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“Roman is gone,” Gem reminds me. “Any pass he gave you died with him.”
Aleksander is in charge now. The pretty vampire with the dreamy accent. “Ask your friend to let me in.”
“I already called in the favor to get Duke in to see Elizabeth. I can’t burn another. I’m sorry, Trish. He said he would run this by you first. Elizabeth only needs one mate to want to sacrifice the bond, but I said he needed your permission, too.”
Would I have given it? Selfish Trish Danvers?
No way in hell.
I already knew I wanted him. Am I in love with Duke? I… I think so. I never really allowed myself to think about that.
Do I want him to take away my chance to find out if this bond between us is real?
Nope.
“Gem—”
“You can’t go,” she says one more time, “but you can wait for his return. And you’ll know, one way or another, if you still have a shot at your forever.”
I guess that’s as much as I deserve.
* * *
There have been toomany incidents in the stretch of “no man’s land” between Muncie and Accalia lately for me to feel comfortable waiting for Duke there. Instead, I find a spot about a hundred yards into the woods on shifter land, park my ass on a boulder, and wait for some sign that Duke is heading home.
It seems like hours, but it’s probably only about one before his pine scent reaches me. All at once, the thoughts and questions and declarations I had ready to throw at him once I saw him again fly out of my head. Instead, when Duke comes within my line of vision, I do the most reckless thing ever.
I throwmyselfat him.
Good reflexes. My male—if he’s still mine—has good reflexes. A split second before I reach him, he throws open his arms, welcoming me into his embrace with a tight squeeze as I try my very best to wrap myself around him like a fucking pretzel.
“I marked you.” I sound as spoiled and as petulant as a four-year-old child who used marker to claim a toy as theirs. I don’t care. “You’re mine.”
He folds me into his arms. “Oh, Trish. I always was.”
“And it’s not because of a bond,” I rattle on. “One we had, one we don’t, one we could’ve… When Gem told me before I never felt it… she was right. I didn’t, but that’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
His hand goes to my hair, stroking it reverentially. He probably has no idea what I’m talking about, what I’m doing here, why I’ve attached myself to him. I mean, I can sense his confusion—
I can sense his confusion.
It’s not very strong, but it’s there.
A bond.
Tears spring to my eyes. Before I know it, I’m a blubbering mess, smearing tears and—oh, Luna—snot on his shirt. All I get out is, “Don’t leave me, I can be better,” before dissolving into sobs.
I didn’t cry the entire time I was in the Wolf District. Not one tear during banishment. But the relief I feel when I sense Duke on the other side of our twisted bond… forget being four. I’m a damn newborn.
“Shh… Trish, baby. It’s okay.”
I shake my head.
He continues to coo. “You didn’t do anything wrong—”
Yes. I did. “I ignored the magnificent male standing in front of me forfouryears. I couldn’t make it through one Luna once I realized how strong my feelings are for you.”
Duke tightens his hold for a moment, taking in a sharp breath. When he exhales, he holds me at arms-length so that he can look down in my face. “Four years of full moons without you were worth it for the one we shared. But while I wanted you desperately, the moon fever didn’t hit me until the last one. I wasn’t sure how I would survive it and then… there you were, like an angel.”
