Page 31 of Binding His Fated Mates

“Because maybe not everything needs to be a fight. And I get it. I get all of it. I wouldn’t want to be around me either, if I were in your shoes.”

“The Daniel I remember wasn’t such a doormat.”

I ground my teeth, glaring at him. What the hell was he even doing? And why was he doing it?

He followed that up with, “You have a hard time with speaking the truth, don’t you?”

That pissed me off. If he only knew—if he had any clue whatsoever—the disastrous lengths I’d gone to in order to not be a liar.

“Fine!” I shot to my feet, the journal I’d been reading on my lap tumbling to the floor. “Yes, Hunter, I’ve obviously been walking on eggshells around you two since we got here! And yeah, it’s been fucking awful!” My voice rose. “Is that what you want to hear? Is that what will make you happy? You already know this! Or are you getting off on hearing me say it?”

Hunter’s eyebrows shot up and he smiled, a real smile this time, his gaze never leaving mine. “There he is. I was worried that maybe he was gone for good.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. Some of the anger slumped out of me, leaving me exhausted and unhappy.

“The guy I fell for wouldn’t have put up with our bullshit. He was kind, but he knew what he was worth. He didn’t always bend over backward to make other people happy.”

“Yeah, well, that Daniel hadn’t ruined anyone’s life yet, had he?”

I abruptly wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole. Because that, in a nutshell, was it, right?

Hunter and Lee weren’t the only ones who had lost everything that night. I had, too. I had lost the love of my life, my home, my concept of who I was and what I was capable of, and even my family—most of them were awful, but I’d been close with my sister, Rowan. She hadn’t tried to contact me either.

And I’d replaced my entire life with this: with the pack. And with Lee and Hunter, who hated me. And with the knowledge that I destroyed everything I touched.

Hunter’s expression tightened at my words. And something like regret flashed in his eyes.

“If we can agree that Lee and I have been making you miserable, why’d you pull me out of the way of the Algea? Why not save yourself the trouble?” He paused. “I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, but I’m the one who’s been keeping Lee from talking to you. If it were up to him, we’d at least be friendly with you.” He tilted his head to the side as he studied me with a frown, as if trying to puzzle me out. “So, then, why?”

That had been more than a month ago. I stared at him, searching his face for the catch—because there had to be one. Otherwise, what the hell did he think he was doing? But there was nothing in front of me except Hunter, looking at me with his guard down, possibly for the very first time since the split. In the waking world, at least. Which meant he was actually asking me.

“You could have died,” Hunter continued, his jaw going tighter, as if that possibility were in any way upsetting for him. “Lee and I are stronger and faster than you are. You’d just finished casting a pretty major spell and you were half-drained. The Algea was about to break free, and you saw how fast it could move.” He paused. “Why did you do it? Why risk your life for someone who’d spent years treating you like shit?”

“Why is this what you’re asking? You and Lee hate me, not the other way around.”

“Daniel, don’t do that. I’m really asking. I’ve been wondering for a month.”

A month was a laughably short amount of time to lack closure when you stacked it against the two years I’d been grappling with. But Hunter didn’t deserve my silence the way I did his.

And watching him, seeing that he was being genuine, heat crept into my cheeks. My throat tightened. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to deflect, to make a joke, to change the subject before this conversation went somewhere I couldn’t come back from.

Hell, maybe Hunter was right. Maybe I did have a problem with being brave enough to speak the truth.

I couldn’t stand looking into his eyes anymore—I still loved him and this was completely unbearable. I tried to drop my gaze.

“Don’t.” Emotion entered Hunter’s voice, turning it ragged, causing me to freeze. “Don’t look away from me, Daniel. Please.”

I forced myself to meet his eyes. They were blazing, even if the rest of his face was unreadable.

“Fuck you, Hunter,” I whispered, my defenses cracking and letting my feelings ooze out into a puddle in front of me, exposed and raw for him to see. “You already know why I saved you.”

Hunter dragged in a deep breath, but he didn’t say anything to contradict me.

“You’ve always known why.” Now that I’d started, I found that I couldn’t make myself stop. “It’s the same reason I stayed here after I asked Jeremy to turn you and Lee. You think I didn’t have any other options? It doesn’t matter what he said. I could’ve gone anywhere! He couldn’t have stopped me. But I stayed here and I did it for you! You and Lee both. It’s why I’m never leaving!” Each word was coming harder and faster than the last, as if the dam of my emotions had burst, flooding me completely in an uncontrollable wave. “And it’s why I put myself in danger with the Algea, too! It’s why I’d do it again, in a heartbeat. Because I would never turn my back on you! Never!”

Hunter visibly flinched at that, but his expression didn’t change.

My hands tightened into fists at my sides and I was breathing harder now. “And you’re an idiot if you need me to spell any of that out for you!”