Chapter 37 Rhys
RHYS
Her expression softened as I climbed onto the bed beside her, my arm sliding beneath her neck. I brushed a lock of hair from her face and watched her expression turn to wonder. To curiosity. To love.
Goddess, how did I end up with this incredible woman?
It wasn’t enough to say it to the Goddess in silence.
Sable needed to hear it. Now. I looked out the window for some inspiration.
How was I supposed to start? I was about to seal a bond with my fated mate, a woman I never in my craziest dreams would have imagined would be for me.
Yet she was wholly mine, and I was so fucking madly hers there wasn’t even a question anymore.
Despite everything I’d put her through.
The hotel room was floor-to-ceiling glass, Dallas stretching out forty stories below—highway interchanges and high-rises, the whole city grid lit up like someone's circuit board.
But I didn't give a shit about the skyline. I needed words.
Sable lay on the bed where I'd just placed her, her hair fanned across the pillow, eyes dark with desire and trust. That trust—it made my chest tight. She reached for me, her fingers curling in invitation.
"Tonight," she said softly. "We seal the bond."
I stayed at the edge of the bed, not moving closer. "Yeah."
Her brow furrowed at my hesitation. "Then come here." She sat up, reaching for me again. "I'm ready, Rhys. I want this."
"Sable—"
"I'm not going to change my mind." She moved to the edge of the bed, close enough to touch. "We can talk about anything in the morning."
"No."
She froze, pulling back a fraction, eyebrows raised in question.
I stayed where I was, even though every instinct screamed to close the distance. "We're not doing this."
"Doing what, exactly?"
"Sealing the bond and hoping that fixes what I broke."
Her jaw tightened. "I said I forgive you. That it was as much me as you. I'm here, aren't I? What else do you want?"
"I want you to let me say it." The words came out rougher than I meant. "All of it. What I did. Why I did it. Why I was wrong."
"I was there, Rhys. I don't need a recap."
"Maybe I do."
She stared at me. Something changed in her expression—surprise, maybe. Or suspicion.
I ran a hand through my hair. "I told you that you meant nothing to me. You remember that part?"
"You rejected the bond." Her voice was flat. "You were cruel about it. We've established this."
The memory tasted like bile. "You came to Orion territory, probably scared out of your mind, definitely in pain from the bond forming—and I looked you in the eye and told you to leave. That I didn't want you, that I could never want someone like you."
Sable shifted on the bed, drawing her knees up slightly. "Okay. Yes. You said that."
"And then I severed it. At least, I tried.
" I took a step closer, watching for permission.
"Do you know what that means? In our world, rejecting a mate bond isn't just breaking up.
It's sacrilege. It's taking something sacred and ripping it apart.
It's—" I stopped. Swallowed. "It nearly killed you. "
"But it didn't."
"It should have." My wolf surged, agitated. I pushed him down. "Cutting a bond that strong—most wolves don't survive it. And I knew that. I felt your pain through the bond right before I severed it, and I did it anyway. You survived because you were the strong one, not me."
She flinched. Just slightly, but I saw it.
"So yeah," I said. "We're going to talk about it. Because I don't get to say 'I love you' now and pretend I didn't nearly destroy you."
For a long moment, she just looked at me. Then she stood from the bed and crossed to the window, putting space between us. Her hand pressed against the glass. "What do you want me to say, Rhys? That it hurt? That I thought I was dying? Fine. It hurt. I thought I was dying."
"I know."
"Do you?" She spun to face me, and there it was—the anger I'd been waiting for. It had to come out before we could move on. "What do you want from me, Rhys? A pat on the head and to tell you it's okay?"
"No." I stayed where I was. "I think you deserve to hear me own what I did. Every part of it. No excuses."
"Then own it without the speech." Her eyes flashed. "You were traumatized. You were gutted about your missing brother. You were plain old scared. I get it, Rhys. I understand the psychology. But it doesn’t change that look I saw on your face when you rejected me."
The words hit like a fist to the chest. "I know."
"You don't." She advanced, closing the distance herself.
"You know you hurt me. You know you went feral afterward.
You know your wolf suffered. But you don't know what it was like to be me. To know that there was a side of me that would never be accepted in the shifter world, not even by my fated mate.”
I couldn't breathe. "Sable—"
"My wolf howled non-stop." She was right in front of me now, close enough to inhale her scent—the silver overtones in honey and rain. "I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was carving out my chest with a dull knife. And the worst part wasn't even the pain."
I had to ask, even as my gut braced for the blow. "What was the worst part?"
"Thinking I deserved it." Her eyes were wet now, but she didn't look away. "Thinking that maybe you were right—that the Goddess would never choose a mate, let alone a fated one—for me. I wasn’t worth—"
"Stop." The word came out harsh. I grabbed her hand without thinking, held it tight. "Don't even think it."
She pulled her hand back. "Why not? You did."
And there it was. The truth I'd been avoiding. "Yeah. I did."
She blinked, like she'd expected me to argue.
"I made you doubt yourself," I said. "That's worse than the rejection. Worse than cutting the bond. I looked at my mate and made her think she wasn't worthy. That's unforgivable."
Sable's breath hitched. She turned away, walked back to the window. Her reflection in the glass looked fragile. Seeing it on a woman like her, so strong, my heart broke.
