Extraordinarily mature of you.”
He didn’t move.
“I can still see you. Your ass is hanging out. Blanket’s not that big.”
His tail tensed ramrod straight. He rose slowly, turning around and facing me before lying down again, lower half against the wall. The blanket fell off his eyes as he lowered his head to the floor.
I ignored him, going back to the rabbit. It was cool enough now. I barely cared about the cracking of bone as I ripped pieces off and shoved them in my mouth. I groaned as I chewed, feeling light-headed. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten anything substantial. I knew I’d lost weight in the past ten months, but I’d been so driven to find him that I hadn’t given it much thought.
Now, though?
I’d barely eaten a quarter of the rabbit before my stomach clenched. I swallowed what was in my mouth, licking the tips of my fingers.
I glanced at the wolf.
He was watching me, nose twitching. As soon as he saw me looking at him, he looked away.
“Full,” I admitted. “It’s… been a while since I’ve eaten something like this. Stomach must have shrunk.”
He huffed out a breath.
“You should eat too. Keep up your strength. You’re gonna need it for what I’m going to do to you.”
He lifted his head quickly, staring at me.
“Not like that,” I said quickly, horrified with myself. “I don’t—dude, what the hell.”
He sneered at me again.
It was startling how used to that look I was, how often I’d seen it. That void in my chest, that gaping black hole that had felt like it’d been eating me alive over the past year, seemed to lessen. I couldn’t feel him, not like I used to. Whatever bond had been between us, between him and the pack, was gone. I should have seen it for what it was while I still had the chance.
It hit me just how fucked this situation was. I was so far from home, and while I’d found what I’d been searching for, what had it gotten me? We’d tried after Robbie had been taken, some of us thinking darkly that he’d left of his own accord. But no matter the front we’d put forward, mostly for Kelly, it’d still felt like a lie.
I wondered if they were acting the same now.
Lying to each other.
And themselves.
All because of what I’d done.
Kelly had crumbled at the loss of his mate. At first he’d moved through the house like a ghost, haunting the rooms and hallways. He hadn’t spoken much and barely ate. I’d chided him, I’d pleaded with him, I’d yelled at him, telling him he couldn’t let himself go, that I’d be damned if I was going to let him waste away in front of me.
I hadn’t known it then, but I’d been stoking a fire in him, one that rose until it consumed him with growing whispers of Robbie Robbie Robbie.
And then, after everything, just when he was starting to heal, I’d turned around and left him too.
My chest hitched.
My breath caught in my throat.
I blinked rapidly, willing away the burn in my eyes as I shivered.
Everything was blue here, in the middle of nowhere.
Gavin grunted as he rose from the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him walking toward me. He stopped in front of me, dropping the blanket in my lap. I glanced up at him. He wouldn’t look at me as I pulled the blanket over my shoulders. I ignored the scent of old-growth forest that enveloped me. I couldn’t get distracted.
“I’m fine,” I told him roughly. “Don’t worry about it. Eat. It’s going to get cold. You hate it when your food is cold.”
His eyes widened briefly before he went to the table. He nosed at the remaining rabbit, sniffing along the edges. And then he bit down on it, bones crunching as he chewed. His throat worked as he swallowed the thing almost whole. His tongue came out over his lips, chasing the taste.
Then, without so much as a look in my direction, he went to the door again. He hit the latch with his snout and pulled it open. Cold air swirled in, and I shivered. I didn’t know what he was doing or where he was going. I thought about following him, but I couldn’t make my legs work.
I closed my eyes when I heard the telltale grind of muscle and bone. He exhaled explosively.
I sat down on the bed and waited.
A moment later a man