“If you were smart, Ruka, you’d take your sister far away from here and protect her at all costs.”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “If you were smart, you’d stop speaking about her like you know her at all.”
“Oakley!” Westin, my friend and ranch manager, shouts from the closest hill. “Tornado destroyed a good section of fence. All animals are accounted for.”
“It’s nice meeting you all, but I need to get back to work.” It’s luck that I was out this far in the pasture. A strong force pulled me nearly to the back of my property line, and now I know why.
“You want us to go?”
The hurt in Nariko’s voice is almost enough to make me jump from my saddle and pull her into my arms.
What I want to say is, no. I don’t want her to go. I want her to stay. Forever. I want her to somehow love me even though I’ll need her blood. I want to wake up to the sight of her beautiful face every single day.
She could be the catalyst that ends up healing the damaged part of me.
That isn’t fair to her. She shouldn’t have to spend her time on a project. Her love is chasing, and if she settles for me, she’ll resent me for asking her to stop.
Her resentment would be the death of me.
Why bother with falling in love when it wouldn’t be good for us?
No, Nariko. I don’t want you to go. I want to bind you to me for all eternity. You’re mine.
But I can’t say that, can I?
“I think it’s what’s best. I’m not trying to be rude. Apologies that it came off that way. I have a lot of animals on this ranch,and if you follow another tornado through here, you could end up getting hurt.”
“It’s impossible not to come through here at times,” Nariko explains. “How much of the property is yours?”
“Nearly three hundred acres.”
“Come on,” she groans, throwing her hands on her hips. “There has to be an agreement we can come to. We can credit your ranch in the videos. We will pay for access. Please, there has to be something we can do.”
I look down at her from Van Gogh, her big brown eyes pleading with me. I can sense her desperation in her blood, the yearning to do what she loves. There’s no mistaking the other scent though, the longing for me and not understanding why.
She takes a step forward, and my gums tingle so much I have to turn away. My eyes shift, and my fangs drop. Curling my fingers around the reins, I squeeze.
“We will wait in the car,” Ruka announces, and a few moments later, the doors slam shut, leaving me alone with my mate.
I can’t look at her again. I’m not strong enough to not give in to her. I want to give her everything. She wants the world? I’ll find a way to give it to her, but she doesn’t want the world.
She wants tornadoes.
“Nariko—”
“—Nari,” she corrects. “That’s what my friends call me.”
“I’m not your friend.”
I hear her gasp at how cruel it sounds. She doesn’t understand why my rejection hurts so much. And it doesn’t just hurt her. I’m seconds away from losing control, damning her to a life with me, and running far away where no one will ever be able to find us.
“Stay far away from me, Nariko. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do.” Keeping my head turned away, the rejection nearly makesme fall off Van Gogh. I press my hand against my heart, the pain unbearable.
I feel more right now than I did twenty years ago when I nearly died.
I whistle, nudging Van Gogh’s sides with my boots. He bolts forward into an immediate gallop. His hooves are loud, thumping almost as heavy as my heart. Tears blur my vision, and the ache of missing her has catastrophe ripping through my soul.
Between being able to feel her emotions and my own, the grief should be enough to kill a man.
