Chapter 86

"What?" I look up to see Leroy's face beaming at me, as if his words have solved everything.

"I'll mark you," he says, "then he can't, well, no, he still can but not as easily plus, you'll be stronger against him and the call of the mates bond." I stare at him as I fill with humiliation and hurt at his idea. There was a time I wanted nothing more than to hear those words from him, well, not those exact words but the offer to be with him as his mate, as his partner for life. I remember when he turned eighteen, I hoped so much that he'd look at me and feel the mate bond with me, but when we didn't, my heart broke and splintered. So for the rest of the night my glass was never empty for long, as I tried to drown my sorrow and wash away the heartache. I drank and drank until I felt numb, not that it lasted long as I woke up the next morning with a wicked hangover and a still broken heart.

I'd love to be his mate, I'd love to say yes to him, but not like this, not a pity of