Page 64 of Same Thing
Wait. Liam stood, his mind racing. Bridger had been paired with a human mate? Liam jogged to catch up with him, and by the time he got around to the side of the house, Bridger was halfway to the trees.
“A human?” he asked, running to catch up. “Bridger, wait!”
Bridger tensed and turned, halted, waited for Liam. His eyes were nearly white, and there was an emotion there Liam had never witnessed before.
Bridger swallowed hard. “I hate thinking of her. I regretted it with every fiber of my being when I lost her. I wished every day that I had never met her, because then I wouldn’t be…” He gestured to himself. “This.”
“Fuck, man,” Liam whispered, heart tearing in two. He couldn’t even imagine the pain. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Nory cooked for us, and settled us, and calmed the wolves for a little while, and it’s what my Maggie would’ve done.” Fuck, the deep emotion in Bridger’s voice.
Liam swallowed a lump in his throat. “I didn’t know.”
Bridger shrugged up one shoulder. “You’ll only know how it feels to sever a bond like that if you keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Convincing yourself Nory is better off without you.” Bridger gestured to the woods around them. “Convincing yourself this isn’t a life for her.”
“What can I do? I have nothing to offer a woman like her.”
Bridger cocked his head, and his eyes softened. “In my experience, women like her are interested in the man, not the stuff he can give her.”
Liam scoffed. “I’m not a man.”
“Yes you are. Everyone makes females seem so complicated, but they aren’t. They have basic needs. They want to feel seen by their person. They want to feel safe physically and also safe to have real conversations without backlash. They want a partner. They want to build with a man, not just stumble onto a system that’s already in place. Where’s the bond in that?” Bridger stepped closer. “But most of all? A woman like Nory is going to want to help. If you take that away from her, she feels as little purpose as you do right now.” Bridger’s gaze darted to something over Liam’s shoulder, and he nodded once.
Liam caught her scent before he saw her. Dog shampoo, coconut conditioner, and cherry hand lotion.
Nory.
He turned slowly, and she was here. She was really here.
Nory wore leggings and an oversized sweater, and thick-soled boots. Her brunette hair lifted in the breeze, and her pretty green eyes were swimming with emotion. She looked uncertain, but hopeful all at once.
“Nory?” he murmured.
“H-hi,” she stammered, huffing a breath, like she’d been holding it.
Relief flooded him. He wasn’t imagining her.
He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until he scooped her up in his arms and crushed her against him. He hadn’t realized how much he needed her.
Fuck.
This feeling in his chest. This feeling…
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “It’s not safe for you to drive here alone.”
“You weren’t answering my texts or calls. Bridger told me you were still here.”
“My phone…” He frowned, trying to remember where his phone even was. His truck, maybe? “You can’t come here alone.”
“I’m not alone.”
“Nory—”
“I have something to say,” she choked out, pushing him away. “And I want to say it before I lose my nerve, or before you get angrier with me, or tell me what I should and shouldn’t do.”