Chapter 42 Please, Don't Leave Me

“Why don’t we head back to the cabin? You get a hot shower while I make you something to eat before bed.” Granger smiled down at her.

“That does sound good,” Ashleigh replied, “but I did come out to get some fresh air. I’m not very tired. I slept most of the way here.”

Granger looked around.

“It’s kinda late, Ash,” he said quietly.

“I know, but I’m just going to go for a quick run, just to shake the day away.”

“A run?” he asked.

“Yea.”

“You’re going to shift?” he asked, looking at her with serious eyes.

“Yea?” she replied, unsure of why he seemed concerned.

“Ashleigh. Are you kidding me right now?”

Granger let out an exasperated sigh.

“That jerk is still around here somewhere, and you want to get naked out in the open?”

“What?” Ashleigh was shocked by his assumption. “You know that wasn’t what I meant!”

“Did you guys go for a lot of runs together?” Granger looked at her with an angry expression.

“You don’t get to do that!” Ashleigh shouted.

“Do what?” he asked..

“Treat me like that!” she cried out angrily. “You know me! I would never do something like that!”

Tears fell from her eyes. She was genuinely hurt; there was a lot she felt guilty about. A lot she thought she would need to apologize for one day. But she had never let it get that far.

Even though a part of her had been willing on the night of the full moon. It didn’t happen.

Granger looked away from her.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Ashleigh turned away from him.

“I’m just scared you’re going to leave me, Ash.” Granger’s voice cracked as he pulled her back to his chest, wrapping an arm around her.

‘Please, don’t leave me.’ Caleb’s voice whispered in her memory.

She squeezed her eyes tightly and clenched her jaw, fighting away the painful memory.

“I won’t leave you,” she whispered.

“And you’ll stay away from him?” Granger asked, still holding her in his arms

“What?” Ashleigh asked, looking back at him over her shoulder.

“Do you promise you will stay away from him?”

He held her eyes with his, and she saw a desperate need for her to answer to reflect his want.

“I can’t promise that,” she said honestly, “you know I can’t.”

“You don’t want to,” he said quietly, letting her go.

“No,” Ashleigh stated, “it’s not that I don’t want to. I have to work with him. He is my partner for the rest of this assignment. And he’s already done his part, but I still have to do mine.”

“Then ask your father to assign someone else to do it,” Granger demanded.

“No, Granger, this is my assignment. Duty before heart,” Ashleigh replied firmly.

“What is that supposed to mean,” Granger huffed, irritation seeping into his voice.

“It means I will do my job. But Caleb is just my duty, you are my heart.”

Granger let out a deep sigh.

“Granger, you know that I love you,” Ashleigh whispered, reaching her hand to his face.

He turned away from her.

“You know he requested you, right?” Granger asked bitterly.

“What do you mean?”

“For this exchange crap,” Granger spat, “he forced your dad’s hand, made him send you to Summer. It was the only way he would agree to participate.”

“Where are you getting this from? Caleb was shocked when I arrived.” Ashleigh stated firmly.

“Right, like he’s going to admit it to you.” Granger laughed. “And how do you know what he felt, Ash? Just how close did you two get while you were there? What did you guys do together, all that time alone.”

“Which is it that you doubt Granger, my love for you or our bond?” Ashleigh asked with a fire in her voice. “If you are going to keep acting like this, there is no point in talking anymore tonight.”

Ashleigh moved away from him.

“It’s because of him that we aren’t married right now!” Granger shouted angrily. “If he hadn’t forced your dad to send you to Summer, you and I would be married!”

“Even if I hadn’t been sent to Summer, you would still have been sent to Spring!” Ashleigh shouted back. “My father postponed our wedding, not Caleb!”

“Fine, there is a full moon in two weeks. And we’ll both be back home,” Granger stated, holding her gaze with a fire in them.

“So, what?” she asked.

“You know what I am saying, Ash. Let’s get married at the next full moon.”

The swirling chaos of emotion and thought buzzed in her mind and body. She was terrified, frustrated, angry, scared. Everything all at once.

“Answer me,” Granger demanded.

“Are you crazy?” she asked.

“For wanting to marry my mate?” Granger replied indignantly.

“You are acting like a child!” Ashleigh shouted.

“I am acting like someone who loves you and wants to be with you! What about you?” Granger hollered, no longer trying to hide his frustration, “you say you love me. You say you want to be with me. But when I try to make that happen, all you do is reject me!”

“It’s not like that!” Ashleigh cried out. “You know we can’t get married right now, Granger!”

She was getting emotional now. She wanted to make him happy, to reassure him that she wasn’t trying to leave. But he was asking for something that wasn’t possible.

“Yes, we can!” he shouted back. “The only thing stopping us is you!”

He huffed and walked away from her without another word.

‘You’re being unreasonable!’ Ashleigh shouted back in her mind. She had enough. Squatting down, she hugged her knees to her chest. Trying to breathe through the frustration she was feeling towards him.

***

When Caleb heard them yelling, he had tried his best to avoid them. But they had decided to have their lover’s quarrel, rather inconveniently, directly beside his cabin.

He waited in the trees, hoping it would be over quickly. He tried to think of things to distract himself so he wouldn’t listen in, but it wasn’t easy to do.

He heard his name mentioned, he heard that their wedding was pushed back.

But the thing that kept drawing his attention, the thing that was making him grab the tree nearest him and hold it to keep himself back from joining their fight. That thing was the way that the black-haired rat kept talking to Ashleigh. How he accused her without ever saying he was accusing her, how he was trying to make her feel guilty.

Finally, the rat walked away.

Caleb watched Ashleigh closely, wondering if she would chase after him, begging him to forgive her. The thought made him sick.

But she didn’t. Instead, she curled herself into a ball and breathed into the night.

His feet were moving, and she was getting closer.

She heard the soft crunching of footsteps approaching. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she stood up and shouted at him.

“Granger, I don’t want to talk to you right—Oh! Oh, I’m sorry.”

Ashleigh quickly tried to recover as she recognized the man standing before her.

“Are you alright?” Caleb asked quietly. “I didn’t intend to eavesdrop… but you were both shouting pretty loudly.”

The embarrassment she felt raced from her stomach over her chest and settled into her face in an unflattering shade of tomato. Ashleigh was thankful that they were outside, in the dark at this moment.

“Sorry,” she replied, looking away from him towards the ground.

“Are you alright?” he asked again.

Ashleigh looked up, his eyes showed his concern, and she felt a warmth, quickly followed by guilt.

“Yea,” she answered quietly. “I’m sure you heard; our wedding keeps getting pushed back. So his frustration is understandable.”

“It is,” Caleb nodded and added, “but it’s not a time for weddings right now, is it?”

“No,” she agreed, “it’s not.”

“Ashleigh,” Caleb said.

“Yea?” she answered.

“I don’t really like talking about him. I assume he doesn’t like talking about me either,” Caleb said.

‘He sure likes to bring you up, though,’ Ashleigh thought to herself.

“But I understand him, at least part of him,” he said quietly. “Because I would also be anxious to marry if my mate would admit she loved me.”

Ashleigh was startled by his words.

He took a step towards her, leaning close to her. She took a deep, cleansing breath, hoping to calm her racing heart.

“Ashleigh?” he called.

“Yea?” she answered, albeit shakily.

“Why did you leave me on the night of the full moon?”