Page 68 of Bones

I had every reason to keep my guard up around Aurora. She was a stranger. One who hadn’t spoken until a couple of days prior. One I still barely knew anything about, thanks to evasive answers.

Or outright lies.

I hadn’t known about her colored contacts, but I had known something was off.Masked. The eyes being the window to the soul wasn’t a corny-as-hell phrase. It was the truth, and her lenses were a barrier to that. My soul had been reaching out but not quite able to connect with hers.

Despite all those warning flares shooting up like the damn Fourth of July fireworks, I’d had to work to remind myself to take it slow. To keep that distance. And I’d still failed. I couldn’t fight the connection. It was stronger than anything I’d pictured. The attraction and desire amplified beyond my imagination.

Myfantasies.

But that part had jack-shit to do with fate or powers-that-be or anything other than Aurora.

Her small smiles, soft laughs, and companionship would’ve driven me feral, even if we weren’t mates. I’d assumed she felt the same way. She’d not only taken my kiss, she’d gripped my hair like she was just as desperate for it as I was.

For the love of angels, she’d ventured into the damn woods to find me.

But I was wrong.

Sofuckingwrong.

After Lenuson’s mate had brought me to my siblings two days before, I’d been eager to reunite with them. I’d also known that, unless they appeared with a dire emergency, it would be a few days before I returned with Aurora.

If telling her who I was—whoshewas to me—had gone smoothly, we would’ve used that time to explore and enjoy our mate bond because I was a selfish fucker. I’d been searching formy siblings for a handful of centuries. I’d been searching for my mate for my entire existence.

If it had gone as expected, it would give her time to push back. Ask a million questions. Hell, laugh in my face. I would’ve understood.

But I hadn’t planned for what to do if things went as fuckingbadas they had. After crying, she’d shut down and hadn’t spoken since. She’d retreated emotionally and physically, hiding out in the loft. Other than a few quick trips down to the kitchen to return the dishes of barely touched food I’d fixed her, that was where she’d stayed.

I’d given her that space. The time she needed to adjust.

It’d been a lot to hear. I got that. I wasn’t expecting her to jump for fucking joy—even if that was how I felt. I’d thought she’d have questions about what all this meant for her. Or that she’d have questions about me. Not necessarily as her mate—though I wanted to know every damn detail of her life—but about my history. What I’d seen. What I’d been through.Livedthrough. A thousand-plus years was a damn long time. I thought she’d at least be curious.

She wasn’t.

Instead, I’d been painfully aware of her grief. Her hollowness. Her absolute fucking devastation. With each passing minute, those emotions only grew stronger until they filled the whole cabin.

Was being mated to me that damn heartbreaking?

I was out of my element. I needed help from people who’d been through it.

Which meant I needed my siblings right then. Not in a few days while shit continued going downhill.

Standing upright from where I’d been leaning in the doorway, I cleared my throat as I moved across the bedroom. Aurora didn’t startle at the noise, confirming what I suspected.

She’d known I was there.

She was just ignoring me.

Something she continued to do. Like it was the most fascinating view in the world, she stared out the window as the afternoon sun streamed in. It made her already golden hair seem to glow.

Christ, she’s beautiful.

I risked her wrath and wrapped an arm around her from behind. She didn’t lean into or return my touch, but she also didn’t insult my stamina or escalate to kicking me in the balls.

Small victories.

“Taking a trip,” I said.

The silence stretched for a few beats, and I wasn’t sure she’d speak. Her voice was soft when she finally did. “You are?”

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