“That’s fine. It’s still new.”
“I do care about you Chloe. I like everything about you.”
Like. Not love. It was too soon for that lack to hurt so much. What was wrong with her? Maybe the pressure of their ruse was finally getting to her. They just needed to get back to the city, back to normalcy.
But a part of her whispered, that wasn’t the answer. That no matter how much time passed, she’d always be waiting for three little words her wolf might never say.
“Come on,” she whispered. “We should be getting back to the group. I think I heard there were field games or something up next on the schedule. Everyone will be waiting.”
She walked toward the door, only to be pulled back when he hauled her into his arms and kissed her.
Closing her eyes, she gave herself up to his touch. When his hands were on her body she could almost believe they’d be okay.
That it wouldn’t matter if he never learned to love her.
Her kiss tasted of disappointment.
Kieran shook his head, trying to focus on the games being carried out on the field before him. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shake the unsettling thought.
Inside his mind, the wolf whined. The woman it wanted was unhappy and there was nothing it could do about it.
I’ll fix this. Once they were alone again he could—
What? Drive her into oblivion with pleasure and hope she forgot that this retreat that was all about love and commitment was happening to everyone but her?
You need to take a chance, Clearwater. Four hundred years and he’d never met anyone like Chloe. It couldn’t be a coincidence she’d walked into his life right when he was facing the truth that he needed to find a mate.
“You are ridiculously easy to beat this year,” Niall said, slapping a hand on his back. “Get your mind off your witch and focus on the game.”
“One’s more fun to think about than the other.”
Niall laughed. “Women often are.”
Shaking his head, he followed Niall back toward his team. A handful of “stations” were flung around the field, each with a task or challenge that the teams were racing to fulfill. The one before them boasted a tug-o-war rope.
“Come on,” Niall said to his half of the team as they moved to pick up the rope. “Who wants to best the alpha?”
Kieran gestured to the four wolves by his side to take their places. He grabbed the rope with them and waited for the station monitor to blow her whistle.
With ten werewolves pulling on the poor rope from either side he was surprised the damn thing didn’t snap in two. Still, he pulled with all his strength, grinning to see the strain on Niall’s face. There was a reason he was the leader.
Inch by inch they gained ground, pulling Niall and his wolves ever closer to the middle line on the grass.
“A little more,” he called to his team.
He should have been focused on Niall, would have been under any other circumstance, but an awareness brushed against his senses. His eyes shifted from Niall to the woods just as a figure came into view.
The rope dropped from stunned fingers, causing the other nine wolves to stumble off balance to the ground.
“What the hell?” Niall grumbled.
Kieran barely heard him. He only had eyes for the woman walking toward him.
“Christ,” Niall whispered, moving to his side. “Is that who I think it is?”
She looked different and yet achingly the same. Long black hair hung free and unadorned down her back, swinging with each step. Her body was clothed in a simple white dress that brushed her ankles when she moved. It left little to the imagination, clinging to every killer curve he’d once spent a lifetime worshiping.
Leaving Niall behind he moved forward like a possessed man. Nothing mattered beyond getting closer to her.
Silence had fallen in the field. Every eye was on them. He didn’t care.
Her lips curved in a smile that used to light up his world. The crystal clear of her blue eyes met his as she refused to let the dominance of his wolf cow her into submission. She’d always been like that. Beautiful, stubborn, strong.
“Lisette.” The word left him like both a prayer and a curse. How could she be here now? He hadn’t seen her since the day he’d walked out of their home. The memory of her clutching the sweat soaked sheets to her naked body still haunted his dreams.
“Hello, Kieran,” she said, her voice soft and lyrical. “I’ve missed you.”
“Her name,” Chloe said to the wolf next to her. “What is her name?”
Pitying eyes turned her way. “Lisette,” the man replied.
No.
The woman from the lake stood in the center of the field, staring at Kieran as is transfixed. Neither member of the pair touched but even so, Chloe could physically feel the longing between them. The anger and confusion.