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“Hmm,” he hummed softly, the touch of his lips to my throat startling me as he leaned closer and breathed me in. “Gods, I missed your scent.”
I stiffened a little. “Did you though?”
Feeling him pull back, I slowly opened my eyes to find him staring down at me with a deep frown on his face.
“What?” I snapped defensively, hating the hurt in his gaze but unable to let go of my doubts. “Wasn’t your life simpler with me gone? No prophecy to worry about? No mate that you didn’t ask for?”
His weight disappeared as he suddenly released me, sitting back by the fire and leaving a lump of emotion in my throat as he put space between us. Pushing upright again, I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared into the flames, blinking back tears of frustration.
“That wound needs covering,” I whispered, not trusting my voice.
He didn’t respond, making me glance at him as the weight of the silence tugged at my chest. He wasn’t looking at me, his good arm resting on his raised leg, but the pain I could sense from him made me suddenly hate myself.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, making him flinch a little. “This isn’t the right time to talk about this.”
He released a deep sigh, rolling his injured shoulder experimentally and wincing hard. I frowned and moved to crawl over to him, but he stopped me with a shake of his head.
“It’s fine, I’ll wrap it after we talk.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, frustration rising in me again. “Liam, you’re grieving. The pack needs us. We don’t need to worry about us right now. Just forget it.”
The growl that erupted from him made me snap my eyes back to his in surprise, his dark gaze flashing at me in the twilight.
“What makes you think you aren’t my priority?” he bit out angrily. “You are my mate, Cordelia, and my feelings haven’t changed. Stop questioning everything and just fucking trust me.”
My mouth dropped open at his outburst, indignation at his words warring with relief as I felt the truth in them. He didn’t let me respond though, his fists clenching as he cut off any response I might have given.
“I had nothing to do with Zeke’s plan, and you damn well know it. I will never stop apologising for failing you and letting it happen, but you know how much I love you, so stop being a dense bitch and let me make it up to you.”
I stared at him for a long moment, taking in his heaving chest and the tension in his shoulders as he held my eye and dared me to contradict him.
He was right, though. I’d let myself get into my own head and stir doubts into a useless frenzy, and it was just hurting us both. He had just watched death take both of his parents, as well as endured the pain my mother had put him through, and me pushing him away was just adding to the weight we were carrying.
I didn’t say a word as I crossed the short distance between us and crawled back into his lap, curling myself around him as I dropped my mental barriers back down and let our bond fully open again. Relief flooded from him as he wrapped his strong arms around me and held me close, shuddering slightly as I pressed my face into his neck and allowed a few tears to escape my aching eyes.
“Never again,” he murmured against my hair as we relaxed into each other. “I’m never letting anything come between us again.”
“Funny, that’s what I said,” Noah said with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes as he walked out of the trees towards us and dropped the fruits of his hunt beside the fire. “You good, sweetheart?”
He gave me a concerned look as he crouched beside us and ran his knuckles gently over my wet cheek. “Do I need to kick his ass?”
I couldn’t help the smile that quirked my lips as Liam scoffed, reaching out to shove Noah over onto his ass. “Like you could.”
Noah chuckled, the sound strained but showing some of the sunshine we were used to from him.
“He called me a bitch,” I whispered loudly, giggling as Liam huffed at me and Noah laughed harder.
“You were being a bitch,” he argued, tightening his arms as I tried to pull back enough to see his face, refusing to let me wriggle out of his hold now that he had me there.
“Maybe,” I admitted, giving in and resting back against his chest.
We sat in a more comfortable silence as darkness fell around us, watching Noah prepare and set the meat to roast over the flames as we listened to the quiet sounds of the rest of the pack settling down for the night around us in the forest.
I had no idea where Zeke had got to, knowing he had gone off into the forest with the other hunters and assuming he had joined another of the camps for the night. My heart hurt for him, and I twisted in Liam’s grip to wrap my arms around his waist.
“I’m so sorry about Donn,” I whispered, knowing they could both hear me perfectly in the quiet night air. “And Mina.”
Liam’s arms tensed around me at the mention of his mother, but I knew he must be hurting for her too. Leaning back, I forced him to meet my eyes, the light of the low fire only just enough to let me focus on his glistening gaze now.
