“Maybe she was afraid you’d distract her. Or maybe she was afraid you’d get hurt.”
“It’s highly unlikely I’d get hurt.”
“And yet she probably worries about it. Don’t you think that Tasha worries about me when I’m out on a job? Nothing would make her happier than if I left personal protection and did something boring and safe, like working at Phoenix Software.”
Phoenix Software was one of the largest and most successful tech companies in the country, run by lesbian philanthropist Madison Phoenix. Rumor had it that jobs at that company were better than gold.
“That’s why she insists on having her team cover her security instead of me,” Wanda continued. “She doesn’t want somecrazed fan trying to take me out trying to get to her, or worse yet, coming for me because I’m with Tasha.”
When I just sighed Wanda continued, “You guys seem great together. She is funny, smart, and strong. Plus she loosens you up a bit, which is good for you. But you also ground her and show her that she matters. That’s what good partners do you know, they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
“She lives in Canada,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, and you could get a visa to live there, or she could live here in Seattle,” Wanda reminded me. “And before you say that you don’t want either of you to give up your career, you know very well there are options for both of you in either city if you want it enough.”
“I’ll think about it,” I sighed.
Wanda huffed in annoyance. “You’re an idiot, but it’s your life, do what you want.”
I hung up and went inside, settling on the bed next to Hazel. Both of my animals had gone eerily quiet since Hazel announced that she was leaving, telling me that they were upset.
I’d never been one to ask for things, and I wasn’t going to ask Hazel to stay. I didn’t want her to feel obligated. She knew she was my mate, she knew how much she meant to me, yet she was still leaving. Clearly she didn’t feel the same way as I did. I just needed to accept that. I’d be okay. Eventually…
The closing of the front door woke me up the next morning. The pillow next to me was empty and Hazel’s suitcase no longer sat in the corner. She was gone. For the first time since I was a small child I felt tears fill my eyes, though I quickly blinked them away. Dragging myself out of bed, I wandered around the house for a few minutes, glumly thinking about how empty this place seemed without her. Then I heard someone banging on the door.
“What the hell?” I mumbled. “It’s six thirty in the morning.”
I tore open the door, expecting to find a neighbor or a particularly irritating salesperson, but instead I saw Hazel. I blinked several times, wondering if I was hallucinating.
“Hazel? I thought you were gone.”
She shoved past me and over her shoulder I saw Wanda waving as she drove off in one of the company SUVs. My mate dropped her bag and rounded on me, her hands on her hips.
“I thought I was your mate, the person you’re fated to be with forever,” she said. “That’s what you told me.”
“You are.”
“But you’re letting me go back to Canada, just like that? No discussion about you coming with me or me staying here or us trying a long-distance relationship? You’re just giving up, no argument?”
“I didn’t think you…”
“What do your inner beings think about all this anyway?”
Mate her,my wolf piped up.
Mate her and make her stay,my vamp agreed.
“They think I should ask you to stay but they don’t understand the complexities of the human world.”
She raised her eyebrows impatiently. “What’s complex about it? I love you, you love me, we’re supposed to be soulmates…”
“Fated mates.”
“Do you love me?” she asked. “The mate thing aside, do you love me?”
I looked at her incredulously. “You can’t possibly doubt that I love you.”
“Well you never said it.”
