AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think he knew this place was… my dream. It was where I went in my head when he hurt me. Into the memories of Brennan, into the house I’d hoped we’d live in.” I pushed against Stone’s chest then, needing some space from him and from the memories.
He set me down, though he seemed reluctant, his muscles flexing under my arms as he lowered me. He stayed close, his presence warm and solid at my back.
“He wanted to take that last refuge away from me,” I whispered. “He dragged me up here.”
“And he burned it.”
I shook my head. “He made me burn it down.”
He made me empty the gas cans through each room. I’d choked on the stench of the gas. Then he made me kneel in front of this house. I’d been the one who struck the match. The flames had beat against my face, hot and painful, but I barely felt them. They were nothing compared to the pain raging inside me.
If it hadn’t been for Dylan, I might have run into the flames. To find Brennan’s ghost and join him.
“He thought he could burn away my love for Brennan.” My fingers found the mark, pushing aside the collar of my shirt. “That’s not the only way he tried to burn our bond away.”
“But nothing can change how you love my brother,” he said. “Not even death.”
I raised my gaze to his. Heat crackled between us, we were so close.
“Nothing can change that,” I said. “But I deserve to be happy, Stone. And not just in my dreams.”
If only I knew what I needed to be happy.
“You do,” Stone said quietly. “I hope you find happiness, Amelia. Whether it’s here or…”
He trailed off. It was the first hint Stone had given me that he might ever let me go.
And I didn’t dare push it tonight. His troubled gaze fell to the mark, then rose to my eyes.
“Let’s run,” he said. “Let’s go home as wolves.”
“Back to King territory,” I said softly. We weren’t far from King territory; we were in the neutral ground between our two packs.
From the way his jaw hardened, Stone was keenly aware of the correction, but he said nothing.
I swallowed hard, and my heart pounded. I wanted to run as wolves with Stone, away from the hard truths. I didn’t want to think about the future. I didn't want to think about the past.
Those are both human afflictions. Wolves live in the present.
I stripped his shirt off without hesitation. It had been clinging to me, my skin still damp from the lake, and it smelled so much of Stone's intense musk that my core clenched. I dropped it on the ground, and Stone tried to keep his gaze away from me, but I could tell how much he wanted to look.
"You can look at me," I said quietly. "I've had a child, Stone. I've been through hell. I'm not much to look at anymore."
I knew my hips were bony, my stomach soft even though I was too thin, my breasts softer and flatter than they had been before the baby. I wasn’t the same as I had been at eighteen.
Would Brennan have been disappointed with me?
"You're beautiful," Stone said, his voice raw. Unlike when Shaw said it, Stone said the words resentfully, as if they were wrenched from his very core. But I didn't doubt he meant them. His eyes raked me over now, intense and cool and yet my nipples pebbled under that touch, my body tightening and awakening to him at the same time. Stone's gaze aroused me, the way he looked at me as if he needed me and couldn't have me. It made me feel powerful.
Stone didn't want to want me. Didn't want to need me.
But he did.
And I didn't want to want him. Didn't want to need him.
And yet...
I turned away and headed for the edge of the lake. The water seemed to glow with supernatural light, as if this place were lit with powerful magic.
