Page 138 of Forget Me Not

Which he was. He was still bleeding. Of course he was. First, he had been fighting off powerful magic, now he was without a mate. Naturally, he wouldn’t heal right.

He nodded in response to his own thought, and then, since there was nothing to lose, raised his head.

“Leland Properties. One of the developers buying up the village. You should watch them. Be careful. They… they probably have the police in their pocket.”

That would bring consequences. But at least Cal was taken care of.

“What exactly do you think you are doing, Raymond Branigan?” a strained but familiar voice demanded.

There were several spots of glitter in the crowd for Ray to choose from. Ray turned toward the only cloud of sparkles that mattered.

Oh, he still felt, still hurt, after all.

Cal was in his t-shirt and jeans, with a scarf around his neck that hadn’t been there before. Possibly it had been intended as a gift for Calvin. It was green, and at another time, would have made Ray wonder what Calvin’s colors were.

Ray came forward, one foot dragging behind him. He must have injured that too and hadn’t noticed.

People stepped out of his way. If Ray could have taken his eyes off Cal, he would have thanked them.

He glimpsed Benny, who looked distressingly unhappy, as if he’d heard everything Ray had said.

Everyone would have heard.

Ray stopped and held out a hand, only to realize he was partially shifted, his claws visible. There was blood along his arm. He dropped his hand to his side, then pulled it behind his back.

“I won’t hurt you.”

Sweet One blinked up at him, so very shiny in the lights of the mural. “What do you call this?”

Ray swallowed and looked down. “I won’t hurt you. But the spell would have made me. Those were the words. It wasabout you. I fought it but I could still feel it. I will not allow that to happen. Not ever. Icouldn’tallow it.” It took most of Ray’s strength to lift his head again and meet Cal’s gaze. “So I Rejected you.”

“I see.” It was so very quiet. So unlike Cal.

“Callalily.” Ray clenched his fists and growled, short and fierce, until Cal blinked away what might have been tears and glared up at him. “I remember now,” Ray explained quietly. “I remember because you are not my mate anymore. They told me to kill you. That’s what the spell was. But I couldn’t. I won’t. And it did something. The magic—not the human magic.Mine. The wolf. It pushed you away. If I didn’t have a mate, you were safe. But then you came and I had you again, and they kept trying. He said… the human said, ‘Kill your mate, Callalily Parker.’ And I couldn’t. Wouldn’t. So I… I don’t have you.”

“You broke the spell,” Cal realized out loud, then closed his eyes. “That’s… that’s good.”

“Callalily Parker,” Ray said as gently as he could, “you are not my mate.”

He dropped to his knees, or fell. He wasn’t sure.

Cal’s eyes flew open. He smelled like caramel popcorn. Someone must have been giving it away at the party, maybe someone from Guerrero’s.

“You said I was the only choice.” Cal skimmed his fingers through Ray’s hair, down the side of Ray’s face. Ray didn’t deserve that, but didn’t stop him.

“Your life for mine, my happiness.” Ray looked up at him and breathed in as deep as he could with half his chest burning. “I had to. I’m sorry. As long as you’re breathing, I can bear the rest.” Like Lis. Like Cal. Like a fairy.

Fairies and wolves were not so different where it mattered.

“Did it hurt?” Cal traced Ray’s ear, sighing a little when it started to shift back into something smaller, less pointed and lupine. “Did it feel like this?” Cal put a hand over his chest, his heart. “Like how I feel right now?”

Ray would’ve said it felt worse, but the fairies in the crowd were so still that not even their wings fluttered and Cal didn’t sparkle as he should have.

Ray whined, soft and low. “You’re not my mate and I can feel your absence. But...” He swallowed a whimper at his failure and pressed on, “you’re still my husband, if you want to be. If that’s enough for you.”

Someone several yards away whispered, “Can you do that?”

Someone else mumbled, “But no one marries a fairy.”

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