Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

41. Sacrifices

SCARLETT

The enormous wooden doors slammed shut behind me, and the tension in my body fizzled out with it. I leaned back against the closest wall, my eyes closing as I allowed the relief to sink in. It was surreal to think that it was over- I finally testified against my boss, and he was on his way to prison... or so I hoped, as I waited to hear the jury's verdict.

And yet, I couldn't be happy. Not after the hardest decision that I ever had to take in my life.

When the call from London came, I was already doubting whether my presence at the Highland Bears sleuth was causing more problems for Callum than anything else. I loved him with every fibre of my body, with every piece of my soul, but loving him meant that I couldn't be selfish. The sabotage incident was a timely reminder that staying there risked costing my mate his sleuth, and even if he said that he didn't need it, that he only needed me, I knew that I alone wouldn't be enough. Those bears were his family and took him in when his own family abandoned him, so I was not going to be the one to drive a wedge between them.

Tearing myself away from him yesterday morning while he slept was torture. My heart was screaming for me not to go while my body ached to snuggle up in bed next to him, his arms wrapped around me. But I had to do it- I had to leave. Not only because I had to testify but also because I needed some space and time to think and to figure out what I was going to do.

So, I did what the agents told me to. I left everything behind, aside from the little Nokia phone I used to be in touch with them and the emergency credit card they gave me in the beginning, and I left Scotland without telling anyone that I was leaving or where I was going. Not even my best friend.

It was better that way- no one could try to stop me or to make me change my mind.

No one but my mate bond, which was stirring a storm inside me, waiting to explode. 

Being away from Callum tore my heart into a million pieces that only he could put back together. The bond tugged at me, demanding that I headed back north to be together with my mate again. The pull it had on me was so strong that I could barely think straight. I clenched and unclenched my fists in a vain effort to stop the trembling in my hands, but I knew it was useless, just like all my other attempts up to now to appease the enraged bond. It was almost like it had a mind of its own, one that wanted nothing else than to reunite us.

Still, fighting the pull was a piece of cake in comparison to the pain and worry that had settled in my soul since yesterday afternoon. Feelings that I knew belonged to my mate, the one who I abandoned and who was probably angry and disenchanted with me after I ran away- once again- even if I did it for him this time. 

The more I thought about it, the more my heart started to ache. 

Dully at first, then it hot stabs.

Yes, he was never going to forgive me this time...and maybe it was for the best. It was going to be easier for him to forget me and move on if he hated me. And maybe one day the ache was going to stop for both of us.

Maybe...

The empty corridor was suddenly bustling as people started to pour out of the courtroom, chatter and footsteps echoing around me.

"Miss Miller," the high-pitched voice of the Serious Fraud Office agent who interrogated me back when all of this madness started made me look up, "are you okay?"

"It depends, Agent Jones," I retorted, searching his face for any clues on the jury's verdict. "Do I still have to fear for my life?"

The corners of his lips quirked into a wide smile and my heart skipped a beat. Could it be that it was really over?