Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
GARRETT
Angel and I are both quiet as we head towards the lake. I’m still not sure what happened back there, but I have to take her word that I didn’t hurt her. Either way, something changed between us. And no matter what she calls it… it was a claiming.
But not a blood-bonding. For once, my wolf remains quiet. I guess neither of us is ready to blood-bond. As for Angel, she’s all smiles again. Seeing her face filled with joy lets me breathe without regret and guilt driving a heavy boot into my chest.
This moment—alone on the path, just the two of us—is too perfect. Not because I claimed her, but because she’s still here with me. She hasn’t fled, hasn’t given up on me, despite all my trust issues.
“Come on,” she says, pulling on my hand. “Let’s get a good seat before they’re all taken.”
“Angel, I really do enjoy being with you. It’s not something I ever dreamed would happen—”
“I gave in to temptation long before you did, shifter. That’s how we ended up… Let’s just say I never meant to tempt you. ”
“Oh, darlin’, you’ve been a huge temptation since the day I met you. But I wanted better for you.”
She stops short. “You don’t get to tell me what or who I deserve. And if I want some broken-down, old shifter with his head up his ass, that’s my choice.”
“Old? You think I’m old?”
“That you object to? Not the ‘head up his ass’ part?”
“I know my faults, darlin’.”
“Do you know your strengths? And how they far outweigh your faults?”
She doesn’t see a broken shifter. That’s… interesting.
My fears press against me, and I have this desire to shake her until she wakes up and realizes why she’s better off without me. But when she looks into my eyes with complete trust, I can’t. I want that trust, that admiration, especially from a woman as strong as my Angel.
She’s put up with so much from me, including how I took her. Rough and suspicious of her motives. She deserved better. Deserves better.
My thumb brushes her cheek. “Next time will be better.”
“Oh, so there will be a next time?” she says in a low, breathy voice.
“I hope so.” Fuck, I hate sounding so uncertain. “I don’t want to hurt you, Angel.”
“You won’t.” She lifts up on her toes and kisses my cheek.
“Are you sure about me? Out there, rescuing shifters, infiltrating enemy territory, I know what I’m doing. But this… here… I’m a little lost.”
“I’ve noticed. And yes, I’m sure. We’re good for each other. I’m starting to believe in myself again. And you… Oh, Garrett, I wish you could see how much everyone here loves you, how much they need you, how much they miss you.”
“I haven’t left them.”
“You isolate yourself when you’re not on missions. Yes, you do what your alpha asks—anything for the good of the pack—but that’s it. You’re absent from their lives, the day-to-day joy and support.”
“I’ve been around, haven’t I?”
“You’ve pulled away from them in a way that no one else can replace. Not your retrieval skills. You. Your inner strength. Your wit. Your heart…All the things that make you Garrett.”
Her words—and those of my packmates—are still rattling around in my head when she grabs my hand and leads me up the trail.
She sees more in me than is actually there. Doesn’t she?
Laughter and voices caught up in casual chatter filter to us through the trees. I’m starting to think this isn’t a good idea, not after we just—
“Come on, we have seats with your alpha and his mate.”
“Damien? You want to sit with Damien?”
“I’m still working on my confidence, Garrett. Don’t make me second guess myself.”
“I wonder what has her so excited that she’s not only willing for us to sit with Damien and Tess, but she’s the one suggesting it.”
My wolf bites me, telling me to stop overthinking everything and go with our female, to trust in her.
Our female…
You’re getting ahead of yourself, wolf, I warn, but I can’t scold him. Not when I feel as he does.