Each minute that Bailey and Daisy were gone seemed like an eternity for Gavin. He tried to listen to what Calder was saying, but found it impossible without his mate by his side. He wanted to march off to wherever the hell they went and drag her back to his side, but he kept his ass planted to the chair.

After the dressing down she gave him earlier about needing a little bit of space and being an independent woman and all, he knew he needed to back off. Even if it went against every fiber of his being.

After a while Daisy finally returned, but Bailey was nowhere in sight. “Where—” He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

“Relax, Gavin. She’s perfectly safe in Calder’s office. She needs a little bit of peace and quiet. She’s been through a lot today and needs a little bit of down time to collect and process her thoughts. I promise no harm will come to her here. Isn’t that right, honey?” Daisy took her seat next to Calder.

“Absolutely. Besides, the bears who attacked her are dead. There’s no one else here who would ever think about harming her.”

“You’re right. I know. It’s just—ugh, why does it feel like my heart is breaking when she’s not beside me? Jesus!” Gavin rubbed his chest, right above his heart.

Calder laughed. “I’m assuming you completed the mating ritual. Yes?”

“Yeah, before all of the shit went down.”

“The bond is strong between mates. It often manifests itself as physical pain when our desire to be with our mate is denied. Even for short amounts of time,” Calder explained.

“Who the hell thought up this torture?”

“Just try to relax, knowing she’s just in the other room trying to get her head together,” Daisy suggested.

Gavin took a deep breath and tried to calm himself like the others had suggested, but it didn’t work. It only made him feel antsy, more aware that his mate wasn’t by his side.

“What did she have to say in there?” Gavin asked Daisy.

“She wanted to know what it was like when I met Calder. How I gave everything up to be with him.” Daisy took a sip of her wine.

“What do you mean? Gave everything up?”

“It means that I had my own life in the city before I met and mated Calder. I had a job, friends, and plans for how I wanted to spend my future. Then boom! I’m someone’s mate and expected to give up all of my hopes and dreams, and everything I’d worked so hard for. That’s what you’re asking Bailey to do.”

Gavin’s mouth flew open at her response. He quickly snapped it shut. “I guess I didn’t think of any of that.”

“Yeah, well, men never do. It’s a choice that I had to make, and I’m glad I did. I don’t regret my decision one bit. The minute I saw Calder, I knew he was different from anyone that I’d ever been with before. It was a whirlwind romance, and he swept me off my feet. Our story was a true love at first sight kind of thing. Let’s hope you’ve romanced Bailey enough that she not only knows you’ll always be there for her, but she will also see how much her life could be enhanced by being your mate.”

Gavin groaned and rubbed his face. Had he swept Bailey off her feet? Had he given her every indication that he looked forward to the amazing life they could have together?

Nope.

Instead, he’d knocked her into mud puddles and left her to freeze. He yelled at her and had given her an order that had nearly gotten her killed, and he’d been unable to defend her when she’d been attacked.

“I am so fucked.”

 

***

 

 

A painful roar erupted from Gavin. He’d left Bailey alone for hours, hoping like hell she’d choose him. But she didn’t. It had been close to thirty-six hours since Daisy had gone to check on her and came back with the list of pros and cons his mate had written. Clearly he’d not done enough to impress her. By the looks of her list, he’d done little to nothing at all.

A sense of dread had settled in the pit of his stomach after his conversation with Daisy. She’d taken the rental car they’d gotten for her to go home if she’d wanted, and apparently that had been exactly what she did.

His mate had high-tailed it out of there.

Without a word to anyone, she’d grabbed her bag and hit the road.

Gavin had no idea how to find her or where to even look for her. He’d tried calling Gerri again and again, but only got her voicemail. After the twentieth or so time, he threw his phone onto the pavement, smashing it into a million pieces.

When they’d first found that she had gone, his first instinct had been to give chase to his mate. Drag her back, and make her see that she was meant to be with him, but where would that get him? She’d only run again. The first chance she got.

He wasn’t above begging for his mate, but even he had to accept the fact that she’d left of her own free will. And as much as it sucked, he had to let her go.

The only thing that was left for Gavin to do was to drink himself into an oblivion. Then maybe find a new place to wander to. Everywhere he looked, he saw shadowy images of her, almost as if it were her ghost haunting him.

Bailey had been there for such a short time, he began to question if she had ever really existed in the first place. Or if she had only been a figment of his and his bear’s imagination.