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Riaz gave her a casual shrug but a genuine smile. “Well, if my mate doesn’t pet me, gotta get my kicks from somewhere.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Silence hadn’t been the right decision. She’d watched as the flirty smile had dissolved on his handsome features with the realization that she wouldn’t return his banter, nor pet him as he wished. His eagerness faded like the sun going past the horizon and it twisted something in her chest.
She’d done that.
The ride back to the den had been full of tense silence that neither felt compelled to break. Polite, she’d handed him the helmet without a word, and he idly fiddled with something on the bike while she stood awkwardly a few feet away.
Was he subtly giving her the opportunity to slip away? Was this his way to avoid a conversation? Perhaps the alpha was simply working on his bike, and she was reading too much into it.
Looking up, his lips tightened into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t wait up. I’ll be a few.”
Riaz wanted her to leave.
His rejection knifed through her. A hollowness opened where her heart had been, a pit gouging out her stomach like it’d been hit by a cannonball. Riaz had already disconnected from the conversation and was looking down at the bike once more.
This must be what it felt like to him when she constantly denied him. While he’d reveled in the mating bond, engaging her, and showering her with affection, she’d done the opposite.
She’d let herself be swept up by excitement and passion, but she’d given him no indication of wanting something long term, nor any promises of exclusivity or a relationship.
She needed to clear the air. “I don’t want a mate, Riaz. I’ve been straightforward since the beginning. I don’t see how this is a shock to you.”
He froze, still straddling the bike. His hands paused where they’d been working to polish the dash, but he didn’t say anything in response.
“We met less than a week ago,” she reasoned. “Did you expect me to fall on my knees, submit to you, and sacrifice everything I’ve accomplished for your mating bond?”
Recoiling as though he’d been physically struck, the wolf’s eyes snapped to her. Incredulity pinched his features, and it was followed swiftly by silent outrage and finally, fury. It was the first time she’d seen the dark emotion clout his features, the sinister nature of it strengthened by the wolf that peered at her through his eyes.
He still didn’t speak.
All she could do was turn and walk away.
By the time she reached her room, her hands were shaking. Collapsing on the bed, she pulled the quilt around her, savoring the softness but feeling none of the comfort it promised.
The mating bond between her and Riaz was a jagged wound, pulsing weakly with every beat of her heart. Riaz’s devastation stabbed through her, the effect compounding the longer she was away from him. Guilt clung to her skin like an acrid scent. Before she could leap to her feet and go to him, a knock sounded on the door.
Riaz!
Two seconds later, she’d swung open the door with an apology on her lips, only to be caught off guard by a young Elemental. “Toni.”
The strawberry blonde cocked her head, her arched eyebrows pulling together. “Not who you were expecting?”
Sheepishly, Cortana nodded. “I … I was hoping it was Riaz.”
“Ah. Trouble with the wolf?”
Cortana just ushered the Elemental into her borrowed quarters, staring at the floor as Toni sat beside her on the bed.
“He says I’m his mate, Toni. How am supposed to react to that? Upend my whole life? The mere idea is ridiculous.”
“About as ridiculous as a vampire marrying an Elemental?” Toni’s tone was sarcastic, but not malevolent. “Nothing about who you fall in love with makes sense.”
“I’m not falling in love with him.”
“Your expression when you opened that door begs to differ. I’ve known you for three years, Cortana, and I’ve never seen that look on your face before.”
“Three years is a drop in the bucket for an immortal, Toni.”
