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Half surprised to hear her voice, I paused on my heel and nodded.
“My dad died in the last attack. Kai did him in, from what I know.”
When Willow gave me an annoyed look, I threw my hands up in defense. “I’m not looking for sympathy, I promise. I didn’t want my dad to take the route he did.”
Willow eyed me suspiciously. “And you’re not mad at Kai for killing him?”
While I knew that I should’ve been, I couldn’t find it within me. We shared blood, but my dad was never a good man. It was hard to look past how he brainwashed our crew and made us lose good men. More than his life, I mourned the connection I could’ve had with him if he hadn’t been so hellbent on taking Rose Valley.
I shrugged. “Not really. I might go to hell for saying this, but he deserved it. I can’t blame Kai for doing something I would’ve done myself to protect my people.”
That seemed to take Willow by surprise as she threw me a perplexed look. “You’d kill your own family to save the others?”
“Only if it was warranted. In his case, he caused more harm than he did anything good with his time.”
“Interesting,” she mumbled, eyes still distant as she looked at me.
“But really, the shop looks great,” I said, as if we had ever been more than strangers before.
Willow hummed a disinterested sound in response, then busied herself by adjusting something on a nearby shelf.
She was holding back, and I knew it. I could sense that she wanted to say more, but she wouldn’t let herself. She had every right to want to scream and throw things at me, but she restrained herself.
A part of me wanted her to yell; it would be something to work with, at least.
Studying her tense movements, I saw it as a challenge. The chance to get more words out of her.
Maybe it was an asshole thing for me to think, but I wanted to keep the interaction going. To see what else she would say.
“You must really know your stuff,” I attempted, wondering if that would get her attention.
She stifled a snicker to herself, not facing me. “Inherently, yes.”
Of course. She had been a witch since birth; of course she had a good grasp of everything about witchcraft and magic.
“You must be well-liked—”
“Why are you here?” She asked suddenly, turning her gaze on me. Those normally calm eyes were a shade darker with irritation. “In Rose Valley, and my shop?”
Taking my time, I looked at a stack of boxed wands absently. “I’m in Rose Valley because I need to fix what my father ruined for us and everyone here, and to figure out why me and some of my men can’t shift.” I threw her a glance, noticing that her stare hadn’t left me. “And I’m in your shop because I don’t know very many people here.”
“But you don’t know me either,” Willow said with a sharp edge to her voice. She looked at me bravely, not backing down from my gaze.
It stirred something within me, and I swallowed hard. “You’re right, I don’t. But what’s stopping us from getting to know each other better?”
Willow deadpanned at that, looking like I had slapped her across the face.
I had the feeling I crossed a line and couldn’t walk it back.
Chapter 6 - Willow
I found myself hesitating in my responses, hoping not to give away how hurt I had been. I didn’t want him to think he had some sort of upper hand on me.
To make matters worse, every second he spent in the shop with me was agonizing. I wanted to keep those old feelings locked away, but they were bursting at the seams. He was so near—so incredibly close, unlike the last five years, and it was wearing away at the walls I had up against him.
I had been so willing to explore our connection the moment I felt it, but he never gave me the chance. He didn’t give us the chance, and I could never fully overcome that. Not knowing what we could’ve been was enough to splinter my heart even more.
What hurt even more was that he had chosen that for us. He looked me in the eye and told me he didn’t want me. Mate bonds were difficult to simply ignore, but he did it without flinching.
