Page 74 of Heartsong
Just leave me alone, Frey.
Leave her alone. Leave his mate.
How could he do such a thing?
He couldn’t—and yet, his soul shriveled at the thought of being somewhere he wasn’t wanted. To know that his mate, his heartsong, did notwanthim.
Frey staggered into the trees unseeing. He hadn’t realized that when the elders and the bards spoke of heartbreak, such a thing could hurt so badly. That he’d feel his very soul rending in two.
Amongst the trees, hidden by their great limbs and the interminable fog that rolled through this human city, Frey unleashed.
Hehowled.
With claws and fangs he swiped and struck at the trees and underbrush, scoring the bark and obliterating foliage. He bared his fangs and yowled, all his outrage, all his grief pouring into the sound.
He’d thought he was doing everything right. He gave her time. He gave her his patience. He gave herhim. What little he had to give was all hers.
And she doesn’t want it.
Guilt was a suffocating companion, clogging his throat. He and Anna were the only hope for his people in centuries. It was a heavy weight to bear, but he’d borne it for them. For what could be. And he’d failed. He’d failed his kin. He’d failed himself.
He’d failed his mate.
His stubborn, headstrong, fierce mate.
Frey roared again, wanting the pain out, gone, but whatever he shed with a swipe of his claws or snarl of his fangs, more flooded into the cavity left behind. Anna had left a hole the very size and shape of her inside him, and there would be no filling it.
He raged until there was nothing left but the devastation. He stood with shoulders slumped, panting, his human clothes askew and his hair tangled. His wings and tail shivered from the damp and effort, and his fingers had long since gone numb being grated against the thick tree bark.
What now?he thought.What did he have left?
He’d lost everything thrice now. Somehow, this time was worse than all the others.
Nothing could have prepared him for this modern world, nor what having a human mate would mean. He’d thought himself up to the challenge, that his strength and determination would be enough.
But would anything be? Would he ever be enough for Anna, for his clan?
Leave me alone.
He didn’t think he could. But he didn’t know what to do, how to make her see.
For the first time, Frey…lost a battle.
21
Anna regretted schlepping into work the next day. The migraine had indeed been too far gone for the shot, and although getting a few hours of sleep had helped a bit, she was now twenty-four hours in without much relief.
She could do little but squint at the computer and move emails around. Another coworker took pity on her and traded her desk duty for something further into the museum where the lights weren’t so bright. By lunchtime, though, Anna’s body just gave out.
Carrie was as understanding as ever, telling her, “Take care of yourself. And don’t come back until you feel better!”
So Anna grabbed her things and steeled herself for the walk back to the apartment.
The day was cloudy but clear at ground-level. She thought maybe that van was back, and it gave an apprehensive tinge to her pain. She stuck to her route and walked as fast as she could.
A chilly, empty apartment greeted her. And Captain, of course.
“Hi, Cappy,” she sighed. He meowed plaintively, but she didn’t dare bend over and let the blood rush to her head.
