He slammed her back down on the pelts she’d been sleeping on, his body coming on top of hers. At first his grip around her neck was rough, tight enough to keep any air from getting inside, but then, immediately, he released her, his eyes widening as he pushed himself to his feet and walked away.

Jolie panted and puffed for breath. She blinked up at the ceiling of the cave above her, and then turned her head to look at where Liam was going. He walked through the curtain of water that kept the cave hidden away, and then was gone.

Jolie pushed herself back into a sitting position. She kept watching, waiting for him to come back, to tell her if she was wrong.

Or right.

But she was right. She’d known it deep within herself for years. There was no way in hell she was wrong about this.

And he knew it, too.

She got to her feet. Her shoes and socks had been sitting neatly beside her. Jolie grabbed them, put them on, and then rushed to the flow of water.

The waterfall didn’t flow immediately against the rock. It branched off, creating a thin pathway she could follow along the side of the cave entrance, allowing her to get out without soaking herself.

It explained how Liam had managed to get her into his hideaway without getting her or her clothes wet.

She followed it out. She didn’t know this waterfall, but the flow of water was strong. There could be rapids just a little farther downstream for the water to be this powerful right here.

When she stepped out from behind the waterfall, the light confused her. She thought for a split second it might have been sundown, but no, the sun was on the wrong side of the sky.

It was dawn.

Liam was in the water up to his thighs. He stared down into the stream, his hands out, claws where his normal fingernails were supposed to be at the ready.

Was he catching a fish? Did salmon come up this way?

He didn’t seem to notice the cold of the water he was in, and Jolie could see no signs of any goosebumps forming on his skin.

She hadn’t been in the water, but walking behind the waterfall had been enough to let her feel the overall cold of it. It was almost enough to make her want to go back to his nice and cozy fire.

She didn’t. Jolie walked along the side of the river, getting up behind him, watching how silent and steady he was as he hunted his new prey.

She had been thinking about this for years. Jolie had dreamed about the things she would say to him if she ever saw him again. Now she was here, and she was about to completely mess this up because she had to push things.

Renzo liked to bitch about how she let her mouth get the better of her.

So Jolie stayed silent. For now. She watched Liam work. When she’d known him, he’d shown promise for becoming an alpha, but he didn’t have the discipline, and after his father had died…things had just been worse. He’d been angry. Then his step father had come into the picture and everything went to shit.

To see him right now, even though he’d just lost his temper with her, to be standing there patiently waiting for his catch to come to him…it was an amazing sight.

There were more scars on his back. They were deeper than the ones on his mouth and face. A few were scattered about his shoulders. One looked like a stab wound instead of claw marks.

Jolie wasn’t sure if she should be worried about that.

Finally, after a long silence, Liam’s hands moved, coming together tightly beneath the water, grabbing his prey, lifting it above the water.

The fish flicked its tail back and forth in a wild, desperate attempt to dislodge itself and be free, but Liam’s claws were dug into the side of the belly, locking it in place, dooming it.

It was a big one, too. Maybe not enough to fill the belly of an alpha, but it was something.

Liam turned around, his catch in hand. Their eyes met.

Jolie smiled at him. “Good catch.”

He turned his gaze away. “For you.”

Jolie blinked at that. “Me?” She didn’t understand. “You gave me something.”

The meat on a stick he’d been cooking. Rabbit or squirrel, she couldn’t tell.

“And it was dropped in on the floor of the cave. It’s dirty there.”

Liam still wouldn’t look at her as he left the water, holding his catch, which was no longer struggling quite so hard to escape.

He walked right by her, still avoiding her eyes, but she was so intensely aware of him, of his body and size, that it wasn't possible he couldn't be feeling the same way about her.

She followed after him. "Are you angry because I didn't go with you? That's it, right?"

Liam sighed. "I'm sorry I grabbed your throat. I didn't mean to do that."

"Was it because you spent so much time out here? On your own?"

"Please come inside," Liam said, his voice hardly sounding patient about the whole thing. "It's safer inside and I can cook a new meal for you."

