Rylee couldn’t believe the words she was hearing. It was so surreal, like the details of a dream. A part of you held onto the reality of the moment while the other tried to escape. Her therapist had told her as a child that the impulse was natural, a defense mechanism to protect your brain from what was being presented in front of you.
But she didn’t want to hide from the truth anymore.
She turned to Gage, who was cowering in the corner with his head facing the ground. She hated his posture, the disposition of his expression. It was a far-flung look from the person she had grown to know … the sensitive, emotional Gage, who would do anything to make her happy.
The one in front of her was sad, almost pathetic. She hated the thought, but at that moment, it was the truth.
“Gage,” Rylee whispered to him, her vocal cords stinging. “Look at me.”
He gazed up, his ocean eyes glassy like the moon. She knew he was hurt and upset, but she couldn’t let that get in the way of what she truly needed to hear.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rylee said, her voice cracking.
She watched as Gage squeezed his big fists together, looking away from her briefly, then returning. Looking at her and speaking was painful, but Rylee knew it was what she should have been hearing all along.
“I don’t have a good reason, Rylee,” Gage said. “I thought we were just casual, and I was finally relaxed, having fun. I put the shifter information on the back burner.”
Rylee felt her anger rise in her, ready to spout venom at her beloved. But she shoved it down, for the time being, letting Gage explain himself, as useless as the words felt.
“Then there was the baby,” Gage continued, his eyes widening. “That’s all I thought about. How the fuck can I care for something when I can barely care for myself? I don’t have a good excuse, Rylee.”
Rylee thought about all of the conversations she’d had with her friends about Draco and Talon. She knew of shifters, and she knew that they were a wolf and a dragon. It was certainly odd, but nothing she couldn’t get past. Her friends had kept a lot of their customs a secret, of course, but even she knew about the mating claim. Why did he think that sharing that information with her was going to be any different than when it was shared with her friends?
“But you knew, Gage,” Rylee said, taking a step toward him. “Sydney and Cassie both told me that with fated mates, you know instantly. If you knew so early on, why didn’t you tell me?”
If Gage was going to die, Rylee needed to know everything. She desperately wanted to save him and to tell him how she truly felt, but she needed to hear everything first. Everything that he had been so afraid to reveal.
Gage squeezed his eyes shut, reverting his gaze to the floor.
“I told you, Rylee,” he said a bit harshly. “I’m a fucking broken man. I did know. You are right. I knew the moment I met you that we were meant to be. But I couldn’t claim you. I knew then what I know now … I don’t deserve you.”
Rylee had the urge to storm over to Gage and smack him in the face. She hated how much he hated himself. She knew he had his reasons, but they weren’t based on reality. Plus, they were only destroying his life further rather than enhancing it.
“Gage, you are so wrong!” Rylee cried out.
She went to him, but her hands remained lowered. She wrapped her hands around his waist, wanting to take away his pain with her body. When he didn’t pull her in close, she squeezed him harder, yelling into his chest.
“You are worth loving! You are as worthy of it as anyone!”
Rylee saw the elder raise a hand and then sigh as she held onto Gage, who was still not responding to her. Limp as a dead fish.
“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” the elder said.
Four giant men entered the lounge loudly, stomping their booted feet toward Gage and Rylee. She held onto him, burying her face into his chest as the men grabbed hold, two of them taking Gage while the others ripped her away easily.
“No!” she screamed. “No, Gage, please don’t give in!”
The men guided Gage out of the room, holding his shoulders with little to no resistance from her beloved. She hated that he was tapping out like that. Wasn’t she worth fighting for?
“Gage!” Rylee called out.
Draco and Talon held her back as the elder began to follow in the direction the men were heading with Gage.
“If you’re looking for some entertainment, my friends, I would suggest you follow,” Elder Ramos said.
His eyes flicked over to Rylee. Their dead darkness made her want to scream.
“Fate takes us all in the end, Miss Rylee,” he said, smirking. “Your man should have known that.”