Page 63 of His Curse

A cautious silence falls around us, not uncomfortable but definitely uncertain; a silence filled with a million questions and so much unknown, but the one thing that stands out is the love shared between us. The love that withstood my rejection, continued to grow while years passed by, and seems to almost be stronger than it was the second I first saw her. And at the same time that love also feels like it's teetering on the edge, riding a fine thread that could unravel at any second, one the fates are holding scissors to, just waiting to snip it and sever our bond completely.

Something I now refuse to let happen.

Lark fumbles with the hem of her t-shirt, waits with her head bowed for me to getmyhead out of my ass and say something, and fuck, if that doesn't make me feel worse, especially since my Luna shouldneverhave to bow to me in any way at all, let alone while I'm being so goddamn rude to her.

"Do you need to..." Lark jumps at the sound of my voice, which adds to my shitty feeling, but I clear my throat and continue. “Do you need to grab anything before we leave or..."

"No.” She shakes her head and starts down the stairs. "I don't have anything to grab."

Of course not.

Idiot.

Jesus, I am fucking this up so badly and we've barely even had a conversation.

I hold open the passenger door of my truck, try not to sniff Lark like a creep as she climbs in, and just before I close it, those gray and gold eyes—one wolf, one human—flick to mine.

"Thank you. For the clothes, I mean."

My heart does a fucking two step, but I try to stay calm. "Everything fit ok?"

"Everything is perfect,” Lark nearly whispers as she looks down at her hands again.

Fuck me, I'm toast.

Those simple three words made my chest go all warm and fuzzy, made my ego inflate, and caused my supposed-to-be-silent wolf to stand up and preen like a fucking rooster.

"Good,” is all I manage to muster before I completely lose my cool and act like a total nut job.

I close the door, barely hide my smile as I walk around the front of the Dodge, then hop in and start toward my cabin.

Our ride is silent, but again, it isn't uncomfortable.

Probably helps that I keep stealing glances at my mate, keep looking at her from the corner of my eye.

Lark is so fucking beautiful it almost hurts, and to see her in the flesh, sharing my space, watching as her face lights up while we drive through the woods and those stormy eyes take in the beauty of the Siskiyou Forest, yeah, I'm basically a goner.

There is no fucking way I can reject her again, no way in hell.

I would never have done it in the first place if I hadn't started to shift to theotherdespite knowing it was the right thing to do for her sake.

It's impossible to reject Lark when I love her as much as I do, and I'm just praying she gives me the chance to try to make up for everything I've done to hurt her.

A lifetime should be long enough.

A basicallyimmortallifetime with no end in sight is exactly what it would take to make up for the pain I've caused my mate, complete with treating her the way she deserves and more, making sure every single need is met and showering her with my undying love and devotion.

In all reality, that isn't even enough, but it's what I can give, what I can do to try to right my wrongs and make sure Lark knows her place in my life. She needs to know that she's not only my Luna and my mate, she’s my entire fucking world and I will love her fiercely until this planet stops spinning.

Unless she rejects me instead.

I’d still love her like that, but it would fucking suck.

Especially since now that she's here I can't seem to get her out of my head.

And what makes the possibility of her rejection scarier, is the fact thatI don't want to.

I want her in my head and my heart, in my home, and every aspect of my life, and that means her rejection will definitely kill me.

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