The quiet of the cabin was almost suffocating without Sawyer’s presence. I sat on the couch, staring into the dying embers of last night’s fire. He had left an hour ago after getting a call from his sister, something about meeting her at work. I hadn’t asked many questions, sensing it was personal, but now that I was alone, the silence was too loud.
My thoughts wandered to the calendar pinned to the wall by the kitchen. Less than two weeks. That’s all the time I had left on the farm before I was supposed to return.
The idea made my stomach churn.
I hadn’t allowed myself to dwell too much on it until now. Every day with Sawyer had felt like an escape, a reprieve from the weight of the mate bond and the expectations it carried. But the closer the deadline crept, the harder it was to
