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Iran.I didn't care how far he was, my legs were going to take me to him. Miles flew by, and I dipped onto the hidden access road that led into the heart of the city. The forest disappeared and became a blur ofconcrete.

Maybe I had gone insane.Maybe that was what love did to us. Made us do crazy, stupidthings.

My legs wereon the verge of giving out beneath me, and everything else felt like it was on fire. Still, I keptgoing.

Ihad to keep going.I wanted us to be together, like we were destined to be.Trulytogether. Bonded mates at each other’ssides.

Icollapsedin front of his apartment building, and slowly, on shaking legs, shifted back to my human form. I stood up, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, and called up to hiswindow.

“Mason! Mason!”

Ipickedup a rock and tossed it at the window. Then I fumbled into my pocket for my phone, but it was missing. In my haste, I’d left it at thehouse.

“Dammit,”I muttered betweenbreaths.

“Mr. Luna?”

Ilookedup at the window, and saw Mason’s mother’s face peering down atme.

“Ma’am,”I said, still trying to catch my breath, my hands on my knees. “Is Masonhere?”

“Mason isout at the store. Let me come open the door foryou.”

“Oh,Mrs. Arkentooth, you don’t have to,” I protested, but she was already gone from thewindow.

Iwaiteddown in the building’s entrance, and a short while later she appeared to open thedoor.

“Thank you, Mrs. Arkentooth.”Isaid.

“Please,call me Eliza. I think you need a towel,” she said, looking up at me from her wheelchair. “Are youokay?”

Inodded. “I’m fine.”

Up in the apartment,she got me a glass of water and a towel, and I wiped off my sweat-drenched face and sat down on the couch with a gratefulgroan.

“Your daughter’s not here?”Iasked.

“She’s back in school,”she replied with a smile. “Mr. Luna, I want to thank you for giving Mason work. It’s been a great help tous.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing,”I managed, still trying to catch mybreath.

“It’s not nothing.You don’t know how much you’ve helped us.” She pushed her chair so that she was seated across fromme.

“Areyousureyou’re alright? You look like you’ve just ran amarathon.”

“Well…that’s not so far from the truth. I ranhere.”

“Why wouldyou do something likethat?”

“It’s… complicated.”Looking at her now, I could see what Mason meant—it was obvious how limited her movements were. I felt terrible for making her come all the way down to open the door for me, but she seemed like the kind of woman who you couldn’t say no to. In that sense, she reminded me of my ownmother.

“Okay,”she said, and took my glass. “I’ll get you some morewater.”

“Oh, I can—”

“No,you sit down. You look like you’re about to pass out. I can get you thewater.”

She pushedherself over to the kitchen and I stayed on the couch. A clock ticked softly on the wall. I stared at it, slowly going over what I’d done. A feeling of shame had begun to spread through me, like the pressure of deep water. I didn’t want to have to decide between my family and Mason. It was ridiculous that I hadto.