Three days pass where I rarely see Kier.
When I go to his cabin, he refuses to let me in, saying he's too busy with work and he'll call me later.
He never does. Which is when I know it's over. That we're over.
I'm guessing he only admitted he loved me because I'd gotten hurt in the fight trying to protect him. But now we're back to reality, he's not interested.
Since the last thing I want is to be near anyone with my heart broken, I ignore my phone and abandon work because it doesn't matter.
But finally, Dayne stops by my cottage to tell me there's a pack meeting that night and everyone-me included-has to be there for it. No excuses.
So, late one Friday night, around nine, I make the drive to the packhouse.
I can tell I'm the last one to arrive since everyone's vehicles line the front of the house. Even Jeremy's truck is here, so I'm guessing this meeting must be about the reason they returned to Hardin instead of continuing their trip to Rome, which is where he and Savannah planned to go after Paris.
I'm halfway to the house when the door opens and Kier emerges.
I stop because he's looking so serious as he walks down the porch steps that my mind instantly goes back to what happened the last time he was here. He's even wearing the same flannel shirt that he was wearing before.
He's here to end things.
He stops a few feet away from me, his eyes sober as they study me. "You look sad."
"I'm good," I say automatically.
I'm anything but. I'm also regretting not putting more of an effort into dressing instead of throwing on a pair of sweats, tying my hair up, and calling it good. I look terrible. And that's if you ignore my reddened eyes from too much crying and not enough sleeping.
His raised eyebrow tells me he can see right through me. "I thought you'd be angry."
I shrug. "Why would I be angry?"
"Maybe because you're you. I expected to wake up and find you'd handcuffed us together again."
I look away because I don't want to be reminded of that. "Well, I guess now I know better. If you'll excuse me, Dayne's called a pack meeting."
Kier doesn't move. "No, he hasn't."
I edge around him. "Yes, he has."
He blocks me, and then I start getting angry. "Yes, he has. He told me earlier. And can you please get out of my way? I get that you want to break up with me, and I've told you it's fine. You can go now."
"I'm not going anywhere. I told you before that you're stuck with me." As if to reinforce his words, he grips my arms, halting my attempts to get around him.
I give up trying to move away and kick him instead. He barks out a laugh. "Hey! Kicking me? Are you being serious?"
"I am being serious, since clearly you aren't. And it's funny you saying you'd stick with me when the second we get back here you ditch me for your stupid commission," I snarl.
"Stupid commission?" Instead of sounding furious, his tone is filled with amusement.
Still, he hurt me, so I refuse to apologize. "Yes. Stupid."
He nods. And then he hauls me close and kisses me.
At first, I'm too shocked to respond because this isn't what I was expecting. But then I'm kissing him back before I remember he hurt me, so I break the kiss. Just in time to feel something cool snapping around my wrist.
I lower my gaze. For a long time, I can do nothing but stare at the handcuff on my wrist. "You handcuffed us together," I whisper.
"Yes. I did."
Since I don't know what I'm supposed to feel, I give up trying and lift my head so I can meet his eyes. "Why would you do that?"
"Nathan said if you wanted to tie someone together, these would be the handcuffs to use."
I try to snap them, much like he did my pink fluffy ones, but nothing happens. "Why aren't they breaking?" I try again, but this time using more force. I'm sure I feel them twisting a bit, so I know I can get them off, but it's going to take more effort.
"These are pure iron. Come on, we need to talk."
"I'm not going anywhere with you. So you may as well just-" My words end in a shocked gasp when Kier grabs me and tosses me over his shoulder before striding purposefully away from the house. "What the hell, Kier!"
"We need to talk." Kier doesn't slow as he heads toward the lake.
"And we can't do that here without handcuffs?"
"No. You're too angry to listen, and I need to show you something first."
"It better not be the bottom of the lake, Kier, because I swear, if you kill me, I'll haunt you so bad that you wouldn't last five minutes before you're jumping in the lake to get away from me."
I feel him shaking with what has to be laughter as he pats my ass with his free hand. "Calm down, you're sounding crazy."
"I do not sound crazy. What I am is struggling to understand how you can ignore me for three days before you turn up to handcuff me, and then carry me to the lake in the middle of the night. You're the one who-" I stop talking because we've reached the lake and the bright twinkling lights beside it silence me. Or is it the bed and the flowers? No, it has to be the wooden carving. "There's a bed beside the lake," I whisper.
He puts me down and releases me from the handcuffs. I don't even notice. "And there's a sculpture. Of me."
Kier grips my shoulders from behind and guides me toward the bed he's set up under a tree beside the lake, with candles, flowers, and the sculpture.
"I wanted to finish it before I asked you something important. No, that isn't it. I wanted you to see it so you'd know how I feel. I've been working on it for a while, since… well, since I met you. And then suddenly I had three days to finish it."
I can't take my eyes off the wooden sculpture that looks just like me, except it's a million times more beautiful than I ever will be. "I don't understand. Why three days?"
"I swore to myself on the long drive back to Hardin that I would mate with you on Friday. Don't ask me why Friday, it's just the day that came to me."
I turn away from the sculpture for the first time. "Today is Friday," I say, over the sound of my thudding heart.
He nods. "It is. I love you, Hallee, I think I always have. Would you ever want to mate with a packless alpha who prefers to live the life of a mountain Alaskan-or a serial killer?" he says with a smile.
I stare at him as I struggle to speak, struggle to think. The commission. This was what he was working on. Then I lift a hand and punch him in the belly. "You sneaky… sneak."
He's grinning at me as I step into his body, and he folds his arms around me. "You're not the only one who knows how to be sneaky."
I feel him kissing my hair and I burrow even closer. "I think you're even sneakier than I am."
"Doubt it, but I appreciate the compliment."
For several seconds we stand holding each other, and then my eyes fill with tears. "I thought you were here to break up with me."
"I'm sorry, baby. I expected anger." He lifts my head and his thumb brushes under my eyes. "But I never expected tears. The kicking, that was new, but I can live with a kick a day if I never have to see these again."
I sniff. "Where would I kick you?"
He lowers his head and kisses me softly. "Anywhere you want."
"You know you might regret saying that."
Kier sighs. "I know. I still remember what you did to Leo and that other guy outside the farmhouse."
I wrap my arms around his hips and lean my head against his chest as I take in the beautiful scene in front of me. "How did you get a bed here?"
"With great difficulty. Now, what do you say I carry you to that bed and we spend the rest of the night making love under the stars?"
"No."
He tenses against me. "No?"
"Of course my answer is yes. You carved a sculpture of me and did all this. Why the hell would I say no?"
"Only because of that?"
I lean back so I can see his face. "And I love you. I think that's the most important reason why."
Before he can kiss me, I turn back to the sculpture. "Though the sculpture comes close. It really is beautiful. How did you get so good?"
"You remember me saying I had to go decompress after leaving the Stones?"
I gape at him. "You learned to be a master carpenter in a year?"
He scoops me into his arms and carries me over to the bed. "Not a master carpenter. I was someone who suddenly had a lot of time on his hands and was lucky enough to find something to keep him occupied." He lays me down on the bed. "Until you, that is."
I watch him strip his shirt off before reaching for his pants. "I see, so I'm your new entertainment?"
In moments he's naked and lying braced over me with his hands framing my face. "No," he murmurs, gazing deep into my eyes. "No, you're my heart."
My heart feels full to overflowing. "And you're mine."
His eyes heat as he lowers his head and kisses me with searing intensity as we make love under the night sky. Later, Kier bites me, tying us together forever as mates, and giving me the thing I've wanted more than anything.
Him.