Verge of Insanity

Chapter Seven

Mara Leigh

 A freaking werewolf.... He had to be kidding.

But the hardness of his face told me that he wasn't the kind to kid around. What was I to him anyway? There were seven billion other people in the world, so why was he bothering me? 

"Why me?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.

That made him look up from Duffy to me. There was something in his eyes that I couldn't name, but it worried me. He just stared at me quietly, seeming to see right through me. 

"You're my mate," he said softly. The last word was like a caress to my soul. I didn't understand, and it frightened me. It was almost as if something inside of me clicked into place with those words.

"What does that mean?" I sounded a lot calmer than I felt. Inside, I was slowly easing into a state of hysteria.

"It means you're my other half. Every wolf has one, who completes them. You are my very own, one true mate. I will never have another. It is my job to protect you. Losing you means losing half of myself, which would mean me spending the rest of my eternity alone in anguish." He stood and took a few steps closer to me, until I squished myself up against the wall, trying to get away from him. His face flashed in pain, and he froze. "Some of us never find our true mates. It is a blessing to find our mate, one we do not take for granted."

As he stood there, watching me, a million things ran through my mind. I heard it in what he'd said and I saw it in how his eyes had softened. He wouldn't leave me. I wouldn't be able to keep him away. No matter what I wanted he wouldn't leave. 

"Please," I begged. As much as it killed me to, I had to try. If he saw I didn't want him, maybe he'd leave.  "Leave me alone. I don't even know you. Just please leave me alone." 

He shook his head, his blue eyes grave. "Sorry, but I can't."

He took a step closer to me, and I made up my mind. I refused to be some possession that could be claimed whenever without a care for my feelings. Time for Plan B.

"If you won't leave me alone I'll make it to where you can't get to me." Swinging the pistol toward myself, I whispered, "You can't have me. Either you go, or I go. But I will not be your mate."

I spit the word "mate" out like poison from my tongue and stared the man-no, monster down. He wouldn't have me. I wanted no part of this.

Of all the things I had assumed I would read on his face, rage was not one of them. He was not happy with me. But I have to give him a push to leave. I can't let him take me.

His stance had shifted and his fists were clinched. He was glaring at my eyes. Not the gun aimed at my chest, but my eyes. His breathing had gradually gotten heavier, as if he was fighting something off.

"Mara Leigh," he began in a strong tone. "Drop that gun."

"After I pull the trigger." 

He seemed to think that through. "What can I do to get you not to hurt yourself?"

"Leave! Go away!" I yelled at him. He didn't even blink. 

I found the trigger, letting my finger hover in front of it.

"Three...." I faintly whispered. "Two...."

"If I leave will you live?" His voice rose, echoing through the house and stopping my countdown. 

"Yes," I waged. "As long as you leave. No stalking me."

Before I even finished my sentence he was gone, out of sight.