Page 106 of Elas

I’m not abandoning them.

“August?” Elas asks from beside me, and I glance up at him as I force myself to swallow. His endless eyes search mine, and a rush of gratitude and love war with the crushing guilt. They form a confusing, brambled ball of emotion that jabs at my stomach with its thorns. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

Conversation carries on around us, laughing and joking. Blind to my internal conflict. Ishouldbe happy here. I should appreciate everything Elas has done—everything hesacrificed—to give me safety.

I don’t want to lie to him.

Shouldn’t lie to him.

He deserves the truth, even if it’s messy.

Another round of laughter peals out around us, and a smile quirks at Elas’s lips as he waits for my answer. He’s at peace here, and I refuse to be the one to take that away.

“Nothing,” I force myself to say, plastering a smile onto my face that doesn’t convince him of a damn thing. “Just tired, that’s all.” He stares at me for a long time, and I double down, smiling until I’m afraid my face might crack.

“Alright,” he finally says, leaning in to press a kiss on the corner of my mouth. I breathe in his comforting smell and relish the familiar feel of his touch as he cups my chin and drags a thumb over my cheek. “You’d tell me if something was bothering you?”

“Of course,” I lie in a whisper, and I lean against him, unable to hold his eyes any longer.

Elas

Throughoutmylife,I’veencountered terrible liars. The ones who dart their eyes away in a panic or give loads of unnecessary details to overcompensate for their bullshit.

None of them have anything on August.

He’s been lying to me for three days now, and I don’t know why. Not yet.

He avoids my gaze, barely making eye contact even when we’re alone. His usually bright eyes are dull and unfocused, and his characteristic curiosity has been extinguished. The usual calm confidence he projects has turned nervous, and he seems to doubt his own words as he speaks them. It’s like he’s testing them, trying to determine if they sound believable.

They don’t.

Not a single one of them.

His feet kick restlessly, his hands fidget at his sides, and he’s just so fuckingsad. My beautiful sunshine matehas darkened into a storm cloud. Gray and heavy, and dimming with each passing day.

And he won’t tell me why.

Our house is clean enough to sleep in, and I need to get him alone. The pressure to perform, to be on all the time, might be too overwhelming when we’re surrounded by the others. August is a helper by nature. Selfless—the type to put everyone else’s needs above his own, even to his detriment.

As his mate, it’s my responsibility to make sure he takes care of himself, and I’ve been quiet for too long.

August collects clean sheets from the line, the wind whipping through his golden hair as he meets my eyes. The tiny smile he offers me is sweet, but the light behind it is missing. I force myself to smile back, ignoring the ache in my chest that worries this might not be enough for him.

ThatImight not be enough.

Ronan steps out of the woods with a few rabbits slung over his shoulder, caught in a snare we’d put out early this morning. Boomerang trots by his side with her own rabbit hanging from her jaws. “Dinner?” I ask, and he nods as he drops his catch on the ground, and Boomerang darts to the shade to eat. “August and I are going to eat alone tonight. You don’t have to cook for us.”

“I don’t mind,” he says, stretching the words out and glancing over my shoulder where August works. “Is everything alright?”

I open my mouth to lie, to tell him it’s all fine, but I hesitate when I catch the concern in his eyes. “I don’t know,” I finally say. “Something is wrong with August, and it’s getting worse the longer we’re here.”

Ronan’s brows shoot up. “Does he not like it here?”

“That’s the thing. Everything I know about August tells me he should thrive here. He has freedom and friends, and things to keep him busy… he hasme,” I add, unable to hide my grief at the thought that I might be contributing to his unhappiness.

“Does he have purpose?” Ronan asks quietly, and my eyes shoot back to his.

“Of course he does,” I snap, but Ronan shakes his head and glances over my shoulder again.

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