Page 67 of Soul Fated

I stood and walked to the window, pulling open the pane and resting my hands on the sill. The forest was a dark silhouette against the indigo sky, the moonlight casting long shadows that danced with the swaying branches. I closed my eyes and leaned forward, letting the cool air wash over me.

How? How could he just leave? I’d seen the good in him. Felt it. I’d seen the way he looked at me, the way he fought to protect me. And then he’d just…walked away.

All the work I’d done to keep myself whole that evening crumbled. I broke. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I turned and slumped to the floor, dropping my head to my knees.

I couldn’t do this. I didn’t want to do this.

I allowed myself a few more minutes in my pity party, then started to undress, pulling my shirt over my head and tossing it onto the chair in the corner of the room. As I reached for the button on my jeans, I heard a noise outside. Had I closed the window?

I froze, my fingers hovering over the waistband. It was probably just the wind, or maybe a deer. But something inside me was on high alert. I crept back to the window and peered out, my eyes scanning the darkness.

Nothing.

I let out a breath and turned back to the room, but then I heard it again. A rustling. Closer this time. My heart leapt into my throat, and I stepped back, my pulse pounding in my ears.

It was probably nothing, but after the weekend I’d had, I couldn’t be too sure. I held my breath, listening intently.

Then, without warning, a voice echoed in my mind.

I need you this time.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

Kael

Istood outside her window. I’d driven out of town and come back twice before finally going to the address Rowan gave me. My hair was mussed, my eyes bleary from lack of sleep, but once I’d made the decision, I couldn’t wait a second longer to see her.

My wolf prowled. Finally he and I were both on the same page, but ironically, that didn’t matter much. Callista had the final say in whether we got it.

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since I’d left her in the woods, and now that I was standing here, I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting. That she would be grateful? That she would throw her arms around me and tell me I was absolved of all the pain my actions had caused?

Callista didn’t move. She was in a bra and jeans, and my eyes tracked over her skin. I wanted to touch her, wanted to taste her. My hand started to shake.

She pressed her hands into the sill. "Why did you run?"

She knew I’d taken the dagger and left. Since she and Lana hadn’t been at the garage, I doubted she knew I’d changed my mind and returned the relic to Rowan. None of that made her question easy to answer. “I was afraid.”

Her lip twitched. “You kill people for a living.”

“So people keep reminding me.”

She didn’t blink. “I have a hard time believing Lana or I had you shaking in your boots.”

I chuckled darkly. “You’ve had me shaking in my boots since the first moment I saw you in your tent.” I took a step closer to the window. “It’s never been easy to do what I do, but it was manageable. On my own, I could compartmentalize my life. It wasn’t who I was, it was what I did. To survive. Always to survive.” I took another step. “The problem is…it doesn’t seem manageable anymore.”

“Why not?” Callista’s eyes shone. Her wolf was close to the surface, pushing toward mine.

I’d already laid my life out for her at the river, so I didn’t understand why it was so hard to say it this time. My tongue felt thick. My throat dry. “I have nothing to offer. I?—”

“I didn’t ask what you have to offer. I asked why your life isn’t manageable anymore.”

I struggled to hold back the tidal wave of arguments that screamed at me to run back into the trees. To get as far from Black Lake as possible because I couldn’t handle it if she turned me away. I’d survived the rejection of my pack, but I couldn’t survive a rejection from her.

I swallowed my fear. “Because I didn’t need anything before.”

“And now?”

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