their own building.” He met her gaze. “I know Garret. I know how he thinks, how he moves. I have to do this myself. Once he’s gone, you’ll be safe.”
“I can’t die remember? I’ll be okay?—”
“The True Mate invulnerability disappears after the baby is born,” he pointed out. “You know that. Right now, you can’t be killed, but what about after? What happens when the baby comes and that protection is gone?”
“And what about us?” she bit out. “What about our child? You’re going to walk out and leave your kid without a father, the same way Garret left you?”
That cut deep so deep he flinched. “It’s because of what Garret did that I know I have to stop him. I won’t let him near you or our child.”
“Then stay and fight from here. With me. With the people around us.”
“I can’t sit here and wait for the next attack while you’re standing next to me.”
She stared at him for a long moment. When she spoke again, her voice was different. The anger was still there, but underneath it was something worse.
“You know what I see right now, Eli? I see the same thing I’ve been seeing since the day we met. You’re not leaving to protect me. You’re leaving because that’s what you do.” She let go ofthe table and stepped toward him. “The second anyone gets too close, you run. You ran from Boston. You’ve been running from that coven since we got here, and now you’re running from me.”
“This isn’t about?—”
“Your mother’s family hurt her. I understand that. What they did was cruel, and I will never defend it. But you’ve turned what they did into your reason for never letting anyone all the way in. Every time someone gets close enough to actually know you, you pull out that wound and hide behind it.” Her hands were clenched at her sides. “And the worst part? You think that makes you strong and that shutting people out and bearing everything alone makes you noble. But you’re wrong. That just makes you lonely. And now you’re choosing it over me and our baby.”
He didn’t respond. What could he say after all that? And the truth was, she was right. He was just not ready to admit it.
