Theron glanced back at Mirena. She gave him a small, worried smile. Not her happy one. Not her frisky one that she got when she was up for a challenge.
He didn’t like it, so he jerked his gaze away.
“Theo,” she murmured. “Where are we going?”
“My cabin.”
“So we can talk?”
He didn’t answer. Partly because he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to tell her about the incident at the lake and he didn’t know what to tell her about his plan. He’d come up with it when he thought she wanted him. Now that she didn’t… what he wanted to do was going to hurt. Him, more than her.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “Whatever happened back there… I’m sorry for it.”
Still, he couldn’t answer her.
“Are you mad because we’re mates? Because your bear is making you need me? Because if so, maybe I can help you stop it. I can ask Adira to help me find a spell. I… I can’t imagine how hard it is to be forced to feel something you don’t want to feel.”
Theron frowned. He wasn’t being forced to do anything. The things he felt for her were his to own. He and the bear were one. He wanted to mate her, take care of her, make a life with her, keep her forever.
In that exact order.
And he’d wanted all those things since he’d first laid eyes on her the night she and her sisters cast a spell on him to force his bear back inside his body. It was a temporary spell, meant to get the shifters’ attention, but the witch captured him that night. It had little to do with the mating ritual she’d set in place saving him from Nastia.
“I don’t have an animal so I don’t understand what you’re going through right now. But I would try to help you. I would do anything for you—” Her words cut off abruptly.
Theron stopped walking and turned to look at her. His mate’s eyes were wide like she’d said too much.
“I just meant I think very highly of you, and I don’t want to see you hurting over this. Over what I’ve done.”
Mate cares. Just like that, his bear was eased, all the fight leaving him like air rushing from a balloon.
“I’m not mad because we’re mates.”
The worried wrinkles in her forehead smoothed. “You’re not?”
Theron shook his head, still raw and trying to read her. But fuck it. He wasn’t good at guess work.
“Can I ask you something?”
Mirena let out a relieved breath, her face finally giving him a genuine smile, even if it was microscopic. “Sure. Anything.”
“Do you… do you…” Want Mason?
Well, fuck. He couldn’t ask her that. Because he wasn’t able to hear the answer without losing his shit. And if he asked her, and she did… his chance was over. The bear would yield to her wishes.
No, he had to show her his value first. He had to convince her to love him. Show her he was the better choice. The female will choose the mate best for her. And she’d already chosen him once. He had to believe it would work the way it was supposed to.
He shook his head and continued on to his cabin, letting her hand in his anchor him as they went the rest of the trek in silence.
Climbing the steps to his cabin, he pushed the door open and held it for Mirena to walk through. She stopped just inside, turning to take in his place. He’d been fixing it up. It wasn’t the elaborate cave his brother had prepared for Nastia, but it was safe and cozy and he’d added a few pretty things for her.
Like the flowers that sat in a vase on the small wooden dining table. And the fluffy throw blankets he’d left folded on the edge of the couch. He knew she liked old fashioned things so he’d found a vintage French headboard at an antique shop in the neighboring town of Weston. In the bathroom, he’d left a variety of scented soaps and oils for her to decide on. And one of those big poufy bath sponges.
It was a work in progress. She wasn’t supposed to see it yet, but now she was here and he hoped it would be enough.
Slowly, she walked to the table and gently fingered the petals of a flower.
Theron shut the door behind him, narrowly resisting the urge to lock them in.
“These for me?” she asked quietly.
He swallowed, trying to form an answer, but nothing came. Why were all her questions so hard?
He hurried into the bedroom, digging through one of the drawers he’d saved for her. He’d bought a few items, and he gave himself a pat on the back for the forethought, because the clothes were going to come in handy right now.
Choosing a soft blue shirt, he held it up. Yes, this would work. Mirena wore long sleeves even in the summer. She and her coven sisters believed in dressing modestly. Which obviously made the thought of undressing her even more alluring.