Page 89 of Shadows of the Soul

He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not easy having all this responsibility and juggling all the different political wildfires.”

“Let me make this easy for you. Leave. Don’t call, don’t look me up, don’t even say hi to me on the street. If I pass you by, look the other damn way.”

“Impossible,” he stated. “That’s like asking me not to look at the sun.”

“Then I suggest you take up night strolling.”

“Or the moon.”

I threw my hands in the air and stepped in front of him. “Move to freaking Alaska.”

“I can’t leave you alone.”

“You made your choice. I warned you.”

“And the reasons still exist.”

“You think I don’t understand the restraints and pressures of the factions, that I hadn’t thought through the ramifications of us being mated?”

“Clearly you don’t and you haven’t.”

“I have. It’s the reason I stayed away from you for months. The difference is—I stopped caring what effect it had on other people. I put you first, whereas you put yourself and your pack before me. In fact, everyone is before me.”

“That’s not true.”

Ugh, I was so mad I could bring my house down with the force of my emotions. “Prove it,” I roared.

“It’s not that easy, and it doesn’t mean I’m not struggling with it.”

“Try harder, because I can’t tolerate you looking at me this way.”

“What way?”

“With regret. With indecision. With passion.”

“I can’t help the way I feel.”

I’d had enough. He’d made his bed, and now he had to lie in it—without me. I couldn’t stand this longing, this need—it would destroy me on a level no other had before. “Forgive me for not having any sympathy,” I snapped.

“You’re young.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ironic that you are blaming your lack of adulting on my youth.”

“No, I’m blaming your youth for your narrow-minded view on the weight of responsibility.”

I snorted and stepped toward him. “That’s rich. You have zero idea of the responsibility on my shoulders.”

“Yes. The poor little lamb, sent to slaughter for the advancement of her powerful grandmother.” Ouch, that stung.

Primordial power nipped at my fingers begging for release, wanting to show this man how powerful I was, and exactly what he’d let go. The beast inside me lifted her head to peer at Hudson and fought me for control. My voice came out multilayered. “That’s a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming power we wield. You have thousands that depend on you to make the right decisions, Principal. We have billions. Not one soul would be untouched if we made the wrong fucking choice.” I slapped a hand over my mouth as his eyes widened. Shit, shit, shit. I yanked on the chains, but the bitch had said her piece. She was content with making it known what he’d passed up. Thick silence coated the room as I waited for the judgment, the rejection, the loneliness that was ever present.

“What choices are those?” he whispered, stepping closer and tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. He’d seen, he’d heard, and he still wanted to be closer? Did this man have a death wish?

“The type of choices,” I breathed, letting my hand fall from my mouth and onto his chest, “that I would have trusted my mate with before he ditched me for political gain.” I pushed away from him and rounded my desk, needing the furniture between us.

“Except you didn’t trust me.”

“Not yet, but I could have. Now we will never know.” I knew deep down it was true. I would have given him everything in time, trusted this man with my deepest, darkest secrets.

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