Page 85 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate
"We’re nearly there," he answered. "The path gets steeper ahead."
She answered him with a nod while he resisted the urge to reach for her hand to help her along the path.
The path became narrower and zigzagged up betweentrees that dated back centuries. Dominic ducked under a low branch and heldit back for Luna.
“Mind your step through here,” he cautioned, stepping over apatch of exposed roots. He steadied her by putting hisarm around her back.
Luna stiffened at the touch butdid not jerk away. "You know I'm not helpless, right?"
“I know,” he said,taking his hand away. “You’ve demonstrated that over andover.”
I do it because I want to.
She looked up at him, surprise flitting through her eyes at his words. Before Luna could sayanything more, the sound of water hit them, growing louder as the minutes past.
“We’rereally close,” Dominic said, a nervous flutter twisting in his stomach. He hada stake in this place—had for years. But for Luna, itmight simply carry pain.
The path led them to a little clearing byold pine trees. Beyond it, the ground fell away almost vertically, producing a panoramicview of the floor of the valley.
The Silverlight Valley land around them had opened to reveal a landscape of lush green forest, with silver rivers that twisted away inall directions.
On their left, a waterfall—their waterfall—plummeted down, the water reflecting the moon and stars, breaking it into a thousand sparkling diamonds.
At the rim of the clearing, Dominic paused, studyingLuna's response. She took a step forward,her eyes dark blue and wide as she took it all in. For a second there, her guard slipped, wonderovercoming the wariness on her face.
Then, as she recollected herself, she looked at him,and she read it in his eyes.
"This is…” shebegan, her voice flagging.
"Yes," he confirmed. "This is where we…"
"Where you rejected me," she finished, her expression hardening. "Where you called me an abomination."
Dominic started to explain. "Luna—"
"Why did you bring me here?" she snarled,holding herself. "To remindme of the shittiest night of my life? Well, the night you kidnapped me is a close second, and then you also forced into amarriage. You've got the hat trick now."
Dominic squeezed his eyes shut for a moment,her pain hitting him like a fist. When he opened them again, he saw her looking him squarein the eye.
“I know what I did to you,” he saidsoftly. “And I have lived with that every day of mylife.”
Luna's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"
Dominicpointed to a big flat rock at the forest’s edge. "Sit with me. Please."
Suspicion warred with curiosityon her face. Atlast, she got up and settled on the rock, keeping her distance.
Dominic spread himself next to her, his enormousbody shadowing hers. He sat for a while looking atthe waterfall, thinking.
“When you went away,” he said, in a very quiet voice, “I—I camehere. Almost every day."
Luna's headwhipped in his direction, aghast.
“I convinced myself it was theview,” he added. "Or the solitude. But the truth was, this was the one place I feltclose to you.”
He rubbed his black hair in distraction, with difficulty findinghis words.
His eyes strayedback to the waterfall. "Because this is whereI found my mate. Where I held her, however fleetingly. And where I lost her."
