Jack breathed a discernible sigh of relief when they pulled up to the cottage and saw Olivia waiting for them. No doubt his brother had called her to let her know what happened.

Zoe hadn’t said a word since he’d placed her in the car. She just stared out the window, with silent tears running down her face. He could sense the emotions warring inside her. Guilt, anger, and grief swam behind her eyes. Jack had never felt so completely helpless in his entire life.

He placed his hand on hers and she flinched.

Olivia rushed from the porch towards them, her eyes wide. “Josh called me. Are you all right?”

Zoe got out of the car, zombie-like, and fell into her cousin’s arms. Her shoulders heaved as giant sobs shook her.

“Let’s get you inside,” Liv said. With her arm over Zoe’s shoulder, she led her into the house.

He leaned against the car and exhaled. His own cousins were dead. Assholes or not, they were his family. Stan had been like a brother to him. Why he would turn against him was beyond Jack’s reasoning. 

What a cluster-fuck. He wiped his hand across his face. When he glanced at his fingers, they were covered in dust, tears and blood.  

Breathing in deeply, he pushed off the car. Olivia met him at the door.

“Where is she?” His voice broke with pent-up emotion.

Olivia nodded at the bathroom door. “What the hell happened out there?”

He gave her a quick rundown of the night’s events. “…she blew the place to bits. Fried Kyle, Stan, and a couple members of Kyle’s gang. We got out just before the police arrived. Stan and Josh are covering.”

Olivia’s face twisted with grief. “Kyle was into some bad shit, but this is over-the-top, even for him. He wasn’t that smart. Neither was Stan.”

“No,” Jack agreed. His fingers clenched and unclenched. He desperately needed to hit something right now.

“If it wasn’t Kyle, then who’s behind it?”

“I don’t know his name but I’m going to find out.” Jack suspected the man who had been stalking Zoe was involved in more ways than they had originally thought. He glanced at the bathroom door and grimaced. “We need to make sure she calms down and says nothing to anyone–witch or human.”

Olivia nodded. “I’ll go make some tea. She’ll need something to help her sleep.”

He knocked on the bathroom door.

“Go away,” Zoe sobbed.

“Unlock the bathroom door and let me in.” Jack kept his voice low, yet firm.

“Please, Jack, just go away. I want to be alone.” Zoe started crying hysterically again. “It’s because of you I’m a walking napalm bomb.” Her breath hissed and she cried out, “Oh my God, I’ve got pieces of fried human flesh in my hair.”

Jack couldn’t take anymore. He cursed under his breath and kicked the bathroom door in. It felt damn good to break something.

Shocked, Zoe looked up at him, her head next to the toilet bowl.

He knelt down and wrapped his arms around her the best he could. “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.”

“You’re damn right it’s your fault.” Zoe pushed him away, stood and moved towards the shower.

Jack barely had time to react when the first bottle of shampoo flew across the room, hitting him square in the chest.

“How could you do this to me?” Next, she threw a huge bottle of conditioner at him, then soap, and then conjured a vortex as if to hit him. She shook it out of her hand as if it burned her skin. Her eyes widened and her voice rose. “I could’ve just blown up the house…and Olivia. You’ve made me into some kind of freaking monster. I just blew people into bits and they’re in my hair.” 

Olivia hovered by the bathroom door. “Let me handle this for a while, okay?”

Jack nodded and went back to his pacing, while Olivia helped Zoe with her shower. She spoke softly and said all the soothing words that he’d never be able to say and it pissed him off. He should be the one comforting her.

When Olivia exited the bathroom, Jack raised his eyebrows in question. She frowned and shook her head.

“She’s coming home with me.” Olivia stepped in front of the door when he moved towards it.

“I’m not leaving her alone.” Jack’s heart fell, and panic seared his brain. He wasn’t letting her go. She was his mate.

“Did you ever once think about the consequences of joining with her? What it might do to her?” Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. “You’re all set now. You got what you wanted. Power. Your clan. But at what cost?” 

Olivia stopped talking when Zoe came out of the bathroom. Her eyes were puffy and swollen, her nose pink. She looked so vulnerable and lost that his chest physically constricted. He’d done this to her.

She glanced at him briefly, then started down the hall. He tried to reach out, but she pushed past him.

“Don’t try to stop me.”

“Zoe, we need to talk.” He followed her when she walked upstairs to her bedroom. She started to shove her clothes into a duffle bag and he grabbed her arm to stop her. “I won’t let you leave.”

“You got what you needed.” Tears glittered in her eyes and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Now let me go.”

“You belong with me.” Jack dropped his hands to his side and clenched his fists to keep from going postal.

She spun on him, anger blazing in her eyes. “I killed people tonight.”

Jack grimaced and took a step towards her, but she flinched away the moment he tried to touch her.

“I need some space. I gave you everything you wanted. We had some fucking incredible sex, you got to augment your powers, and your clan is safe. I wouldn’t take any of that back. Really, I wouldn’t.”

“We’re mated. That’s for life, Zoe. I know you can feel that.”

“Yeah, I feel it.” She closed her eyes and breathed out hard. “But I can’t live like this.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed and dragged his hands over his face. “My life isn’t always like this. Most of the time it’s fairly normal.”

“I don’t belong in your world.” She shook her head and glanced down at her hands. Her eyes squeezed shut and a tear slid down her cheek.

She started towards the door, and he caught her arm.

“There still might be someone out there threatening you. I won’t lose you. I just found you.” He pulled her against him.

 “If you really want to make this work, then give me some space to adjust.” She sighed and placed her forehead against his chest.

“How much space?”

“I don’t know. Let me go back to New York, go to work.”

He clenched his teeth, fear paralyzing him. Getting angry wasn’t going to help.

“We’re mated,” he said again. “There’s no walking away.”

“But that’s all it is. Nothing more.” Zoe lifted her head and stared into his eyes.

She left the giant question mark hanging between them. Jack knew what she was looking for, but he wouldn’t lie, at least not about that.

“It’s enough,” he said finally.

Zoe sighed. “Not for me.”