“No,” he agrees. “But it’s true.”
I hesitate, then press on. “And then there was the whole… bound thing. Mates.”
I watch his face carefully as I say it. Boone doesn’t look away. If anything, he goes very still.
“You already explained what mates mean for your people,” I continue. “Compatibility. Choice. Resonance, not fate. I just—it said it so confidently. Like it was obvious.”
Boone exhales slowly. “To it, it probably was.”
“And to you?” I ask.
The answer comes without hesitation. “I would love nothing more than for that to be true.”
My throat tightens.
“But,” he adds gently, “I’m not blind to the complications. I know what it would mean for you. Your family. Your work. The life you built before me.”
“That’s exactly it,” I admit. “I understand the biology. The longevity. I could live as long as you. That part doesn’t scare me.” I swallow. “What scares me is… choosing a future that pulls me away from everything else I love.”
Boone’s gaze softenswith a tenderness so fierce it steals my breath. He lifts a hand, brushing his thumb along my jaw.
“I’m not asking you to choose anything today,” he says quietly. “Or tomorrow. Or ever, if it comes to that.”
I search his eyes. “Your gut still says yes, though.”
A small smile tugs at his mouth. “My gut has been screaming yes since the moment you walked into my territory two summers ago and started cataloging my footprints.”
I snort despite myself.
He leans in, forehead resting against mine. “Elias. I love you. And for as long as you will allow it, I will be with you. At your side. Loving you. No ultimatums. No deadlines.”
The simplicity of it undoes me far more than any declaration of destiny could have. “I love you too,” I say, voice rough. “Thank you.”
We lie together a while longer, the weight of everything unsaid pressing gently but not unbearably between us. Eventually, hunger wins out.
“I’m going to find breakfast,” I say, stretching carefully. “You’re meeting Bob?”
“Yes,” Boone replies. “And the Shade. We’ll talk terms.”
I nod, hope flickering. “I hope… I hope you can help it.”
“So do I,” Boone says honestly.
As I pull on my clothes and step outside, another thought hits me so hard I stop mid-step. “Oh no.”
Boone looks up. “What?”
“My brother.”
He blinks. “Your—what?”
“I saw him yesterday,” I say quickly. “Milo. I thought I was imagining it at first, but I followed him—well, tried to—and that’s when the Shade confronted me.” I shake my head, still not 100 percent sure, but still confident it was. I’ve tried his cell numerous times, but the damn thing’s been switched off.
Boone’s expression shifts immediately to alert concern. “You didn’t tell me.”
“I know,” I wince. “Everything happened so fast.”
He studies me for a moment, then nods. “Find him. Stay inside the wards.”
