By the time Rhett got home, he was exhausted. He could barely speak with Joseline through dinner. He was going to have to tell her everything. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell her, but there didn't seem to be any other way. The shifters of Abbott weren't going to stop coming after her. The longer he waited to tell her, the worse it would be. She deserved to know the truth.

"Maybe the dragons aren't so bad," she said as she was headed to bed that night. "Maybe they're just confused and don't know they're supposed to be conducting an investigation."

"I doubt it," he said. "They're professionals. They're younger than I am and look as young as Tucker, but Hayes and Knox are both in their seventies. They know what they're doing. They're trying to intimidate us."

She nodded and went to the bathroom. He went to his bed and stared at the ceiling fan. This was a mess. Every time he got his hopes up, something reminded him that what he wanted wasn't a smart choice. He was being selfish. He needed to do what was best for everyone, not what was best for him only.

Joseline stood in his doorway and cleared her throat.

He sat up. "Yes?"

"Can I tell you something when we get in bed?" she said shyly. "I'm not trying to be coy, but I think it would be nice to sleep next to you tonight. I mean, if you don't mind."

He nodded. If he didn't mind? This was a dream come true for him. He wanted to savor every moment he had with her. This was all going to end soon enough, and he would be left with an empty bed again. That was a possibility. She might never want to see him again.

She pulled the covers down and got in and waited for him to turn off the light.

"You're kind of close to solving the case, right?" she asked him.

"Yes, I think Tucker and I are almost there. When he gets back to me, I'll have a clear understanding of what's going on here. I think we've basically solved it already. If not solved, at least have a good enough idea of what happened to close out this part of the investigation. Good enough for me anyway. I just want to cross the T's and dot all the I's."

"But those dragons are still keeping an eye on me. I think they're doing it just out of curiosity. Maybe they haven't seen a human like me who can resist the magic. You haven't spoken to them directly in a while. We don't know why they're still looking at me."

"But they are still looking at you. That's kind of the important part here. And I have talked with them. Not Hayes or Knox but with Tucker."

"Right. But if they don't want to do me any harm, does it really matter that they're watching me?"

"You can't stay here and hope everything is going to be fine," he snapped. He sat up in bed. "I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not like that. These are not nice men. They aren't like the people here in town. You can't assume they have good intentions and will do what seems right to you. They're going to do what's right for the shifters of Abbott."

She rolled over. "I'm not burying my head in the sand. I was just saying, maybe I'm not as in much danger as you think."

His shoulders sagged. "I'm not trying to be mean to you. I wasn't saying that you wanted to stay here or that you're ignoring the problem. I know you want to go back to your own place. I'm just saying you can't underestimate what kind of trouble you might be in. I don't want to give you a false sense of security."

She rolled back over. "I barely know what's going on here. It's not like you show me the files or anything."

"You don't need to see the files to understand that this is a big deal."

He didn't want to show her the old files. They might give her a false sense of security. Whoever had written them had done a good job of downplaying all the stuff that had happened. It was only because Rhett knew parts of the story that he had been able to read between the lines. If she read the files herself, she would think it was no big deal. There was no reason the Abbott shifters were worried. It would all pass in time.

He didn't know how he could get across to her exactly how dangerous the dragons could be. What they wanted to do to her wasn't common knowledge among the humans. Even humans like her who knew more than their fair share about shifters had no idea about the pain shifter magic could cause. Hell, even some of the shifters were oblivious.

But he had to try. He had to try to make her understand all of this. He would also have to explain the part he had had in it long ago. That was in his past, so long ago. He didn't want to bring that back up, but he could see no way around it.

"Explain to me how much you know about magic," he said. His heart was heavy and he could barely breathe but he had to do this. He couldn't wait any longer.

"I know you can make humans forget. It may be other stuff, too. There've been rumors that there are witches. Is that true?"

"I don't know about that," Rhett told her carefully. He suspected, but he had no firsthand knowledge. Shifters had magic, so it only made sense that there might be witches or other supernatural creatures of lore.

"I mean, Nora is a phoenix. I never thought something like that existed. Who's to say there are no witches?"

"How do you know about Nora?" he asked her.

"She told me. When I was looking at the puppy, I asked, and she told me."

"You went to look at that dog again?"

"There's not much else for me to do here all day, is there? That will be one of the nice things, being able to do stuff again. Though this has been a very nice vacation."

He rolled over and put his arm around her. "I'm glad you're here. I'm glad I got to meet you."

"I'm glad I met you, too. Even after all this crazy stuff, at least there's a silver lining."

She was so soft and warm. He loved the way her hair spread out on the pillow and against his arm, and her tanned skin against the white sheets. He would remember this for all his days. If he had to let her go, at least he had these moments with her. He would remember when his heart was complete, before he had to ruin it all.

He couldn't do it. Not now. He couldn't tell her.

Revealing it all now wouldn't undo his past, and if she knew what he really was and what he had done, she would be disgusted with him. She would know he was a monster and that she would never be safe in his arms. He didn't want that now. He wanted to enjoy the present.

There was no way for him to go back and undo those things, and in his heart, he knew the only way he was going to be able to keep her safe would be to unmask himself and let her see what he really was. There was no way she would stay with him then. Rightfully so. He deserved that because of the things he had done.

She rubbed his arm and pulled it tight around her. "No making out tonight. Sorry. I'm so exhausted."

That was fine.

He didn't need to make love to her tonight. This was enough for him. He was a coward. He was putting his mate in danger and keeping the truth from her. One more night. Just one more night and he would tell her.

He knew it wasn't right but he couldn't tell her all of it. Not yet. He could protect her for one more day and then, he would tell her all of it. He would let her decide what she wanted to do. If she wanted to let him try wiping her mind or risk doing nothing or maybe even go to the human authorities for help. Whatever she wanted, he would support her.

Rhett didn't know what was the right choice. He wished they could forget this whole mess. That the Abbottt shifters forgot about her and left them alone. But that wasn't going to happen. As long as they knew where she was, they would keep coming until they got a chance to try to wipe her mind. All he wanted was to be with her and for her to be safe.

If that meant he had to wipe her mind, so be it. He was going to do whatever it took to make this all right.