Forever Isn't Enough

Christobel excuses herself, leaving Rafe and me alone. The door isn’t closed for three seconds before he wraps himself around me in a crushing hug. At the same time, his guards come down, and I feel all of his emotions intensely. They mingle with mine, clouding my already confusing feelings. I can pick out a single, strong undercurrent of sadness. The deep, heartbroken kind that permeates everything and makes it heavy like a dead leg.

You’d think he was the one who just discovered he had wrongly accused his mother of a crime for his entire life.

“Are you okay?” I ask, rubbing his back and kissing his shoulder.

“I should be asking you that,” he grumbles into my shirt, squeezing me tighter. “How do you feel knowing the truth?”

“About my mother? Numb. I can’t process all of this in a single afternoon.” I release my mate, slipping from his grasp and wrapping my arms around myself. It’s not the same as it once was. Giving myself a hug used to be the only comfort I could get. It used to feel