Her Fire

15 ~ I reject you

They’ve been on the road for almost half an hour already, and David has not spoken a word, as if he knows he has already pushed enough of her buttons for the day. It grates on her nerves.

Even in his silence, David is showing her that he is different from Ouranos, who had no qualms about erupting in storms, thunder, and lightning every time they pissed one another. Just remembering his face is making her want to scratch it. Too bad he’s out of her reach now.

With all her nervous energy churning inside her, she’s itching to pick a fight with David instead but in this situation, on what grounds can she even do that?

Be mad at him for being a pushover?

And yet it doesn’t feel like he’s being one. To Deirdre it feels more like patience and benevolence. He is being considerate and chivalrous, d@mn him.

He’s a pretty good opponent. He’s actually making her feel like she’s being unreasonable and…crazy.

“You’re staring,” he tells her, his eyes on the road.

“Huh?” She didn’t even realize she had been staring. “I’m just thinking of how I can pick a fight with you.” She replies absent-mindedly.

Her honest answer seems to amuse him. “Why?”

She turns back to her window, annoyed but not quite certain if with him or with herself. Perhaps it’s a little bit of both. “I just feel like it. I’m a bundle of nerves right now. I need an outlet. You’re the closest one to burn. Go figure.”

He sighs and says nothing. After a few minutes, he slows the car down and parks it on the side of the road, turning the motor off.

“What’s the meaning of this? What are you doing?”

He turns to her. “I think I have an idea how you can release some of that tension. I can give you a reason to be angry with me.”

What the f*ck!?

She looks around wildly. Is he really abd*cting her? She starts to feel suffocated and quickly gets out of the car. “What did you do? Where are we!?”

He gets out of the car as well, calmly. “Please don't be alarmed, it’s not what you think. Will you let me explain first?”

“I don’t want to hear it! Our deal was I’ll let you take me back to Florence and then we’d break the bond. This is—”

“And I will be true to my words. I was just going to offer a detour that you might find interesting.”

Aha! He is stalling! There’s her reason!

“No.” She says stubbornly. “I want to go back to Florence. You promised to take me there! I’m not going anywhere else and you can’t make me!”

He stares at her for a few more seconds before shrugging and getting back into the car.

“All right. Suit yourself.” He says calmly, but his tone leaves her hanging, baiting her with a silent ‘but’.

She gets back inside the car. And she endured his silence for around twenty more minutes before she couldn't take it anymore.

How is he so f*cking calm about all this? So irritating.

“I intend to collect your promise about breaking the mate bond by the end of this trip, you know.” She reminds him. “I’m just curious. Is this your plan? Win me over with a silent treatment? Drive me crazy with curiosity? Nice try but I’m not easily impressed.”

He chuckles. “Well, you’re curious and interested enough to want to talk to me right now, so I’d say it’s still working.”

She grits her teeth. “You’re planning something, I just don’t know what but I’ll soon find out...”

He clicks his tongue. “So suspicious. Will you please stop worrying? I gave you my word, I will set you free if you really want me to.”

She narrows her eyes. “You’re telling me that you're willing to go through the unbelievable pain of the mate bond breaking just to prove to me that I can trust your word?”

He smiles sadly. “Well, let’s just say it’s not going to be my first time.”

Aw, f*cking he!l. Of course, it’s not. She remembers Matt telling her that David had a previous mate who rejected him for still having a wolf, the dvmb@a$$. And while it’s hardly Deirdre’s fault, she feels like sh*t anyway, as if she’s kicking someone who is already down.

She turns back to the window. “I’m… sorry for the pain you will have to go through again but I’m not going to change my mind. I don’t need a fated mate. I don’t want a fated mate. I will not accept a fated mate.”

“I know that.” He answers quietly. “You have been through enough. I understand. It’s just something you have to do.”

His understanding and gentle acceptance suddenly make her very angry.

“STOP THE CAR, RIGHT NOW!”

Confused, he does as she has ordered and slows the car down again, finding a good spot to park.

Deirdre closes her eyes and tries to calm down by focusing on her breathing. Her hands are trembling from a barely controlled storm of emotions and she slams them on the dashboard, gripping it tight.

“What the he!l is wrong with you!? Why are you—What are you—” She shakes her head, trying to clear her head. “Whatever it is you’re doing—trying to confuse me with— just… stop it! STOP IT!”

He doesn’t answer, perhaps he’s waiting for her to calm down or maybe he just doesn’t have anything to say.

“I know you think your happiness lies in having a fated mate,” she spits out harshly. “It is a popular and widely spread delusion commonly shared by wolf shifters thanks to the moon goddesses who brainwashed them into thinking that way! But you are looking at this the wrong way, David. Being able to break the bond…it is a precious gift! It must be celebrated! It is freedom of choice. Freedom to end your misery with someone you did not choose for yourself, and freedom to find love again, the right one. You have no idea what it is like to be helpless and tied for all eternity, with no way out to save yourself. The mate bond is nothing but a curse, sprinkled in fairy dust and scented with a unicorn fart that smells of strawberries and babies!”

After about five minutes, Deirdre finally calms down enough to take a deep breath and addresses him without looking at his face.

“Let’s go. Take me to Florence immediately.”

“Wait,” he sighs. “If it means so much to you, we don’t have to wait until we get to Florence. It’s just prolonging the inevitable. Deirdre, it is my duty and my desire as your fated mate to see you well and happy. And unfortunately… at the moment, I see that you are neither and it’s all because of me. So if breaking the mate bond is the sacrifice I have to make to ensure your well-being and happiness, then I willingly accept the pain of a thousand deaths.”

“We’re doing this now?” Deirdre asks, staring at him incredulously. Is he insane!? His wolf could go coo-coo right in the middle of a public road! “This will not be like the rejection of your chosen mate! The pain of a broken fated bond is a thousand times worse! Some shifters die from it.” Deirdre wants to bite her own tongue. She didn’t have to tell him that… was she trying to sabotage this!?

But he only nods solemnly before taking another deep breath. “It’s okay, I am ready.” He clears his throat. “I, Davide Andrew Barkley—”

Aww, hell no!

“Wait, wait! What do you think you're doing!?” She demands.

There’s a short pause, during which David seems to be very confused about the question. “I’m… setting you free, by breaking the bond…”

“YOU’RE rejecting ME!?” She spits with indignation. “You don’t get to do that!” She tells him with all the arrogance she can muster, even though her pride is stinging.

She opens the door of the car, instinctively needing to get away from him.

Just imagine, a mere mortal, rejecting her!? Why, she can almost hear the other deities laughing their a$$es off! Oh and the pitying looks... She’ll never live it down!

David sighs as he follows her out of the car. “I don’t understand you, Deirdre. You said you don’t want anything to do with Flint and me. I’m just trying my best to make it easier for you.” She can already hear a little bit of frustration seeping into his tone but he still manages to stay calm and not call her insane.

David is tall, but Deirdre’s anger makes her appear taller somehow, even though she barely reaches his shoulders.

She walks over to him, facing him straight on and glaring at him, even though she has to look up to do that. “I was—and always will be the one and only fire goddess!” She says proudly. “An elemental DEITY. I do the rejections, not the other way around!”