CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I just can’t. I’ve tried a couple of times and I always get chased away. They hunt me down and…”

The look of hurt on his face is too bright to ignore. I take his hand and kiss his cheek.

“It’s so hard,” he admits. “I hate facing their rejection, their hatred, their fear of me. That was once my pack. Now, it’s like I’m this awful stranger they’re trying to be rid of. They look at me like I’m a monster.”

“I understand that,” I say, thinking back to how both of the packs I was once part of view me now. “It’s so difficult. Being an outcast is lonely, painful, just awful.

“But I’m here with you now. I know that doesn’t change everything, but it does mean you don’t have to face it on your own. We’re in this together. Maybe with me there, it’ll sting less.”

“It would,” he admits. “Everything is better when you’re with me. But I also don’t want to drag you into more danger.”

“I’m already in danger,” I point out. “We live in danger now. Each second of each day. We’r