My throat tightened.
“I know what it feels like now. Not the way they do. I’m not pretending that. But I know what it feels like to have a man tell you what you are, what you’re worth, what you were meant to be used for.”
Liam’s arm tightened around my waist.
I covered his hand with mine.
“I don’t want to be the spare here,” I whispered.
His growl started low.
I squeezed his fingers.
“I know I’m not. I know. But I don’t want to spend my life proving it to the ghosts Ermes left in my head. I want something that is mine. Ours, maybe. Something I choose before anyone else chooses for me.”
Liam was quiet for so long my stomach twisted.
Then he said, “I’ll go where you go.”
I closed my eyes.
“Liam.”
“I mean it.”
“You love Bloodclaw.”
“Yes.”
“You trained your whole life here.”
“Y
