Page 66 of Flock This

“No, you’re not, so don’t apologize if you don’t mean it.”

“Fine, you’re right, I’m not. Happy now?”

“No, I’m really not.” Silence took over between us before Galen broke it. “Are you okay?”

I took a moment to consider that, to decide the truth. “Yeah,” I answered.

Another sigh, this one full of relief. “Why did you run?”

“It’s what I do.” My flippant response came out before I even thought about it, just an automatic thing I said to take the pressure off. However, when Galen didn’t respond, I forced myself to go on. “I couldn’t risk you and your pack.”

“It is my pack. Don’t you think that makes it my choice whether a risk is too great?”

“No, because you’re too nice. You’re too easily moved by pity. You look at me and you see that same girl you met the first day, when I was scared and didn’t know my place.”

“I know you aren’t that girl anymore, Grey. I know you’re stronger now, that you’re tougher, but you’re still all alone. That’s deadly in this world.”

I thought about all the times I’d thought I had found a place in the world, and how often it had hurt to find out how wrong I was. That was too painful to want to do it often, so I’d avoided it ever since.

“You say that because you’ve got a clan,” I whispered back, the conversation easier since he wasn’t right in front of me. “It’s easy to say that when you’re bound to others through that sort of connection. I don’t have that.”

“You could have it, though. You could become my mate, then you’d have an entire pack behind you.” He paused, then went on, his voice dropping lower. “You’d have me.”

“You’re assuming a bond would even work.”

“It would—I’m sure of it.”

I almost laughed at how Galen could be so naive. He believed so strongly in his pack, in his clan, that he had no doubt that his magic was enough to overcome anything—including me.

I lacked that same certainty, however. My nature was too wild, whatever I was too mischievous to let something like a mating bond hold it. I could almost feel my crow staring at me, as though amused by the very thought. It was the same reason I didn’t think Kelvin could truly make me his thrall.

“Even if it didn’t,” he pressed on, “if you became my mate, I’d protect you. I’d have the ability to protect you.”

I lay back on the bed, stretching out, realizing just how tired I was from…well…everything. From my time with Kelvin, from sneaking out, from breaking into the Justice Department, from the rest of my time with Kelvin. It all felt like it hit me at once, and I couldn’t stifle my yawn.

“You aren’t sleeping, are you?” he asked, his voice gentler.

“Sometimes I do.”

“Where are you?”

I almost admitted it to him, wanting to blame that on my exhaustion rather than my comfort with Galen. However, if I thought he’d make a mess of things before, I had no doubt he’d cause me a headache if he knew I was with Kelvin.

“It doesn’t matter,” I answered. “I just figured I should call you before you got labeled as a stalker.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have to call you so many times if you just answered.”

“Famous words of a stalker.”

He huffed, the sound bringing a smile to my lips.

“Have you found out anything?”

“Some. I know a thrall or vampire killed William. I know someone broke into the mail system and I’ve got the access code of the person who did it, but I don’t know who they are.”

Silence stretched out so long that I pulled the phone away to check and make sure the call was still active.

“So you’ve been putting yourself in danger, then? I mean, you couldn’t find all that out from the safety of a hiding place, so you’ve been inserting yourself into places to find that out?”

---