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“Nothing.”
He went still, and his eyes lightened several shades. His large body crowded mine, until he’d backed me a few feet away, ignoring Lilith completely. “We agreed, no lies between us,” he murmured in my ear.
We had. “It’s not important now. We’ll talk about it later.”
Nathaniel shoved his phone into his pocket, captured my wrist in his hand, and pulled me toward the door.
“Hey!”
“We need a moment,” he announced to the room at large.
My face burned. He led me out of the conference room, past Danica and Samael, who were having a hissed discussion of their own—likely about Finvarra’s presence. Nathaniel ushered me into one of the soundproof meeting rooms.
Nathaniel released my hand and strolled over to the window, closing the blinds with a snap of his wrist.
Then he folded his arms. “What’s going on, Evie?”
Mortification slid through me. I covered my face with one hand.
And then he was tugging my hand away from my face and pressing a kiss to my palm. “You can tell me anything,” he said. “Anything. Just don’t hide from me. Ever.”
“It’s embarrassing. I know you’re my mate. And I know it’s for life. I just…” I attempted to back away, but he followed me, caging me in against the wall with his huge body. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he merely grinned, pulling one of my curls free from my messy bun so he could play with it.
I dropped my gaze to his chest. “I got jealous, okay?”
“I know. I could feel it. But I don’t understand why.”
Was he trying to be obtuse? Or did he just not see it?
My mind helpfully provided me with images of Nathaniel’s distraction and disinterest in Lilith’s obvious flirting.
Hedidn’tsee it.
“Evie?”
“Hold on. I’m having a realization.”
He raised one eyebrow but waited patiently, as if we had all the time in the world.
“I was jealous of Lilith. Because she’s incredibly beautiful. And immortal. She never has to worry about leaving her mate behind. But one day, when I’m gone…”
Fury. That was fury in Nathaniel’s eyes now. All calm and patience had left the building.
“One day when you’re gone? Where exactly are you planning to go?”
I sighed. “When I’m dead, Nathaniel. You’ll move on, eventually. Wolves are pack animals, and they’re not meant to be alone. And it’ll likely be with someone like Lilith. The next sixty years are a blink of an eye to her. But I’ll age, and you won’t w-want me anymore.”
My throat had tightened. Nathaniel looked torn between hopeless amusement, annoyance, and fury.
I’d known this when I mated with him. I wouldn’t let my insecurities ruin our relationship. Even if it meant aging while he stayed young and gorgeous. “Don’t get me wrong, I plan to age as disgracefully as possible. It’ll be a fun ride. But one day, I’ll—”
“Evie. Stop. I would never move on from you. If something happened, I’d follow you.”
“Don’t say that.” Panic dug between my ribs and stayed there. “Nathaniel—”
“You haven’t been paying attention to the human mates, have you? Have you seen any elderly women?”
I went still. No. All of them were relatively young and healthy. But if some of them had been mated since shortly after the portals opened, that was impossible. Duh.
