By the time we made it home, I was in the mood to punch something until my knuckles bled, but I'd grown out of that sort of impulsive shit a long time ago. Sage's silence wasn't helping my mood, though. It wasn't like I blamed her, but the way she had folded in on herself was like salt in the wound.
I couldn't stop myself from reaching for her when we made it home, but when my hand connected with her shoulder, she whipped around, rust-red hair falling over her forehead.
"Sage..."
"I know that tone. Don't." She snapped. "Don't you dare apologize for him."
She opened the door and went inside, leaving me standing in the cool night air before I gathered myself enough to follow her inside. She might have insisted I didn't need to apologize, but I did. I was the one who put us in that situation, who left her open to ridicule from someone who had already caused a significant amount of grief in her life.
I wanted her to know I was sorry. I wanted her to know that I cared, even if I failed over and over again at proving it. And if I couldn't show her with my words, I'd show her with my body...if she'd only let me.
Fuck, I wanted her. My desire had teeth when it hit me, almost painful in its strength. I was always hungry for her, but something was making my tether even shorter than before.
I should have let her have her space, but instead, I followed her. Her scent, thick, cloying, and addictive, perfumed the hallway. It took everything in me not to follow her into her bedroom, not to pin her against the wall and kiss her senseless.
That's all I would need. Just one kiss, one taste of her lips. She wouldn't deny me then.
Fuck. No, it was more than that. I wanted more than her body. I wanted her heart, too, and forcing a kiss on her would likely get me a slap on the face and weeks of silence.
I knocked on the door, and was immediately met with silence. Sage's scent was strong behind the wooden door, but she wasn't making a sound. I was certain she was in there, so I waited, shifting my weight from foot to foot.
"Sage?"
When she didn't respond, I rapped my knuckles on the wood once more. "Look, I'm not here to apologize. I swear. I just want to know that you're okay."
Still nothing.
"I'm just sorry that we had to go through that at all. You shouldn't have had to deal with his bullshit, especially when he swore to me he'd behave himself. Can't we just talk about this? It was a fucked up night, and I'm not asking for a lot, but maybe if you let me in..."
"I'm fine," her voice drifted from the other side of the door, sounding strained. "Just get out of here, Noah."
It would be all too easy to argue, but I bit my tongue and rested my hot forehead against the cool wood of her bedroom door. "Okay. Just...I'm here if you need me."
She didn't respond, but I knew she wouldn't. Restless need, sorrow, and anger coiled in me. I needed to hold my mate, but that wasn't an option, and I wasn't going to be an animal and force myself into her room. So I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with her scent even through the door, and finally left heralone, stalking to my office to try and distract myself with pack paperwork.
I knew it was pointless, but there was nothing else to be done.
***
Four hours later, I was almost a week ahead on paperwork, and I'd organized it at least a dozen times. The house stayed quiet, and Sage stayed locked in her room. She wasn't crying or raging; I would have been able to hear it, but her silence was almost just as unsettling to me.
What could she be doing? Thinking?
I'd tried to distract myself with the mundane bullshit, but my mind was constantly returning to the witch locked in the room down the hall. I should have given up. I should have let her go, but my wolf was desperate for her, and I was too.
I couldn't take it anymore. I stalked back to her door and knocked again, not even knowing what I planned to say to get her to respond. It didn't matter that she'd made it crystal clear she wanted to be left alone. I couldn't leave things unfinished.
Silence answered me after the first knock, so I tried again. She was still there, her scent curling out from the sides and bottom cracks in the door, but she appeared to be in no hurry to answer me.
"I know you're in there, Sage. Let's just talk."
A few moments passed, and then a weak "go away" filtered through the door. "I can't do that. You know I can't. Not until I know you're okay."
There was another pause. "I'm fine, Noah. Just please go."
She sounded so pitiful that it nearly broke my heart. My wolf paced, snarling and clawing, desperate to be with her. "My father is just bitter. That's all he has now. He's just a shell of what he once was and...he lashes out because of it." My hand splayed against the door as I tried to get closer to her, even if it was just by millimeters. "And I know that doesn't excuse what he said, but what he said has no bearing on our future. I swear it."
There was a rustling, and then Sage responded, yelling, "Go away!"
