“After what?”
“After I fell in love with you.”
I stare at him.
“I didn’t know what you were when you stitched up my leg,” he continues, leaning forward, both hands open on his knees. “I didn’t know when you found Ethan in the woods. I didn’t know in the parking lot. I knew the night they beat you in your apartment. I scented your blood through the door, and the bond hit me like a truck. That’s why I tried to push you away.”
I stare at him, trying to process all this. “You had all this time. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I let out a small laugh that has no humor in it. “Of course you were.”
Coach lifts a hand. “Miranda. Listen to me. Whatever else happens between the two of you, hear me on this. Do not let him give you the mating mark.”
I look at him. “The what now?”
“It’s a bite,” Coach explains tensely. “To the neck or pulse point. It binds you to him permanently and triggers a transformation in a human partner. It cannot be undone. TheAccord requires Council approval for any such marking. If he marks you without approval, both your lives are forfeit under pack law. His. Yours. There is no appeal.”
This morning is beginning to suck.
I set the mug on the arm of the chair. My fingers are not quite steady.
“You’re saying they’d execute us.”
“Yes.”
I turn to Grayson. “Were you going to tell me that too? Or is that another detail you were conveniently going to forget?”
“I wasn’t going to mark you.”
“Excuse me?” Why am I so offended?
“I wasn’t going to mark you, Miranda. Ever.” His amber eyes are very steady on mine.
“So what was your plan?”
He hesitates.
“Grayson. What was your plan?”
Coach is also looking at him.
“To marry you under human law. Live with you. Raise Ethan with you. Stay as close as the bond would let me get without crossing the line that puts your life at risk.”
“And the mark?”
“Never.”
The silence that follows that sentence is enormous.
Coach pushes up out of his chair. “I think you two need to talk. I’ll deal with the body myself.” He pauses at the edge of the patio, and something moves behind his eyes that he doesn’t say out loud. “I’ll have people on the site. Don’t get alarmed if you sense intruders.”
“Coach, wait.” Grayson’s voice has gone hoarse.
Coach’s eyes flick once to me and then back. “You knew the rules. You knew them when you proposed this arrangement, and you knew them when you slept with her. So now you choose. Goto the Council through the proper channels and petition for her openly. Or end this charade and let her live her life somewhere far enough from you that the bond can’t reach. You don’t get a third option.”
He walks away, but I don’t look at him. My eyes are focused on Grayson. He sinks onto the chair, his forearms on his thighs and his head down, hair falling over his forehead.
