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My bond keened from within me, and it took everything in my power not to react visibly. It stirred that frayed thread that existed inside me, awoken like it had finally been fed after all these years.
We had never touched before, yet it brought me a sense of peace and familiarity.
Pushing that longing back, I tapped into my powers and tried to ignore it altogether. I refused to look into those eyes while I worked, not when I had the feeling it would completely derail me.
I didn’t want to let him know he had any sort of effect on me. I couldn’t let it happen.
Studying the lines embedded in his palm, long and short, that old pain flickered in my chest to remind me it was still there. The deeply rooted sadness for our lost potential. The knowing that our bond didn’t exist for no reason.
And how Rowan so quickly chose to push me away all because of his old prejudices.
Letting myself slip into that mental space I often went to in order to receive visions, flashes of them greeted me at once.
He was smiling, showing off those ridiculously perfect teeth and the small dimples at the edges of his mouth. Rowan looked so happy he was ready to burst. I could feel the presence of another, but the vision changed before I could see who was making him so deliriously joyous.
I tried to ignore the pangs of jealousy, knowing he was destined to feel happy in love after what he did to me and our bond.
An image of a wolf running through a dense wood, swimming in relief and all that power, hit me next. The raw strength of that creature was impossible to ignore and even seemed to demand praise in all of its glory. I knew it was that wolf was Rowan, with the domineering eye of a rightful leader.
The visions dropped at once, and I snapped back to the present to find Rowan looking back at me with curiosity in his eyes. The wonder of what was ahead of him.
Recoiling my hand at once, I didn’t feel all that impressed by the future I saw for him.
“Congratulations,” I drawled, aware of the slight venom in my words. “You’ll be happy and able to shift again one day.”
While something resembling reprieve ran across his face, Rowan’s expression faltered. He looked off-put by my sarcasm, and he sighed.
“Look, Willow, I’m sorry for what I did that day—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Rowan,” I said, pushing through the ache that resonated within me. Standing from the chair, I couldn’t bring myself to sit so close to him anymore. “It’s too late for that.”
He sat there for a moment longer as a hurt look crossed his face, eyes seeming to soften somewhat. He held that eye contact as if it actually meant something to him, but I knew better than that. I was likely just another stop on his peace parade, but I didn’t want to hear him out so easily. Not when he didn’t offer me the same kindness before.
He was painfully beautiful to look at, but it was a temptation I couldn’t allow myself to have. I needed to be strong-willed and able to prove I didn’t need the bond.
Even while that connection wriggled inside my chest, hoping for any morsel of affection from him, I couldn’t accept that he had changed. As far as I knew, he just got better at hiding his arrogance.
After a moment, Rowan sighed, then got up from the stool. I turned away from him with my arms crossed, pretending to busy myself with the items around me. He rummaged through his pocket, then placed something on the table.
“I’ll see you around,” he mumbled dejectedly, then turned and left the shop.
By the time he was gone, I risked a glance to make sure he wasn’t lingering. To my relief, the shop was empty.
Deflated, I glanced at the table and found several bills folded. Payment for the fortune telling.
My mind spun from the weight of it all, and I went back to the table, dropping myself onto the stool. I leaned my elbow against the surface and found myself lost in thought.
Seeing Rowan again stirred those thoughts and feelings I had worked so hard to repress, and him showing his face again didn’t help in my efforts to block him out entirely.
Left in the empty shop alone, I didn’t know where to go from there. But something in me had the inclination that Rowan had something to do with that looming doom I couldn’t escape.
Chapter 7 - Rowan
I had showered and gotten dressed by the time Kai knocked at my door, but I was starving and didn’t have the chance to eat.
The alpha of Rose Valley stood there, wearing nicer clothes than I’d expect a shifter to see. It was no short of luxurious, but I didn’t care enough to dwell on what fabrics he was wearing.
“Ready?”
