Tipping The Scales: Knox (Mate Craze)(32)

I learned early on they were the epitome of toxic parents and never to ask Rhi about them. She shared what she wanted to about them. It was something that took a long time to get used to because it made me feel helpless. Especially when I learned the best way to help was to leave her be, and in cases like this actually leave.

I pointed to the door and she gave me a meek smile and nod before making her way to the bathroom. I wondered briefly if she had told them she was even leaving for break, much less leaving with me. I was a scholarship kid and they were all about money, so her being with me always equated to slumming it. That was only the side I knew from words they actually had spoken to me. Yep. They were that horrid.

Dragon and phone in one hand and shoes in the other, I made my way down the small hallway and out the door. I typed in a quick message before slipping open my shoes and climbing in his truck. What was it about this truck?

Coming to you. Don’t worry, I have a ride. Stole a truck earlier.

I threw the phone on the passenger seat, and with more speed than was legally allowed, I made my way to his house, hoping that my message would not only make sure that he knew I was coming, but also that I wasn’t scared of him, or us for that matter. If I were the one making sure he stayed good, I was going to do it.

He was standing on his porch, not even pretending to be busy with anything else but waiting for me as I pulled up. That was one thing I already had learned about him. He was a straight shooter and not in the I’ll-pretend-I’m-all-about-being-honest-as-an-excuse-to-be-mean-as-a-snake-to-anyone-I-please kind of way either. He just was honest. At least with me, and for now that was good enough.

As I turned off the engine and removed the keys, I watched him closely. He was itching to get to me just as badly as I was itching to get to him. I jumped out of the truck, practically throwing myself in his waiting arms. Home. I was home. Not the house or the town, but in his arms. The feeling of safety and rightness flooded me. He. Was. Mine.

“I don’t want you to be evil. I’m yours.” I spoke into his ears and immediately felt his body tense. Crap on a cracker, I just ruined everything with two little sentences and before I could ask how, I began to sob.





13





Knox





My entire being clammed up at hearing her words. I had been ready for her answer one way or the other.

Okay, that’s complete bullshit.

When she drove over here, I thought the answer would be a resounding yes. Yes to me. Yes to knowing I turned into a flying monster. Yes to me and Kallie for the rest of our lives.

When she climbed out of my truck and ran to me, throwing herself into my arms, I thought her answer would be yes to all of those things.

Because she wanted to be my mate for the rest of our lives. Because she loved me as much as I loved her in my embrace.

That wasn’t the case at all.

I took in what I could of the moment, while it lasted, making it extend even further. I nuzzled my face into her hair that smelled like jasmine and citrus we didn’t have in these parts, relishing in the feel of her body flush against mine. She was crying, not out of the joy I hoped we’d share at the idea of having a life together, but out of some misplaced guilt or purpose.

I had to fix it and hopefully not lose my mate in the process.

I pulled back and moved the stray hairs stuck to her face from her tears. There was no stopping me from kissing her again. She was irresistible to me, and if kissing is what stopped those tears, then I would kiss her until I no longer had life in me. Her mouth moved with fervor this time, as though she was as desperate for me as I was for her. Tiny noises of passion came from her throat and my dragon growled in approval. She ended it much sooner than I would’ve like and put her hands on my face. I closed my eyes, wallowing in the warmth of her touch before saying, “Let’s go inside and talk. I’m sure you have a ton of questions, and I’d love nothing more than to give you some answers. It was strange to keep these secrets from you. I want you to know everything.”

“Okay.” She swiped violently at her face, trying to remove the tears, tears she’d shed for me.

We went inside. After getting her a glass of water, I sat on the couch, she sat on the chair next to me. Maybe she was scared now that she thought about what I was, maybe she couldn’t’ stand the thought of touching me.

Either way, my dragon was not pleased with the arrangement.

“Hit me with it,” I said, trying to make light of this heavy situation.

She calmed herself with a few deep breaths while I took in what I could of her while she was still here. Her hair was tied up into a makeshift ballet dancer bun on the top of her head and her lovely eyes were puffy from the crying.

Neither impacted her beauty at all.

“First, how do you change? I mean, how is this all possible? Is it the moon?”

I expected that question since her first inclination when I’d told her I was Alpha was to equate me with a werewolf.

“We do not bend to the moon’s will, no. It has some bearing on our attitudes and our, um, hunger for our mates during the full moon, but other than that, it does not restrict our shifting. We shift freely. I could go dragon at the top of the Sears Tower if I wanted to.”

She replied with a “huh.” I expected another question, but instead Kallie stared out the window. I moved forward, knowing some things she would want to know.