Page 9 of Falling for My Shifter Stranger

He exhales a slow, visible breath in the cold air, his eyes fixed somewhere over my shoulder. “You don’t know the whole story, Hannah. If you did, you might not feel the same way.”

“Then tell me,” I urge, my voice soft but unwavering. “Let me understand.”

For a long moment, the silence between us feels deafening, the stillness of the snowy forest emphasizing the weight he’s carried for far too long. Finally, he lifts his silver-gray eyes to meet mine, and I see it clearly now—an ocean of pain he’s worked so hard to bury. Pain so sharp it slices into me, too.

“I was part of a pack, once,” he begins, his voice low and rough, like the words are dragged out from someplace deep and raw. “My father was a cruel man. He stole from the pack. Lied to them. Worse than that, he hurt my mother—beat her when his temper rose. I swore I’d never be like him.” He pauses, his jaw tightening. “I spent every moment trying to be the opposite. Someone honorable. Someone who protected others. And for a while, I thought I’d escaped his shadow. I became an enforcer. Trusted. Respected. Or at least… I thought so.”

The delicate weight of snowflakes falling around us is a stark contrast to the heaviness of his words. “What happened?” I ask softly.

He hesitates again, and when he speaks, there’s a bitter edge to his voice, as if the memory itself tastes foul. “A packmate I thought was my friend betrayed me. He framed me for stealing from the pack—just like my father. Accused me of something I’d fought my entire life to avoid. He wanted my place, my position, and he got it.”

My chest tightens, the betrayal cutting me, too, as if I could share even an ounce of his burden. “And the others? They just... believed him?”

“They didn’t need much convincing.” His laugh is humorless, sharp. “The sins of the father, right? I should’ve known they would always see me as his son. Same bloodline, same story.”

Tears prick my eyes, but I blink them away, focusing only on him. “What did you do?”

“What could I do?” Rhys lifts his arms slightly, a helpless motion before his hands fall back to his sides. “The alpha took his word. Everyone else followed. Staying would’ve been pointless. I thought about fighting it, proving them wrong, but I saw it in their eyes—they’d already decided what kind of man I was. So, I left. Wandered. Figured it was better to disappear entirely than hang around where I’d never belong.”

“Rhys…” I whisper his name, his pain nearly overwhelming me.

He looks down again, like meeting my gaze is too much. “Now it’s just easier to be alone. No one to disappoint. No one to betray me. No one to hurt.”

“You’re wrong,” I say, stepping even closer, the space between us almost gone now. “Being alone doesn’t protect you from hurt. It doesn’t save you—it traps you. It leaves wounds that never have a chance to heal.”

His eyes snap back to mine, and for a moment, he looks like he wants to argue. To tell me I’m wrong, that he’s beyond saving. But I see something else flicker there, too—hope, faint and fragile, like a flame that’s nearly gone out but could flare to life with just the right spark. “I don’t deserve this, Hannah. I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, you do,” I say firmly, my voice trembling with emotion. “You deserve love. You deserve a pack, a family. You deserve everything you’ve been too afraid to hope for.”

He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me, like he doesn’t know how to. But I’m not giving up. Not on him.

I reach up, cupping his face with both hands. His skin is cold beneath my touch, but the warmth in his eyes as he looks at me sends a shiver down my spine. “Stop running, Rhys,” I whisper. “Stay.”

The tension in his body snaps, and in the next moment, his mouth is on mine. The kiss is deep and desperate, filled with all the emotions he’s been holding back. His hands grip my waist, pulling me closer, and my fingers thread through his hair, holding him to me as if I can somehow anchor him here, with me.

When we finally pull apart, our foreheads rest against each other, our breaths mingling in the cold air. “I’ll try,” he murmurs, his voice rough with emotion. “For you, I’ll try.”

Tears prick at my eyes, but I blink them away, a smile spreading across my lips. “That’s all I need.”

We stand there for a long moment, wrapped in each other’s arms, the snow falling softly around us. And for the first time since I met him, I see a flicker of hope in his eyes—a spark of something brighter, something stronger.

He’s going to try. And I’ll do whatever it takes to show him that he’s not alone anymore. That he never has to be.

???

Back at the cabin, the warmth of the fire contrasts with the chill still clinging to our clothes. Rhys’s gaze lingers on mine as he closes the door behind us, and the intensity of it sends my pulse racing.

“Hannah,” he murmurs, stepping closer, his voice low and filled with promise.

The moment our lips meet, a shiver of desire courses through me. His mouth is hot and demanding against mine, the softness of his lips a stark contrast to the scrape of his stubble. My wolf howls in triumph, the sound echoing in my mind as I kiss him with all the pent-up longing I've been harboring.

"Rhys," I whisper against his lips, my voice trembling with need.

His response is a low growl that reverberates through his chest, vibrating against mine. "Hannah," he murmurs, his hands moving to my waist, pulling me flush against him. I can feel the heat of his desire, the strength of his need matching my own.

We undress each other with fumbling, eager hands. I tug at his shirt, revealing the hard planes of his chest, and my wolf thrills at the sight of our mate in all his glory. Rhys's fingers work the buttons of my sweater, his touch leaving a trail of heat as the cool air kisses my skin, only to be replaced by the warmth of his palms sliding over my shoulders and down my back.

A playful smile tugs at my lips as I tease him about the many nights I've lain awake, aching for this very moment. Rhysresponds with a soft growl, his voice rough with need. "I'm not holding back anymore," he promises, his silver-gray eyes darkening with desire.

---