My fingers twist in my lap. “I didn’t think you’d doubt me.”
“Didn’t you?” His eyes find mine, unnervingly direct. “After you walked out on me in the middle of...?”
Heat climbs up my neck. “You could have called me, too. Why did you come to the hospital?”
“I was worried about you.” A muscle in his jaw jumps as he swallows. “I knew he was going to fuck with your mind. I didn’t want you facing him alone.”
The silence stretches between us, filled only with the click of Mixie’s claws across the hardwood as she retreats to her food bowl in the kitchen.
“Why didn’t you wait for me here?” I ask, feeling smaller than I want to be.
“Because I didn’t know if there would be room for me when you returned.” He turns his head away, his broken profile outlined by the lamplight. “If he convinced you to take him back?—”
“I wouldn’t have.”
“How are you so sure?” Jared argues, voice rising before he winces and lifts a hand to his ribs. “You went to him the second he called, Em. No hesitation. No questions asked. What was I supposed to think?”
My anger flares, quick and defensive. “That I’m a decent person who doesn’t abandon someone in the hospital, regardless of our history.”
“You left me without a second thought,” he accuses.
“I didn’t leave you.” The protest comes out tooloud. “I left because someone was hurt, and I couldn’t pretend that wasn’t my responsibility.”
“He’s not your responsibility. He kicked you out of the pack. He has a new pack to take care of him. You left me without a single word of explanation. As if I didn’t matter.”
“You told me not to go,” I counter feebly.
“And then I asked you to let me come with you,” I correct.
We stare at each other, the argument circling, and both of us too tired to find a way out.
“I wouldn’t have brought him here,” I say finally. “This is...”
I struggle to name what this space has become. Not just my house anymore. Not quite ours.
“This is where we’re building something,” I say at last. “I wouldn’t let him poison that.”
Jared’s gaze softens, though doubt lingers. “I want to believe you.”
“Then believe me,” I echo his words from the workshop. “Even if it’s just for right now. Even if it’s just in this room.”
His breath catches with recognition of our promise last night, before the call from the hospital pulled me away.
I lean forward, needing him to understand. “You left. You walked out into a storm while I was trying to end a nightmare.”
He sags, the fight draining out of him. “I didn’t leave you. I just didn’t think I was someone worthy of you coming back to.”
The confession hangs between us, stripping away the pretense. This isn’t about Auren or the hospital or the men who attacked Jared. This is about the fear of being replaceable, of not being enough, of building something only to have it crumble.
The same fear that’s kept me walled off from connection since Auren pushed me out of my own pack.
I take Jared’s hand, careful to avoid the bruises on his knuckles. His fingers curl around mine, warm and solid.
“I came back,” I whisper. “I came back, and you were gone.”
His thumb traces circles on my palm. “I went out to find you.”
“I’m sorry I cut you out. I shouldn’t have walked away and not taken the time to update you about what was happening.” My thumb rubs over his knuckles. “And I shouldn’t have told you this wasn’t your place. I only meant to make sure Aurenwas alive and end it for good, but that doesn’t excuse shutting you down. You had no way to know what I was thinking. You deserved better from me.”