“But Darius, I can’t. At least not now.” Her fingers tightened around the swell of her own small bump, as if she could physically hold her wavering courage in place. “I’m scared, Darius. I’m scared you’ll find your fated mate. I’m scared of being left alone again. I know you meant it when you said you would not leave me. But what about your fated? What if she’s out there—waiting for you—and she feels abandoned and hurt because you chose me? I can’t do that to another wolf. I know what rejection tastes like.”
He listened, every inch of his stance attentive, as if her words were commands he would obey because he loved her.
Elaine trusted him with the kind of trust that surprised her—raw and total, but there was a quieter, older memory she couldn’t dismiss: the sting of being cast aside by
