Page 43 of Trusting Her Bear

“I loved her and didn’t see it coming. I guess since then, I find it hard to believe that people won’t just disappear,” he confesses, laughing shortly. “Fuck, I didn’t realize it until I said it out loud.” He rolls his joined hands from behind his head to the top, flexing in his hair. “Watching my dad wither into a shell of a man after she left was heartbreaking. I never want to go through that with anyone. I find it easier to leave a friendship first or never get that close.”

“Do you think I will leave?” I ask, dropping my chin to my hands.

“Meeting you just enforces the disbelief that she could leave without looking back. I can’t imagine a scenario where I would leave you.” He drops his hand to cup my hip. “I will never walk away,” he says fiercely. “Do you believe me?”

“Yes.” And I do.

“Good. If you ever get to that point, talk to me,” he says seriously.

“I will, Quinn. I promise,” I say firmly.

He nods. “It must have been painful for her to be away from her mate. I don’t know how it couldn’t,” he muses.

“You still don’t know what happened?”

“No. If my dad knows, he’s not telling. He has lived in misery since she left, but his love for her is still pure.”

“I’m sorry.” I kiss above my hands.

“Thanks, Little Cub.”

“Would you want to see her again?”

“Of course, but it wouldn’t be a happy reunion. I would want answers. Those answers would have to be good enough for me to forgive her. I like finding the truth. I need to know why.”

“Have you looked for her?” Being in his business, I’m sure he has the connections.

“I started to,” he says softly. “But I stopped myself. Obviously, she doesn’t want to be found. I would hate to find her only to be unwanted or, worse, she was dead. Well, fuck, we were already discarded. I want the answers, yet I don’t want to follow through with the steps to get them. I was much younger when she left, so I didn’t have any idea how to find her. I asked my Dad to look, but he refused.”

“Is she the only one that caused you to distance yourself from your friends?”

“Unfortunately, no.” He drops his other hand to my opposite hip. “I worked with two men who became my friends. They are dangerous men. One is a vampire.”

“Micah,” I assume.

“Yes. The other one is something that is rumored to be extinct. Maybe one day I will tell you, but he is very secretive. He doesn’t share his species with many people.” He squeezes his hand. “If he allows it.”

“I understand.”

“We became friends. The closest friends I’ve ever had,” he whispers.

“Not now?”

“Things happened, and we drifted apart.” He sighs. “That’s a lie. I cut off the relationship.”

“Do you want them back in your life?” I lightly glide my fingers over his skin.

“Maybe.” He frowns. “There is a lot more to our story, but I’m not ready to share it.”

“I won’t pressure you. I’m here when you need me to listen,” I offer. I know all about wanting to keep memories deep inside.

We fall silent. He closes his eyes, and I move my hands back to his shoulders, turn my head, and rest my cheek against his chest. His heartbeat is steady, and it reassures me to hear it. There are so many words we haven’t said, and things we don’t know about each other, yet I have never been more attached to someone.

Breeane is my best friend and my sister, but our connection is drastically different. I trust her, love her, and have depended on her a lot over the past few months. But, of course, there were many things she couldn’t relate to. She was human until a short time ago, and even though she was turned into a shifter, she wasn’t born into this world.

Quinn moves his hand up my back to cup my neck.

“There is not a line I won’t cross to protect you and the bond we are building,” he rumbles.