The rain stopped before dawn, and the river let go of the mill door with a long wet sigh.
Bryce pushed it open, and gray light came in and made everything real again.
Bryce: Water's down. We can get out.
I gave him back his coat. My hands shook handing it over, and it was not from the cold.
Elowen: Thank you. For the coat.
Bryce: Elowen.
There was a red mark on his jaw where my mouth had been too rough. I did that.
My wolf looked at it like it was something of mine.
Bryce: I meant what I said. I'll be asking again.
Bryce: I can take you to my house. There's a spare room, and the lock works.
Elowen: I have a mate.
Bryce: I know that. I'm still asking.
He did not reach for me. He stood there with his coat over his arm and let me be the one to walk away.
That was the worst thing he could have done.
The road was all mud, and I was halfway home when my father's truck came around the bend too fast.
Tavis: Elowen. Get in the truck.
I got in between them and shut the door, and the heater blew dust and warm air into my face.
Eamon: The sheriff called our house at four this morning. He told us where you were.
Tavis: He said you'd need a ride. He didn't say one word against you.
My father drove with his eyes locked on the road, and he never turned my way once, and I understood he was scared of what his own face would show me.
Tavis: I want you to come home. Not for supper. For good.
In the kitchen, my mother's braid was still in my hair and Sunday's bread was still in the tin.
Eamon: Bryce has a house with a lock and a badge on the wall. Maddox can't walk through either one.
Tavis: Or the county line. Or my truck. Anywhere, El.
Elowen: If I leave, the bond stays. I'd still feel him in my chest every night.
Eamon: You already feel him every night. That's not love, that's a leash.
My father got down on one knee on his own kitchen floor, and I could not breathe.
Tavis: I'll beg if that's what it takes. I buried my pride years ago, girl.
Here is what I could not say to them. In that mill, Bryce's quiet voice made my wolf lie down and rest.
In Maddox's house, my wolf had been hiding in me for a year.
Eamon: You think you can fix him. You think if you're quiet enough he'll turn back into the man who picked you.
Eamon: He never was that man, El.
Elowen: You don't know that.
Eamon: I know you flinch when a truck backfires. I know you cover your neck before you answer your phone. That's not a bond, that's a fucking cage.
Elowen: Don't.
I got out at the pack house gate and told them I would see them Sunday.
Eamon shouted that if I was not at the hall he would come and get me himself.
Maddox was waiting in the kitchen with his heels propped on the wood, and the sight of his grin turned my blood to ice water.
Maddox: Look what the river dragged back.
Maddox: You smell like a sheriff.
His hand came up fast and took my jaw, and my teeth clicked together.
Maddox: You let him put his hands on you? In a mill, like a bitch in heat?
Elowen: Nothing happened.
Maddox: Don't lie to me. Your hair smells like his coat and your mouth is all swollen.
Maddox: Lie to me again and I'll give you a real reason to hide your neck.
He let go so sudden I stumbled, and he laughed at that, and I stood there and let him.
Elowen: I can still fix this.
Elowen: I can still fix our bond. I know I can.
Maddox: That's what I like to hear. My clever little mate, come back to her senses.
He walked out and left me by the sink, and I ran the water cold and put both hands under it.
I had said it out loud. And some small part of me that was still mine knew it was a lie.