Caleb snorted this time.
"Shut it. Both of you super suck right now."
Caleb shut his mouth as he watched her go with a jerk leaning against her. Like hell, he'd let her stay alone with that asshole. He took a step forward.
"Don't you dare follow me, McIntyre. You go. I will call you when I feel like seeing you again. I can't do this right now."
Jeff looked back and winked.
Like hell, she couldn't. "No, Marci. I'm not going. I have the right to protect you. I will not let this fucking parlor trick hurt you."
She stopped and turned on him. "What right do you have? We just started - well, I don't even know what. Dating? What right do you think you have?"
Jeff stepped up. "Yeah."
"Shut up Jeff," they yelled in unison.
"Marci, I know you're mine. We're meant to be."
Her face did something odd. She blinked a few too many times, her mouth opened and then closed and then opened.
Well, this didn't look promising.
"Marci. You're destined to be my mate. I didn't intend to tell you like this, but I feel that if I don't -"
Well shit. He couldn't finish that statement. He feared what? He knew what. He feared he'd lose her just like he'd lost his best friend. She filled the holes in his swiss cheese soul. She'd pumped life back into a heart that barely remembered to beat.
"I just can't." Her eyes were glassy as she turned away.
Memories of metal shards ripping through him surfaced, and even that hadn't hurt this bad. He couldn't breathe. The rage he hid behind, beat through his veins, storming the walls of his resolve.
"If you choose him, if you walk away, then I will not stop you."
He refused to hold back as the ripple of his bear shook him, tearing what he wore. He took off towards the woods. He needed the numb of his instinct to fight, to hunt, and be driven by anything but emotion.
15
Marci helped Jeff into the hall. As her feet hit the wood floor, she let him go. His body hitting the floor with a thunk. She kept walking, stuck in her thoughts. What had she just done?
"Ouch."
Waving her hand behind her, she kept walking. Caleb had just admitted he loved her, maybe not in the exact words, but that's what he meant. From everything she knew, he proposed. Well, maybe in his way he had just proposed.
He didn't waste time. Or maybe, Marci had just backed him into a corner. Her lungs burned for air, but she couldn't breathe. She was drowning in panic.
"Oh, God."
She'd just walked away from marriage. Walked away from the chance to be a wife, no, a slave. She'd be a slave to her husband. Shooting a glance over her shoulder, no, it would be a slave to Jeff. He wasn't all men though. Thank God.
What the hell did she want? Caleb. But he needed to trust her, and not throw out proposals to keep her. If he didn't believe her, what was the point of any of this?
Blindly she felt for the wall.
"Marci?"
His voice struck a cord deep within her. She wouldn't allow him power over her anymore.
"What, Jeff? Do you need to ruin my thoughts just like you ruin my life? You already ruined any chance that I'd make my mother happy, and you now ruin making myself happy? Please, let me stop everything for you."
The vision of him bursting into flames the only thing keeping her from losing it.
"I don't know what your problem is, Marci. I screwed up, but look. You did too. So we're even, right? Now we can go home and have that big wedding you wanted."
Her jaw dropped. "I didn't want the big wedding. Our families did. I wanted to elope. Remember?"
He scratched his head. "I guess I remember you asking, but my father wouldn't allow that."
She bit her lip, dragging her teeth over the skin, the air entering her nose and getting lost somewhere in her chest as she tried to figure out how not to kill Jeff.
Pressure grew until she was forced to let her breath escape and with it, her anger. Jeff was nothing but a product of a society that couldn't get with the times. It wasn't his fault; he didn't love her.
"I don't love you. In hindsight, you've done me a huge favor. I'll show you to your room. You'll stay there, alone," Marci said.
Mumbling she said, "Unless the ghost decides to torment you."
"What was that? You know I hate it when people mumble."
She rolled her eyes as they headed upstairs.
"There's a ghost. I have no idea if it will bug you or not. Just be aware."
He snorted. "That's ridiculous. I don't do the whole ghost thing; I can't believe you'd believe that. A ghost. I'm just surprised you know so little of me."
She shrugged and kept walking, anything to ignore the numbing pain slowly moving through her. The look on Caleb's face burned into her brain. Every blink, it flashed again and again.
Reflection had her realizing that she would never admit to loving someone this fast, or would she?
Something new didn't always mean it was terrible. Marci took control of her change, although it seemed to be running full circle on her right now.
"Marci, I don't see why you even like this place. It's run down. It smells odd too."
As she reached the landing, her shoulders slumped. Exhaustion hit like a truck. "It's called dust, new paint, and chicken." Jeff would never get her.
"Oh good. I'm hungry. I was afraid I'd have to order pizza."
Sliding her hand along the railing she walked down the hall to the furthest room.
"Not cooked chicken you idiot. Hazel. The chicken you hated. And there is no delivery here. I probably have some bread and lunch meat though."
"You can stay in here, but tomorrow you leave."
Leaning past her, she noticed a wrinkle in
