Page 5 of Crescent Warrior

“What?” he asked, reaching over to grab his shirt so he could rip a strip of cotton free to wrap around her hands.

She didn’t let him, standing, and backing herself into a corner of the room. “Who was it for, if it wasn’t for me?” she yelled, her voice rising with her formidable temper.

Fuck.

“No one,” he shook his head. “It comes and goes with the breeze, Lyta.”

The lies are coming easier now.

The fury on her face was leeching out now, leaving a desperate hope behind. She swallowed, her body jerking closer to his, slowly. “Then it’s still possible, isn’t it?” she gasped, reaching for his hand with her own bloody one. “For you to recognize me as yours?”

The vulnerability in her eyes was killing him but he couldn’t lie. His wolf never reacted to her scent the way he heard mates did. The love he held hidden in his heart for her was his very own. His wolf didn’t have anything to do with it. “I don’t think so,” he shook his head. “I’ve never felt that way for you.”

“But mama said that you’re still too young.” Her voice was wavering again.

“You told your parents?” he hissed. “You can’t go around telling people whatever you feel like.”

“I didn’t,” she gasped, moving to sit next to him again. “I only asked her if wolves recognized their mates right away. She said our generation was the first with female wolves that were born instead of being transformed from humans, so she wasn’t sure, but she did know that, with humans, females matured faster than males. They’re more emotionally ready for mating and families.”

“Mating and families?” He groaned, grabbing his hair and yanking at it. “Have you lost your mind? Where is this coming from? I’ve never thought of you like that. You’re just a friend to me.”

She looked at him with so much hurt that the urge to hold her close and comfort her was almost unbearable. His heart was breaking with the lies he was telling.

He wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted in his entire short life, but she wasn’t meant to be his. They weren’t meant to belong to each other. For years he prayed, but nothing changed. His wolf remained silent.

“You’re my mate,” she gasped, moving her fist to her chest and pressing hard. “I feel it here. I know it. My wolf knows it. I recognize your scent above anyone else’s.”

“Of course you do,” he soothed. “Because we’re best friends, Lyta. You’re confusing it with something else. Your wolf doesn’t recognize me.”

“She does,” Hippolyta cried, betrayal in her eyes. “Why won’t you believe me?”

“I don’t want my mate to hear you talking this way,” he muttered, turning from her. “I can’t afford for you to be doing this when I find her.”

He heard her move away from him again and turned to see her stumble into the corner. The horror and despair in her eyes broke something inside of him.

“Your mate,” she gasped, her breathing erratic. “Not me.”

He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Lyta. So sorry that it’s not you.”

“You’ll only know later,” she tried again, her voice smaller this time. “When you’re fully grown.”

He pressed his fingers to his eyes. “We are adults. We’re as fully grown as we’re ever going to get. If it was going to happen, it would have. Before now.”

“But I’m the first female,” she shook her head, her voice a hoarse whisper. “Maybe—”

“No maybes, Lyta.” He made his tone hard and fierce. “I’m not your mate. We will never be mates. I need you to stop this right now. Even if I could choose my mate, it wouldn’t be you.”

If she kept saying it, he would give in. He would take her and never let her go. He would hide her from her real mate, whenever she found him, and deny his own without an ounce of guilt.

Hippolyta was his secret obsession since he was a child. He couldn’t afford for her to be saying these things. For her own good, he needed her to let him go.

She slid down the cupboard, landing in a heap on the floor. “Please, go.”

The words were so quiet he barely heard them. “Lyta,” he tried, moving toward her.

He had never seen her like this before—so utterly defeated. “I’m sorry—”

“Just go,” her voice was louder now, fiercer.

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