He let go of her wrist, and her fingers went back to tracing the eternal life symbol. He would have preferred to tell her about the vision he’d had than have this conversation, but he couldn’t stall forever.

She didn’t say anything, just patiently waited for him to tell her.

“It’s the symbol of immortality.”

“Like someone who would live forever?”

“Yes.”

Diem didn’t stop tracing the symbol. Her touch soothed him, and he wanted to stay in the place forever.

“Do you understand what that means?” he asked.

She glanced at him with her green eyes. “That you will live forever?”

“Yes, and so would the person I mate with.”

Her finger stopped tracing the symbol. “You said I was your mate. Does that mean I’m automatically now going to live forever?”

He had so fucked up. Over the past couple of days, he’d had time to explain the whole mating thing, but he hadn’t wanted to wreck their time together. In the back of his mind, he knew there was a chance she wouldn’t want to be with him when she found out about being immortal.

“No. We haven’t mated. When or if we decide to, it will bind our souls together forever. There is no divorce, no backing out of a mating. It will be you and me forever. And mating with me is different from other shifters. You will live forever—longer than your friends and family… your sister. So when you’re ready, you can make a choice, because I will never force you to be with me.”

A tear streamed down her cheek, and she started to answer him. At the same time, his phone rang. He didn’t want to hear her turn him down. Not now.

“You don’t have to answer now.” He grabbed his phone. “Think about what I said.”

She nodded but looked out the window. He could tell she was lost and sad.