Chapter 23 #3
I wanted to grab her, claim her, and drag her back to my pack, but that wouldn’t work, not yet.
I needed to keep her calm. I straightened, pulling myself to my full height, letting her get a good look at the strength of my body.
I was designed for her, to draw her in, and from the look in her eyes I could see her yearning.
“Iona, come away from the edge.”
“I’m not going back!” she yelled, trying so hard to sound fierce. “I won’t!”
She would. She had no choice.
Her small hands trembled with exhaustion and fear. The Alpha in me reached out to soothe her, knowing how easily I could calm her, but as soon as my power touched her I knew it was the wrong move. She backed up a step, furious.
“Don’t you do that to me! I’ll jump, I swear.”
“Okay, okay…” I raised my hands again, trying not to lose my shit as she stepped ever closer to the edge. “Iona, please. Come back with me. My people, they need?—”
“I don’t care!” she yelled. “I can’t let you do that t— stop moving!” My wolves had been fanning out around me, inching closer to her. She took another step back and they paused. I could see their hind quarters tense, ready to pounce.
Konnor shifted. “Luna, we’re not going to hurt you, we can talk and?—”
“Liar!” she screamed. I stared at her, searching for the stoic woman I’d come to know, the one who’d stared me down as I’d muzzled her, who hadn’t flinched at any threat or warning. My Luna was fierce. This woman was terrified.
At that moment, I felt like a fool. A fool for not looking past her tough veneer to see just how frightened of me she was.
Or maybe my wolf was the fool, the near-rabid beast that warped reality and convinced me her terror was just anger that had to be pressed into submission.
The mask had been ripped off now and I felt the pain of her fear deep inside.
“You’re lying. He’s going to hurt me.” She flung an accusatory finger at me, her eyes wide like a cornered animal. If she was frightened of me now, I could only imagine how frightened she would be after the ceremony.
“I won’t. Just come away from the edge, please.
” It was a lie. Hurting her was inevitable, but that was a problem for tomorrow.
Right now, all I could see was how close she was to falling and how close she was to taking my mind with her.
She wouldn’t jump, I was sure of that much, but slipping was too easy.
A snarl escaped me as my mate took another step back. She snuck a glance over the edge, hedging her bets.
“You jump, you’ll die.” I knew this cliff and what was on the other side of it. A sheer drop and nothing but rocks and rapids at the bottom. She turned, glaring at me.
“I’d rather die than be yours.”
My wolf froze, no longer snarling or writhing to be free.
She was lying. It had to be a lie. I felt like she’d reached inside and yanked my heart right out of me.
This was wrong. This was all so wrong. Her words were full of venom, but her eyes were full of pain.
Her lower lip trembled. My mate wanted what I offered her so badly.
She wanted a family, a home. It was me she hated.
I felt the rejection in every bone, every nerve ending.
She bit down on that trembling lip and looked up at the sky, her sweet face settling into an expression that terrified me. I’d seen that look on Kallum’s face too many times.
Resignation.
She slipped off her pack, and immediately Jake and Jardis began to yip in fear for their Luna, in pain at her rejection of their loyalty. I could feel Konnor’s panic but I shut it out. I needed to stay calm. I needed to figure out how to fix this.
“Don’t…” I begged. My wolf rumbled deep. He was done waiting. I clenched my teeth, swallowing him down. I focused on her pulse.
How could she think about leaving me?
Didn’t she know that she kept me alive?
“What will it take? What do I have to do to keep you away from that edge?”
“My freedom. Give me my freedom back.”
My female. My mate. Her anger was gone and all that remained was a dense sadness. This was my fault. I’d done this to her. I wanted to tell her her freedom was hers, that I’d let her go and she could have her life back. But at that moment, I didn’t have it in me to lie to her again.
“I can’t.”
She gave me a small smile. Her soft lips lifted.
I wanted to taste them, feel them against my own.
The breeze caught in her hair again, lifting the midnight strands.
Her scent called to me, permeating my senses, and for a moment, I could picture us back in our bed, in the bubble I’d imagined for myself a thousand times.
The place where she smiled when she saw me in the morning, where she reached for me.
Where our children's laughter lit up in the background.
Where I leaned into her and she opened for me, welcoming me in. Where she was mine and I was hers.
It was a happy dream, a bubble that burst as my mate looked down at the water.
Before I could stop him, Jake broke into a run, determined to keep his Luna from death. She looked at me ? my world, my life, her blue eyes sad and sorry.
“No, Iona please!” Sheer panic, lit up inside me. But it was too late. She turned and my wolf ripped out of me as she disappeared over the edge. He took over and I fell into the black once more, screaming her name in my muzzled mouth.