Page 25 of Easy, Tiger

Dad's cabin sits in a clearing twenty minutes from the boundary. Light flickers in the windows, and smoke flows from the chimney. I knock twice, pause, and then once more. Our old signal.

"Come in, son."

He's sitting at the kitchen table, a half-finished carving in his weathered hands. Age has etched sixty-two years into his face, yet his shoulders retain their solid strength, broad and capable of splitting firewood all on his own. His gray hair catches the lamplight, and his eyes that mirror my own rest upon me with the patience that's defined him my entire life.

"Rough night?"

"Getting rougher." Sinking into the chair across from him, I drag my hands down my face. "The bond's getting stronger."

"Expected that." He sets down his knife, giving me his full attention. "You've been spending considerable time with her."

"She's...She's the one who found me by the creek, Dad. Dug the bullet out with tweezers from a first aid kit, stitched me closed with thread meant for a torn backpack strap. She's everything. Smart, kind, funny. Sees the world in ways that make me remember why I fell in love with these mountains in the first place."

His eyebrows lift, but he doesn't interrupt.

"But?"

"But she's human. She has no idea what I am, what we are. And every day I spend with her, every conversation we share, the bond gets more demanding. Tonight I nearly told her everything. Came close to kissing her. Almost did a dozen things that would have scared her away forever."

Caleb reaches across the table, his strong hand covering my clenched fist. "What do you think the bond wants from you?"

"To claim and mark her. Make it impossible for her to leave. To take away her choice."

"And what do you want?"

Stunning in its directness, the inquiry cuts straight through my defenses. "I want her to choose me because of her own desire. Because she trusts me enough to let me into her life and values the connection we share."

"Then you already know what to do."

"Ignore the bond completely? Pretend it doesn't exist?"

"Honor it differently. While many believe that the bond creates love, it instead recognizes it. But recognition and force are different things entirely."

"I don't understand."

"Your mother and I were fated mates. The bond hit me like lightning the first time I saw her." Going mute a moment, the memory softens the lines of his face. "But she was terrified of commitment and had been burned badly before. I could have used the bond to overwhelm her defenses and make her need me whether she wanted to or not."

"But you didn't."

"I courted her for two years. Proved myself worthy of her trust one day at a time. When she finally said yes, it was because she'd chosen to love the man I'd shown her I could be."

The fire pops in the silence that follows. Outside, wind sweeps through the pines with a rhythmic rush.

"She doesn't know what I am," I say finally. "How can she choose when she doesn't have all the information?"

"She knows who you are. That's what matters." My father picks up his carving again, fingers working the wood with ease. "The rest can come later, when she's ready. If she's ready."

"And if she's never ready?"

"Then you love her enough to let her go."

Flinching at the unmistakable truth, I know he's right. Halsey deserves the chance to choose her own path, even if that path doesn't include me.

"The bond won't make this easy."

"Nothing worthwhile ever is." Breaking away from his work, his expression lines relax with easy humor.

"Besides, you're a Maren. Stubborn runs in the bloodline. Use it for something good."