Free My Hero Bear by Emma Fisher Page A

looked back, smiling at him gently even in the middle of all this destruction.
     
    “That’s true. This is the first time one of these episodes has ever been cut short.”
     
    “You see? You need me.”
     
    Dylan couldn’t argue with her. The woman had a soothing presence. It was something his life had been missing for a very long time. Maybe they belonged together after all.
     
    It was something Dylan had never questioned about her. He firmly believed that shifters only had one mate that was perfect for them in this world, and he had no doubt that for him, Aurora was that perfect mate.
     
    The problem was Dylan didn’t believe he was the perfect mate for her. He had believed it once, but her brother’s disapproval and the darkness inside Dylan had convinced him he was no good for her.
     
    “And what happens when you try to stop me and you fail? What happens when I hurt you?”
     
    Aurora placed her hands on his arms gripping them tightly. “I don’t believe you would ever hurt me. I don’t care how dangerous you think you are, I know I’m safe around you.”
     
    “And what if you’re not? Look around you. You’ve seen what I’ve done. You’ve seen what I’m capable of. And you know that I lose control. What if it happens again? If I hurt you, I could never forgive myself.”
     
    “And I could never forgive myself if I abandoned you. If I get hurt, I get hurt. That’s what love is anyway. There’s always a chance you might get hurt. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.”
     
    “How can you be so sure?”
     
    “All I’m sure about is that I want to be with you. Nothing else is sure. But that’s enough for me. So what you’ve got to ask yourself is this. What do you want?”
     
    Dylan said nothing in response.
     
    He wanted so many different things, and he couldn’t figure out how to reconcile all of them. Aurora’s happiness meant everything to Dylan. Seeing her smile was one of the best things in the world. At the same time, he wanted her to be safe. She could never truly be safe if she was around him.
     
    He also wanted her. Just looking at her made him ache with desire. It was a literal, physical pain like hot coals in his chest. Every fiber of his being demanded that he be with her.
     
    But he couldn’t allow himself to be with her. Not if it meant putting her in danger. And Dylan was dangerous, through and through.
     
    He could let her stay with him for a while and he could protect her. But once he took care of the man who killed her father, they would have to part ways.
     
    No matter what, somebody was going to get hurt. If he sent her away, Dylan would suffer. If he gave into his feelings and took her as his mate, she would get hurt. Given those two options, there was no choice, really.
     
    Dylan would take the hit for both of them. If his strength was good for anything, it was good for absorbing the pain. He’d lived with pain for so long, one more stab to the heart probably wouldn’t kill him.
     
    Only he didn’t believe that. He felt a grim certainty that without Aurora in his life, he would surely die. All of the pain and the guilt had been slowly killing him for the last four years. If something didn’t change soon, it would finally finish the job.
     
    Then again, he thought it might be worth it. He’d always told himself that he would go to any length to protect Aurora. If that meant he had to die so that she could live, he would gladly trade his life for hers.
     
    Of course, he would never tell her that. She didn’t need to know what kind of sacrifice Dylan was willing to make for her. He could protect her from that terrible knowledge, too.
     
    “What I want,” he said finally. “What I want right now is to be alone for a while.”
     
    “You’ve been alone long enough. And if you keep pushing everyone who loves you away, you’re going to die alone.”
     
    Dylan said nothing and walked away, leaving Aurora standing alone and uncertain beneath