“Are you going to take hunters back with you?”
“I haven’t discussed it with Juan. Everyone here has enough to deal with; they can’t have us asking to take away more of their men when they just lost a fair number of them.”
“What about… what about taking me? I can fight.”
She couldn’t believe she’d asked that.
“Would you move to another compound? You ran away from this one because you didn’t want to live this life.”
“I… I don’t know.”
It was averygood question, and as much she cared for him, would she follow him across the country? It wasn’t the brightest idea, especially when she had no idea what this was between them.
She’d always been a little impulsive, hence running away to live on the street, but was she this impulsive? And what if it all went wrong?
Plus, she’d never considered herself the type of woman who would drop everything to chase after a guy she barely knew.
Okay, well, she knew him a lot more than barely, but she hadn’t known him for long. Still, in the short time they had known each other, she’d shared more with him than with anyone else in her entire life.
Didn’t that count for something?
She didn’t have the answer, and she was still struggling to process everything else that had happened to her recently without throwing this problem into the mix. Why did life always have to pile everything on all at once?
For the past few years, she’d been quite content to live on autopilot throughout her rather peaceful, if not somewhat boring life, but at least it washerlife to live, and not one dictated to her.
Logan studied her as she returned her plate to the tray with the half-eaten bun still sitting on top of it. He’d never seen her leave a single speck of those buns behind.
She wasn’t saying much, but he’d obviously upset her. He wanted to assure her it would all be okay, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. He didn’t know what would happen.
The idea of leaving her behind to return home had started a simmering fury inside him, but he was careful to keep it hidden. She’d dealt with so much recently, and while he couldn’t stand the idea of losing her, he couldn’t make her live a life that she didn’t want.
He was asking her to leave her grieving mother and everything she’d worked for behind. He yearned for her to say yes, she would come with him, but it was a lot to expect of her. Not only had she just lost her father and most of the life she worked so relentlessly to attain, but she’d also be rejoining him in a life she’d shunned.
But could he leave her? He had to; he had no other choice. Far too many lives depended on him, the demons and Savages were growing in strength, and things would only worsen. They needed as many fighters as they could get; he couldn’t abandon the friends who’d become his family.
The idea of leaving her was enough to make his temples throb as his pulse pounded through him. He might go a little mad if he left her; he could already feel that madness seeping in from thinking about it.
He’d already considered the possibility she was his mate and believed it was likely, but he couldn’t abandon the Alliance and their fight. What was he going to do?
Logan ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the ends of it as he contemplated this. He could tell her what she was to him, but he wanted her to make her choices without feeling forced into it. She deserved that and so much more.
He didn’t know how he would walk away from her, but he’d hate himself for walking away from the Alliance.
“When are you supposed to return?” she asked.
“By next week. Asher is looking at flights now.”
Elena’s breath hitched as unexpected tears burned her eyes. She tried to keep her sudden panic hidden but knew she’d done a bad job of it when he gave her a sympathetic look.
“You could always stay,” she suggested. “They could use help here.”
“I would if I could, but I can’t walk away from the battle we’re fighting there. It’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something to stop them. We’re running out of time, and they can’t afford to lose any more fighters. If they lose this battle, there are going to be alotof lives lost. Almost all of them will be innocents.”
He was right, but she didn’t want him to leave. And she wasn’t sure she could go. Why did it all have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t they have had more time to get to know each other before this happened?
But it had only been a matter of time before they called him back. If she hadn’t been just trying to survive these past weeks, she would have realized it.
“Besides, are you going to stay here?” he asked. “Is that whatyouwant to do?”
