“Okay, Robert. You seem like a nice guy.”
“Obviously, that’s not true.”
“Obviously.”
“So where is she?”
“Meredith is at my place,” she tells me. “She came over as soon as the storm cleared.”
“So, what, an hour ago?”
“Pretty much. She’s really messed up over whatever happened between you. She sent me over to tell you that she’ll go with you to the dragon.”
“The dragon?” I raise an eyebrow. What – or who – is that?
“He’s the mayor of Claw Valley,” she says. “And he can reverse mating claims.”
“What? I thought claims couldn’t be reversed?”
“Not once they’re complete,” she tells me. “But until Meredith marks you – which she’s not going to do – then the power of a dragon can undo the damage you’ve caused.”
So that’s it, then.
We’ll meet with the dragon mayor, tell him what happened, and he’ll zap us back to normal. That seems...easy. It seems too easy.
And it makes me feel sad.
Foxy looks at me.
“Why are you sad?”
“I’m not.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.
“Shifter man, I can smell you.”
“So?”
“So, you reek of sadness. Why?”
I don’t say anything at first. I’m not really sure how to put this into words, anyway. But Foxy seems like she’s willing to listen, and I might as well tell her. I mean, it seems like I’ve already lost Meredith. What else do I have to lose?
“I messed up.”
“Obviously.”
“I wasn’t upset that I claimed her,” I tell Foxy. She obviously already knows about the mark, and how it happened, and how I reacted.
“Then why did you push her away?”
“I was upset that we didn’t talk about it first,” I say. “I like Meredith so much more than I should. My bear...my bear loves her. I’ve only just met her, but I feel this deep connection to her I can’t explain.”
“That’s why you mated her.”
“I just wanted to talk with her about it before we made that decision,” I tell Foxy. “I don’t want to lose the mating mark. I want her to claim me as her own. I want both of us...” I stop, running my hand through my hair. I feel so much anxiousness and anxiety right now that I have to force myself to take a deep breath.
“You like her, don’t you?” Foxy looks surprised.