Okay, so staying silent wasn't going to work. "I'm your mate, Liam, and I just told you that after years of being apart, and after telling you about Dempsey. I'm sorry. I should have tried to come find you sooner."

"Like you said, you were a child."

"And so were you, and you were alone when I should have been there with you." That last part of her sentence came out choked. Jolie couldn't help it. Her heart ached to think about what he'd gone through when she wasn't there.

It wasn't as if she would have been a good hunter, or a decent protector. If anything, he would have been doing the majority of that, but at the same time, she could have been there for him. She could have comforted him, made sure he wasn't cold in the night when he tried to go to sleep out in the open.

How many close calls did he have? How many animals had he fought with and injured himself, only to have to take care of himself with no one there to help him?

Those were the best case scenarios. Despite how well he'd taken care of Dempsey and Dustin, then scared off Red, she had no doubt in her mind that some of those scars on his body had come from Dempsey.

As if to make sure, she glanced down as his ankles. There were definitely scars down there that looked as though they had come from the traps Dempsey had set out.

One more thing for him to have dealt with on his own.

If she had been there, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, and she wouldn't be in this position. She wouldn't be looking at her best friend as if he was a stranger to her when he definitely wasn't.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"I can't help it. I need to, because you're right to be mad. I didn't come with you, and then I only tried to find you after I needed something from you. That's not right."

And she felt like a complete asshole for it. She'd known it was a selfish thing to do when she'd gathered up a few things and took off, but now that she was here and in front of him, it was different.

So much needed to be said. She had so many things she wanted to tell him, that she had to tell him.

Liam just sighed. "Get inside and we'll talk. After I feed you."

This was clearly the best she was going to get, and Jolie figured she might as well take it.

"Does this mean you believe me? About being mated?"

Liam's eyes changed to a bright shade of red, though he looked away from her again, his chest heaving as he inhaled and exhaled heavily. "You shouldn't tempt me. You said it yourself, my wolf is wilder than most."

"That doesn't matter."

"It matters to me," Liam snapped, his hard gaze returning to her in another harsh glare.

Jolie bit her lips together. Suddenly feeling cold, she brought her hands up to cover her arms.

She hadn't felt this small since...

Since Liam had been forced out of the pack.

"I know I wasn't there for you before, but I'm here now."

"And you've seen exactly what I can offer you," Liam said. "A cave dwelling and an angry wolf powerful enough to snap you in half if I'm not careful."

Jolie shook her head. "I don't think you would do that to me."

Liam shook his head, muttering under his breath.

Jolie didn't catch much of what he'd just said, but she definitely heard the word stubborn uttered in there.

They practically had a stand-off. Jolie could hardly look at him, and he seemed to be refusing to look at her.

When he did, it was only briefly, and he nodded in her direction before looking away again. "Your ears and tail came out again."

Force of habit had Jolie reaching up, feeling for herself that her ears were there. She had to put all her strength and willpower into keeping her tail from tucking between her legs, though she did smile. "Yeah, that still happens."

Liam smiled at that, shaking his head. "Come inside and eat or don't. It doesn't matter to me."

He turned his back on her for real this time, walking back into his cave, not bothering with taking the slightly longer way that would have kept him from getting wet.

Since he already was wet, she supposed it didn't matter.

But one thing did matter, and that was his reaction towards her.

He wasn't going to admit it, that was fine. Jolie wasn't giving up, because she could feel this, and she knew he could feel it, too.

Maybe it was something about living in the wild for so long, but while Liam wasn’t making an issue out of it, Jolie had been able to see the reaction of his groin when he got out of the water.

The cold water hadn’t been enough to stop his body from reacting and an erection from forming, or to shrink him down if the size of him was anything to go by.

Yes. She was definitely right about this. They were mated, and Jolie was going to be with her true mate or no one else.

To Be Continued................

Woot! Thank you so much for reading in this far :) I hope you're having a great winter/holiday/Christmas/everything :) I just got my tree up with all my Pusheen ornaments XD

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Mandy