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Finally, she speaks, her voice breaking. “This is so dumb.”
A tear escapes and I want to bury the mountainside in snow so deep no one would touch her.
“Everett Young. It was a date. That’s all. Not even a date.” Her voice takes on a sing-song quality like she’s telling a story and not recounting a memory. “We didn’t even meet. I canceled the date at the last minute because of work and honestly I didn’t feel a vibe.”
I don’t know what she means by date but I understand the context. She was supposed to meet with this…male…and didn’t feel a connection. That seems fair, but I keep my opinion to myself.
“At first, I didn’t think anything of it. But then, there would be weird phone calls. Texts. I would get comments at work. All of my bosses and co-workers have been great. They always offer resources…support. But soon, something would happen that would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Something always happened.”
“And then what?”
She shrugs. “Then I’d move. At first, it was just to a different part of town. Then I’d move whole states away. I can’t prove it, but I’ve always believed it was him. Police don’t help. Until he actually did something, they can’t do anything.”
“Something like hurt you?”
She nods. “I never stayed long enough to find out what he’d do. I’ve moved like five times this year alone. Moving here was going to be my safe haven. My time to finally rest.” Tears stream down her face. She flicks them away. “And now he’s here.”
The dam that she had been valiantly holding back bursts forth. I gather her to me, slowly, slow enough for her to push away if she wants.
But she doesn’t. As I draw near, she presses herself against me, her face against my chest. I wrap my arms around her, and let her cry. Every tear shed in anguish over this Everett Young is one I will extract from him in kind.
A grin spreads over my face just thinking of what I’d do.
Soon she is still though makes no move to part from me.
I can stand like this forever.
Finally she asks. “Do you still want me to stay?” Her small voice makes her seem so vulnerable.
“Of course I want you to stay.
She swivels her head up so that she is facing me. I look into the depths of her luminous brown eyes.
God, I want to just cup her face and wipe away her tears.
But that is something I cannot demand yet. I know she is my mate, but she’s not of my world. She doesn’t understand what it means to know who our mates are. What being bonded together means.
“You’re not just saying that because you feel sorry for me? If I am an inconvenience, I can go. But if I stay, I promise I will do such a good job.”
Fuck it.
I cup her face, wiping her tears away with my thumbs. “I think if you leave now, the house will hate me forever.”
She laughs, finding humor in whatever I say.
“You think I’m joking. But I know that if you leave the house would purge itself of the living room first. Then it would throw the kitchen straight into the lake. The sirens will be angry.”
Val is fully laughing by the time I’m done talking. “I guess I cannot leave then. For the sake of the sirens.”
“I would take it as a personal favor I say. They are already mad at me because it keeps snowing.”
Her giggles taper off, and she heaves one more heartfelt sigh. “If Everett becomes a threat?—”
I cut her off. “There is no way a human such as he can breach Avalon veil little alone step onto my property without me knowing. You are safe here.”
“God, I feel so dumb crying over this.” She paces away from me. I feel the loss of her.
“Stop it. You are not to blame for another person’s actions. There is no shame in this. You are doing your best.”
