War of Hearts(80)

Thea gaped at him in awe. “I feel like that to you?”

“Aye. I imagine you feel somewhat different to vampires, but still powerful. They probably presume it has something to do with your blood.”

She considered that a moment and shook her head. “Conall, that’s not how this woman felt to me. It was more that she felt so familiar. I just … she touched me and I felt like I was home. That feeling I used to get when I’d finish my homework and come downstairs to sit at the dinner table with Mom and Dad as they listened to me talk about my day and made me laugh. Made me feel safe. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was weird. So, so weird. And that wasn’t even the strangest part.”

She stopped in the middle of the street and he drew to a halt beside her. “She told me I could trust you. But she spoke to me in my head.” Thea tapped her temple. “I heard her speak in my mind. How did she do that?”

“A telepath?”

“I guess. And a psychic. She said you weren’t my enemy. How did she know me and how did she know you?”

“She could have been a witch or even a werewolf. Some wolves, like myself, are born with extra abilities.”

Thea shook her head. “That doesn’t explain that feeling of family I got from her.”

Conall began to walk, his strides so long Thea had to hurry to catch up. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then you and this woman are in terrible danger.”

“She’s like me. I know she’s like me. I mean, I didn’t at the time, but now I know. Like I know Vik is right, that I’m … fae. It sounds ridiculous, but I know.” She lightly punched her fist against her gut. “I know it in here.”

He was silent as they walked.

Her heart fell. “You don’t believe me.”

He cut her a bleak look. “Aye, I do. I just wish it wasnae true.”

She recoiled. “You … are you disgusted by what I am? Afraid of me?”

“God, no.” Conall scowled. “Not disgusted, Thea. Or afraid of you. But I’m fucking afraid for you. How do I protect you from this? This is bigger than anything I could have imagined.”

She understood. “Conall, as soon as we get to Scotland, we make the exchange and I’ll get Ashforth out of there. Your pack won’t get caught up in this mess.”

“The pack.” He stopped in the middle of the street, glaring down at her. She felt the air around him grow eerily still and glanced down at his hands to see he was curling them tightly, as if quelling the shift. Her gaze met his furious one. “It isnae about the pack,” he bit out, the words ending in snarls from the wolf’s awakening. “I care what happens to you, Thea, far fucking more than I should.”

“Then stop.”

Conall gave a bark of incredulous laughter. “I could sooner ask the sun to stop rising.”

Her heart swelled in her chest, but his words only made everything that much harder. “Please don’t.”

“What? Speak the truth? That I have to choose between you and my duty to my pack?” He gritted his teeth and looked away, the muscle in his jaw flexing. “I’d give anything for them …” He turned to her, his expression making her breathless. “But how do I sacrifice you for them? Tell me, Thea. How do I do that, when the very thought of handing you over to Ashforth, leaving you alone to this mess, makes me want to rip the fucking moon to shreds?”

Tears filled Thea’s eyes as she turned away, blinking back the burn, refusing to let them fall. Conall allowed her time to compose herself, waiting patiently at her back. Finally, she took a deep breath and turned around to do the bravest thing she’d done in her life.

She gave up Conall MacLennan so he wouldn’t have to choose.

“I care about you. I do trust you. And I know you trust me and care about me. That’s a gift to me, Conall. One I truly treasure despite what I might have said this morning. And I will not repay that gift by endangering your pack. So I’m taking the choice away from you. I’m going to Ashforth because I need to end this with him, and you need Callie back.”

He was silent a moment and then he snapped, “And then what?”

She smiled, trying to ease the tension. “Maybe when you’re old and gray, I’ll come to Torridon and ask you to bite me so one way or another, I don’t have to live forever.” So one way or another, I don’t have to live forever without you.

But Conall didn’t think it was funny. His words were bitter with anger. “Is this what it is to truly be the alpha, then? To live an empty fucking life so my pack can live in safety.”

Thea stepped into him, resting a palm on his chest where his heart was beating too fast. His hands automatically closed on her hips, pulling her closer. “Your life will never be empty, Conall. One day I’ll be just a memory.”

He bent his head, his words a snarl against her lips, “You’ll be a ghost, Thea, haunting me for the rest of my goddamn life.” He pushed her away from him. “And if you cannae see that, then you dinnae feel for me what I feel for you.” He stalked away, striding through the crowds of tourists and into the park surrounding the palace.

Thea stayed put, wishing she could tell Conall how she truly felt, but knowing that to do so would only make things worse. And with him gone she finally let the tears she’d been holding back fall.