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Lachelle opened her eyes and found Gerard looking down at her. She lay with her head on his thigh and pushed up to her elbows. “Was I asleep long?”
“No.” He looked away.
Her belly clenched, and she sat up all the way and pulled her clothes on. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep. What if someone caught us?”
“I would know.”
“Gerard, why aren’t you looking at me? Don’t tell me you’re feeling guilty about what we did. Not too long ago we were a couple, and I haven’t heard anything from you saying we aren’t now. Or am I wrong and you slept with me to tell me goodbye?”
He stood and stretched his arms over his head. She scanned the area and listened. As far as she could tell no one had come near them. Maybe the others knew what they were doing out there and gave them space. She wouldn’t put it past them. Heck, a few other shifters might have done the same thing. The dragon shifters lived life on their own terms, something she used to be proud of doing.
“Gerard, I want to know now if we’re still together. I should have asked before our roll in the grass, but whatever.”
He didn’t speak.
“I never took you for a coward!”
He rounded on her. “I’m not a coward. I want—”
“What?” She put her hands on her hips. “By all means tell me.”
“I want to be with my mate.”
Her heart cracked. He made an animal sound and launched at her. She held up her hand, and he stopped cold. The misery in his eyes was obvious, but she refused to acknowledge it.
“Goodbye. I’m going back.” She turned around and started walking.
“To the cabin?”
It was her turn not to speak. Let him wonder what she meant, but she had no intention of staying at the homestead pining for a man who didn’t want her. The next thing she knew she would be a murderer because she’d kill Kelly before she watched her paw Gerard.
Back at her cabin, Janessa waited for her, a mischievous light in her eyes. “I was told not to look for you.”
Lachelle groaned. “So they did know. “I don’t care. Look, Nessa, I’m leaving. I’m going back to the city.”
“You can’t, Lachelle. It’s dangerous.”
“I’m still going. I can’t stay here.”
“But I thought you and Gerard had made up.”
“Sleeping together isn’t the same as making up—um…not really.” She shook her head in confusion. “Never mind that. I’m going. I need a job. I need to get my apartment together. I can’t afford the rent for next month unless I put it on my credit card, and I’m not even sure I can do that. At any rate, I need to pull my life together.”
Her sister hugged her tight.
Lachelle drew back and cupped Janessa’s cheek. “That ceremony, girl. It was…wow!”
“I know, right? I never imagined. If I did, I would have pushed Declan to do it long time ago.”
“And have they accepted you?”
“I think so. Apparently, if I wasn’t the one, the reaction you saw in their faces wouldn’t have happened.” She frowned and chewed her lip. “But how would they even know that? Declan said there’s never been anyone who bonded with someone who wasn’t their mate. Oh! You and Gerard could—”
“Don’t say it.” Lachelle walked into the bedroom and started packing. “I’m not going to perform some sacred ceremony with Gerard to prove I belong with him and risk looking like a fraud. Even if I didn’t look like a fraud, I refuse to try to prove it.”
“Aw, sweetie.”
“Please, Nessa. Don’t get me emotional. I can’t handle it right now. Suffice it to say Gerard made his choice, and I’m not going to fight him over it.”