I followed her halfway, then stopped, giving her space. "You want to know what happened after I cut the bond?"
"You went feral.”
"I went feral because my wolf tried to kill me.
" I watched her reflection's eyes widen.
"He tried to claw his way out and find his mate, but we were completely at odds with each other.
I was trapped inside my own head while my wolf tore through Orion and Blackwood territories trying to get to you but being lost to the world. "
"Rhys—"
"I deserved it." I moved closer, slow. "I deserved every second of that hell. Because that's what I put you through. And when I finally clawed my way back to consciousness, when I woke up in Orion, you know what the first thing I felt was?"
She shook her head.
"Relief that you were alive. And this…" I pressed a hand to my chest. "This fucking ache where the bond used to be. Like someone had cut out part of my soul."
"That's what severing a bond does," she said quietly.
"Yeah. And I did it to both of us." I stopped a few feet behind her. Close enough to feel her warmth, far enough that she could breathe. "I was scared, Sable. Scared of giving you that much power over me. Of being weak, after my weakness had sent Wyatt and Nash on a suicide mission.”
She turned to face me. "Being bonded means being willing to be vulnerable that way."
"I know that now." I held her gaze. “But I didn’t trust my own judgement, let alone a fated bond that I couldn’t explain. And that failure—that's on me. Not my trauma. Not my past. Me."
Sable's eyes searched my face. Looking for the lie. The excuse. The hedge.
"I'm not asking you to forget," I said. "And I'm not asking you to trust me completely, not yet. But I'm asking you to believe that I've changed. That I understand now what I didn't then."
"What do you understand?"
"That this bond will bring us life." I reached out slowly, telegraphing the movement, and brushed my fingers against her wrist. Her pulse jumped under my touch.
"That losing my brothers will always hurt, but it doesn’t mean giving up on forever.
That you…" I swallowed. “I almost lost you because my head was too far up my ass to see who you really were. "
She didn't pull away from my touch. "And if I seal the bond with you tonight? If I give you everything—my wolf, my trust, my heart—what happens next time you’re confused?"
"Then I come to you." Simple. Final. "I tell you what’s going on.
I let you help me through it. I don't run.
" I cupped her face in my hands. "I'm standing here promising you that I will never reject you in any way, ever again.
That I will never make you doubt your worth.
That I will spend every day proving I'm worthy of being your mate.
" I caught her hand properly now, laced our fingers together.
"And if I break that promise, you have my permission to rip my throat out. "
A wet laugh escaped her. "Don't tempt me."
"I mean it, Sable. This is it. My one chance. I know that." I brought her hand to my chest, pressed it against my heart. "And I'm not going to waste it."
She was crying now, tears tracking down her face in the blue light from the city below. “I’m…” She didn’t finish her thought. I saw her struggling to get the words out, and this was my chance to show I understood.
"You’re scared. But I’m not. I know what life without you feels like now. And I'd rather face every fear, every broken part of myself, than go back to that."
She closed her eyes, leaning into my touch.
"Sable, I mean it. Every word."
For a long time we just stood there, her hand on my chest, my hand on her face, breathing each other in. The bond hummed. Waiting for us.
"Okay," she whispered finally.
"Okay?"
"Okay, seal the bond with me tonight." She opened her eyes, and they were clear now. Determined. "But Rhys? If you ever make me feel like that again—"
"You'll kill me. I know."
"No." Her jaw set. "I'll leave. And I'll take half your territory with me."
I barked out a surprised laugh. "Deal."
She didn't smile. Didn't move into me for comfort. Just stood there, holding my gaze, making sure I understood she meant every word.
"I'm not doing this blind," she said. "I know what you did. I know why you did it. And I'm choosing to trust you anyway.”
"I understand."
"Do you?" She stepped closer, and there was steel in her voice. "Because I need you to know something too. I love you. But I am who I am, and I’ll never change. You cannot make me doubt my worth again. I won't stay and suffer through it. I'll walk."
The words should have stung. Instead, they made me love her more.
"Good," I said.
That surprised her. "Good?"
"Yeah, good." I reached for her hand, slowly enough that she could pull away if she wanted. She didn't. "You should love yourself more. You should have standards. You should demand better from me. That's exactly what I want."
Her eyes softened slightly, but she didn't let go of that strength. "Don't make me regret this."
"I won't."
"You better not." She squeezed my hand once, hard.
I kissed her forehead. "Always."
She took my hand and led me back toward the bed. We sat on the edge together, the city lights spilling across the sheets, painting everything in blue and gold. Her head found my shoulder, my arm wrapped around her, the steady thrum of the bond settling into place.
"Rhys?"
"Hmm?"
"Tonight." Her voice was soft but certain. "When we seal it. Don't hold back."
My arm tightened. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, give me everything. All of you. No walls, no protection, no fear."
I pressed a kiss to her hair. "You sure you can handle that?"
"Try me."
I smiled against her temple. Tonight, I would bind myself to her—completely, permanently, irrevocably.
"Sable?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
She turned her face up to mine and kissed me. Soft at first, then deeper, and the bond flared bright between us. When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.
"I know," she said, her fingers already working at the buttons of my shirt. "And tonight, you're going to show me."