Mending the Beast (Awakening Pride #10) - Lacey Thorn Page 0,30
her emotions. This was Daniel. The man who could be her mate, who should be. The man who—
“I’m coming inside, baby.”
She took a stumbling step backward as tears filled her eyes. Baby? She’d never had anyone call her a term of endearment. Then he stepped inside, and the look on his face had the tears slipping down her cheeks. She tensed, ready to put her hands up if he walked toward her, but he simply flipped the lock back into place and leaned against the door, giving her the space and time she needed to collect herself.
“I thought you were shot,” she whispered. “Vic said you were having trouble healing from it.”
“I’m healed. Probably better than I was before.”
He glanced up, and she immediately locked onto his eyes. She’d been trying to avoid them, looking anywhere but at them. She didn’t want him to see things she couldn’t hide. But now… They glowed with an eerie light that showed how close to the surface his animal was.
“Are you okay? Should you be here?” Worry tinged her voice. Easier to worry for him than about what he might want from her.
“I’m…” He paused and shook his head. “I won’t lie and say I’m fine. I’m not. But physically, I’m healed.”
“Daniel.”
He slid down the door and sat with his knees bent, hands dangling over them. “I thought we could talk.”
Ariel blew out a hard breath, crossing her arms over her chest. God, she had no clue what to say. Hell, she was having trouble breathing. His scent saturated the air until it was all she smelled. She swore she could taste it on her tongue, feel it along her skin.
“The first time I saw you, I thought my heart would beat out of my chest.” He leaned his head back, eyes closed as he spoke. “I knew. My lion knew. And in my eagerness to meet you, I said what might have destroyed my only chance at being with the woman the fates chose to be my other half.”
“Daniel,” she began, but he continued speaking.
“I know what they did to you.”
She shook her head. She wasn’t going there, wasn’t discussing that with him.
“I see it every time I close my eyes, and my hate for them only grows.”
“They’re gone. All of them,” she said.
“And as much as I’m glad they’re gone, I’m angry I’ve been robbed of spilling their blood, of avenging you. Their deaths should have been mine.”
“No,” she bellowed, snapping out of the spell she’d fallen under at his arrival. “It should have been mine. Mine!”
He pushed to his feet and faced her, though he kept his back pressed to the door and his arms loose at his sides.
“Ours. It should have been ours. God, it rips me apart that no one was there for you. It guts me that I can’t be here for you now.”
“I can’t… I don’t… I’m not who you need me to be.”
She shook her head then caught her breath at the fire in his gaze.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You don’t have to be anything for me other than who you are. You’re my mate.”
“I can’t be your mate.” What echoed as a scream in her head came out as a whisper. “I’m too broken, Daniel.”
“We’re all broken, Ariel. Even me.”
“It’s not the same.”
“I think my father hated me from the time I was born. He had his son, the one he planned to mold into the person he wanted Gabriel to be. He had no use for me. I think the only person he ever loved was my mother, and when we lost her…” He stopped, dropping his head forward and rolling it on his shoulders. “Gabriel and I weren’t always close as kids. We tried, but our dad always had things he needed Gabriel to train for, and I was in the way.”
“The Angel.” Ariel knew who Daniel’s father had raised Gabriel to be. An avenging angel for shifters. He gave life to a legend. The stories of the things he’d done and the shifters he’d rescued had sparked hope in many. Gabriel hadn’t been the only one rescuing shifters. Others had stepped up, as well. All of them whispered they were The Angel. But she’d never heard Daniel’s story.
“He made Gabriel believe he had no mate. That his life would be nothing but seeking vengeance for those who were hurt or for the families of those who were killed. Gabriel didn’t get to have a life of his own. He was meant