Horizon Ridge Never safe from you.

She was demeaning herself again, and he scoffed at her. You're so hard on yourself, and its totally unfair.

But he couldn't exactly tell her the truth. That he had chosen her because she was the first wolf he'd run in to. That she was the resident perfectly taupe shade of beige in the rainbow of chaos that was Rusalka. That her lack of drama, her habit of playing the wallflower, of always being eclipsed by the likes of Rosalyn or Erzulie or Caiaphas, was exactly what made him so interested in her. Yami was still young and still developing a sense of self — and that absence, that bland, unspecial, limited nature that he linked to her — it was perfection right now.

No, he couldn't say that.

You're hard-working, charming, beautiful, and you don't hate me like everyone else does. That was close enough to the truth; he gleamed a grin her way as he listed off these vague traits and even side-stepped so he could brush against her for a few strides, then gave her the space back, but slowed and stopped a few moments later. I'm the lucky one to have someone like you, Yami.