Mate (Bride, #2)

by Ali Hazelwood

“I like you more than anyone I’ve met since Misery. And when I’m with you, I feel…a little less like half of two things, and a little more whole. And when you touch me, it feels right. So right that I forget it’s wrong. I forget that you’re the heart of this pack. I forget that thousands of people rely on you, and that every moment I spend with you, I’m taking something away from them.” I manage a labored gulp. My throat is tight and dry. “So this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to walk in there and take the drugs Layla gives me. This Heat won’t happen. And as soon as the issues with the Vampyre council are officially over and Ana is safe, which will be any day now…I’ll go back to the Southwest, where I won’t be keeping you from the people who need you. And you and I…we’ll make sure to avoid each other in the next few decades. Won’t we?” Koen doesn’t nod, but I smell his assent. His head bends for a long, silent moment. When he looks up, his eyes are emptier than the space between the ocean and the cliffs. And all he says is “Layla is waiting for you. You should go.”