Page 29 of My Mate

“Then I have to leave,” Casey said, spinning around.

“No,” Dex said.

“I can’t be responsible for your death if I’m not here. Please, I can’t … no.” She tried to keep the sobs inside, but it wasn’t possible. They fell down her face, and she pressed one hand against her stomach and covered her mouth with the other.

This couldn’t be happening.

Dex came to her as she collapsed to her knees.

“I can’t kill you. I can’t save you. You’ve got to let me go,” Casey said. “You need someone who is going to be able to save you.” She couldn’t even stand the thought of another woman touching him, being close to him. It made her sick to her stomach and all she wanted to do was scream. She didn’t say anything, but it was there, bubbling beneath the surface, threatening to come out.

“Casey, no,” Dex said.

“You can’t die.”

“I’m not going to die. Lucinda said it was a potential path, but there are at least three main players in this one.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Well, there’s you, then there’s me, and whoever decides to kill me. What if he or she doesn’t make that choice?” Dex asked.

“This is insane,” she said, ready to sob again. “There isno way you can take a chance that this person might not attack you!”

She wanted to scream at him, but instead she could only shake her head.

“We can’t live our lives in fear,” he said.

“Dex, someone in the pack is going to kill you.”

“Mightkill me.”

She growled. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.” She shook her head, and then began to sob. “This isn’t right. We shouldn’t be arguing about this. What if we leave?” she asked.

“We can’t do that either, Casey. The pack is our home.”

She knew it was a long shot.

Staring at Dex, she looked into his intense eyes, which no matter what, always had a hint of his wolf. “I don’t want to fail you, Dex. I love you. I love you so much and this scares me.”

He cupped her face, and then in the next second, he kissed her. “We’re not going to fail each other, okay? We’re going to make this work. I promise you. We’re going to make it work.”

And then he kissed her again, only this time there was a little more desperation, and she felt it too.

She was desperate for Dex, and now she feared for his life. Who would be dumb enough to try and kill Dex? She couldn’t imagine anyone being able to succeed.

Nothing bad could happen to him.

She wouldn’t allow it.

Chapter Eight

Dex had gone from storing the wood in the shed, to now loading it up in his father’s truck, ready to distribute. He didn’t know why he couldn’t have just taken it to the people they were helping.

His father had tasked him with doing this side of the pack business. He had a list of the men and women that needed the firewood. After already going to five homes, he now understood why. They were much older, and they didn’t get around as well. Dex knew it meant they were not going to survive many more winters.

This is what happened to a wolf—they lived for a very long time, until their light started to burn a little too bright.

Several of the people he went to had seen close to two hundred years, as they were granted at least double a human’s lifespan. It was just how they aged. He knew it was going to be a long time before he no longer looked eighteen.

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