Page 47 of Destined Mate

“Believe me, I’m well aware.” He gritted his teeth, pulling at his hair. “Part of me wants to say fuck it, but what if we move forward,thenI findher? That wouldn’t be right or fair toyou.”

“But what if you don’t? Shouldn’t I be part of that decision?” He was focused on what-ifs, whereas I had to push those dangerous thoughts out of my mind just to survive. I didn’t like living with hope because that could destroy you. That one powerful emotion could only carry you so far.

He shook his head. “I have to decide for you—for both of us—because when I find her, I don’t want to hurt you more than I already have.”

My stomach roiled. He believed he had a fated, and it’d be selfish of me to ask him not to find her…to choose me instead. I struggled to wrap my head around it. I’d never heard of someone sensing they had a fated before they met them, but he was convinced she existed. Maybe since he was so strong, he could feel her, or maybe his logic was distorted by a misguided childhood hope he still clung to. Either way, it wasn’t my place to question it.

He was telling me no. That he didn’t want to be with me. If I didn’t listen to him, what type of person would I be? The type of person I couldn’t respect.

I took a step back, the pain ripping through my chest almost bringing me to my knees. This was worse than anything my ribs had ever inflicted on me. I refused to analyze what that meant, especially since I’d known him for a mere week.

His shoulders sagged. “I’ve never told anybody this, even when Jack and the others give me hell for not dating, but if the perfect one for me is out there, that’s who I should be with, and I wanted you to understand.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “I still don’t, but I can’t connect to my wolf, so what do I know? I just know what I feel for you.” No matter how he explained it, he was stillrejectingme.

Scratching the back of his neck, he sighed. “I can’t take the chance that I’m wrong. What if I choose you and it destroys my bond with her, and something horrible happens to her? Or I choose you, and she winds up with somebody awful? I can’t risk it. Fate knows better than we do, and we have to trust her.”

I laughed again, causing my ribs to twinge. “Yeah. Fate’s a real peach. That must be why my life has been puppies and rainbows. She’s sojustand caring.” Though Fate wasn’t a person, shifters thought of her like a celestial being. The fact we called Fateherwas ironic since males thought females were weak, but clearly, she was the exception.

His face fell. “I didn’t mean that. I’m royally fucking this up.”

This conversation needed to end. In fact, not only was he hurting me, but he was angering me as well. It was easy to trust Fate when your life was great from the day you were born. But to me, Fate seemed more fickle than trustworthy.

I forced a yawn, needing to get away before I did or said something I’d regret. “I’m really tired and should go to bed.” My feet didn’t want to move, though; they wanted to remain close to him, and I hated that my lips still tingled from our kiss.

Most of all, I hated how much his rejection stung.

But I’d be fine. I’d endured rejection all my life, and I’d stand strong through this, too.

“Callie, please.” Bodey stepped toward me. “Don’t leave. I don’t want our evening together to end like this.”

My back touched the door to my room. “Me neither, but I need to go to bed.” If I stayed out here, I’d try to change his mind—beg him to choose me, the girl right in front of him—and that would do me no favors. I was in competition with a girl who didn’t even have a face or name.

I shouldn’t try to sway him. He’d made up his mind, and I’d learned you couldn’t change someone’s mind when it was set. Whatever you had to say, they wouldn’t listen, and they believed in different things than you did. Every person had their own moral code and belief system. That was what made us all different and special.

“Good night, Bodey.” I turned my back to him, the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.

I refused to become the girl who chased after someone who didn’t want her. I wanted my mate to embrace me the way I wanted to embrace him. If I ever wound up with someone, I wouldn’t have to beg them to choose me—I would be all they ever saw.

Maybe that was a fairy tale. Maybe it would never happen. Maybe I was being stupid, the same way Bodey might possibly be, believing he had a fated mate out there.

I opened the door to my room, knowing what I needed to do, even though it was the last thing I wanted. If I remained here, I’d only fall deeper in love with Bodey, and he’d break me further. He had the power to destroy me the way Zeke had tried to do.

As I turned to close the door, I paused, needing to say one last thing. “Thank you for everything, Bodey. I really hope you find her, and I hope you find that happiness. You deserve it.”

He rubbed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Why does that sound like a goodbye? You still have a couple of days before you’re healed.”

I nodded since that was true. My ribs still bothered me, and technically, I had about two more days to justify staying here. But after what had happened, my time here needed to end. My heart was already cracked, and I couldn’t risk it shattering.

But I wasn’t willing to tell him that. Not yet.

This moment was hard enough without adding goodbye to the mix.

“Good night. I hope sleep finally finds you.” I forced myself to tear my gaze away from him, though I wanted to memorize how he looked. There was no telling if and when I’d ever see him again.

He took a step toward me but stopped when I shut the door.

I wanted him to come after me, and that was the crux of the problem and the entire reason I had to get away. Staying would only give me hope.

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