Page 118 of Savage Blood
Fane’s mark.
“This is why I was afraid to let you heal me,” I admitted. “No matter how close we became, it would eventually come to this.”
A burst of rage hit me before Saint snatched a glass off the table and hurled it at the wall. The tiny pieces fell toward the floor like sharp raindrops. His snarl erupted through the room and burned against my skin.
But it wasn’t his fury that made tears well up in my eyes. It was his heartbreak, his utter devastation.
When Saint met my stare across the room, the agony doubled. “I was a fool for thinking you’d choose me over him or even consider having us both.”
“You weren’t a fool,” I said. “You were just hoping I’d grow feelings for you. And I did.”
He shook his head as his wrath cooled. “Not enough.”
“More than enough, actually.” My hands flattened against my thighs as I moved toward him, every muscle so tight I’d be sore tomorrow. “That’s why I want to protect you from what might happen.”
“Then let me try to heal you.Please.”
The desperation in his words cut me to the bone, and a tear slipped free from my eye and raced down my cheek. “You’ve healed me as much as you can. Now I have to rely on my own strength to beat Barric.”
Every bitten shifter’s life was on the line. If I thought it would work, I’d mate with Saint and let our bond heal me.
Unfortunately, I knew now, without a doubt, it wouldn’t.
Saint ground his teeth and then reached for me, pulling me into a tight embrace. “We would have been really fucking great together.”
“I know.” My arms wrapped around him, and I buried my face in his chest, inhaling his scent for what might have been the last time. He wouldn’t want to see me after this.
Saint had such a warm, kind soul, and he would have soothed my edges and healed my deep, festering wounds and scars. His light would have pushed away my shadows and brightened all the impenetrable caverns inside me.
He was everything I needed.
But Fane was everything I wanted.
Hard and soft. Mean and kind. Terrifying and welcoming.
We were the same. And even though it would take us longer to make each other whole and smooth the scars, the wait was worth it.
Fane Maverick was more than just my soulmate. He was my darknessandmy light.
Instead of standing within the confines of Saint’s room—where everyone in the house would feel the breaking of a fated mate bond—he took me outside to the mystical forest within Silver Ridge’s compound. The moon shone on us as we stood in a clearing, the only two creatures for miles, as if everything else sensed the grim atmosphere and wanted to offer us privacy.
I tried to choke back the mound of sand blocking my throat. “What do I do?”
Tall pines and oaks circled us, and stars spotted the black sky overhead. The air wasn’t stifling or hot tonight, and a gentle breeze sent leaves skittering and branches swaying.
“You just say the words, Tate,” Saint whispered, his eyes glistening too much for me to handle.
Why did this moment feel like a funeral?
In a way, it was.
My bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be the mate you deserve.”
Saint gave a soft, heartbreaking smile. “You’re exactly who you’re supposed to be.”
And after this, he’d be gone forever, unable to look at me, let alone be around me.
I was losing him as a mateanda friend.
