“That isn’t true.” I know it’s a lie, but his words are like a heel to my heart. Breaking. Crushing.
He shoots to his feet, his dagger clattering to the ground next to the carcass. “Don’t you see? I cannot protect you! Maybe before, but now, it is only me. This is the way it must be.”
I can feel the fight leaking from my bones, leaving me hollow. Cold. Shaken.
“Please, don’t do this.” I’m willing to plead with him until my dying breath, but something in the hard set of his jaw and the flint in his eyes tells me it’s no use.
He stalks into the carriage, returning with my slippers, leaving bloodied handprints on the pristine silk. “Put these on.”
“No. I won’t leave you.”
“Put them on. Please. I am begging.” Just when I think there is no way for him to force me to put on those shoes, I see the tears glistening in his eyes.
He is truly afraid of losing me, and instead of fighting for me, he’s giving up.
On me. On us. On the future we planned only a few hours ago.
When I look away, my gaze catches on the dead wolf.
Fear swells like a scream in my chest. I haven’t even been in this territory for two whole days, and already I’ve met one of the beasts that prowl these forests. With Ever out hunting, foraging, searching for food to sustain not only himself, but also me , my life would be confined to that wagon. If we were ever blessed with a child, how could I possibly hope to keep a son or daughter safe in this place?
Compared to Ever and the rest of his people, I have been raised in the lap of luxury; I don’t know how to fight. I know how to bake desserts the man I love doesn’t even eat. I don’t know how to cook meals for him, so he will have to either teach me or do that himself as well.
In this world, I am entirely out of my depth.
I am no good to him.
He needs someone stronger—deserves someone who can defend herself. A partner, not another burden.
I take my slippers with trembling hands and slip them onto my feet.
Ever swipes the dagger from the bloody grass, clenching the bone handle in his fist once more, his jaw set as he scans the forest. If it’s not safe here for me, then he shouldn’t be here either, especially not without access to the well.
“Come with me.”
Dark eyes lock with mine.
“You have no one else.” I swipe my fist beneath my watery eyes. “We will find a way to make it work. Just don’t push me away. Please, Ever. Please.”
My heart clatters against my ribs as he takes my hand in his and leads me out of the forest, past the Unseelie village, all the way to the bridge where Maddox and Gryffin sit by a fire, chatting quietly. When they see us, they lurch to their feet.
“What the hell happened?” Maddox asks me, not sparing Ever so much as a glance.
Ever clears his throat. “Wolf.”
Maddox’s dark gaze darts to Ever, but all my love does is stare straight ahead into the empty gray.
“You never should have brought her here,” Ever grits out. “Take her home.”
Maddox’s gaze returns me, his jaw popping as his teeth grind together.
I cling more tightly to Ever’s hand. “No. You’re coming with me. Please.Please.”
He pries open my fingers, removing himself from my grasp, his sorrowful gaze falling over my face. “I am sorry I failed you. It will not happen again.”
“Ever, please… Don’t do this.”
He presses his lips to my forehead, then turns and drifts away.