I cup his face, pulling myself away more than I’m pushing him back. I could kiss him until the next apocalyptic event ravaged the earth. And then I’d only pause for a moment to check if there were any zombies nearby before returning to his tempting mouth.

But I hurt him, and he deserves another Gunner apology.

This seems to be a habit for me. One I plan on breaking by making this man as happy as possible.

“I’m sorry, Warner.”

“Zoey—” He goes to interrupt me, but I cover his mouth with my hand, staring intently up at him.

“Let me say this?” After waiting for his nod, I continue, “You asked me to be your mate. To be with you forever. That’s heavy, and it scared me. I don’t think I was wrong to be nervous about that.”

His eyes get sad, and I push on.

“I’m not always … healthy.”

Hell, I didn’t think it would be this hard to say. There’s an urge to use metaphors or skirt around the topic. But I want the word out there. It needs to be said. I need to say it.

“For the last few years”—tears are in my throat, but I swallow them down—“I’ve battled depression.”

Warner’s entire body tenses. Then, treating me as if I were formed from spun glass, my werewolf slowly gathers me into a hug that presses the entire length of my body against his. With my head tucked under his chin, a surge of comfort and confidence overcome me, and talking about it becomes easier.

“It hit me for the first time in college. I was away from my family, and I don’t know if that triggered it or what, but things got bad. When my brothers didn’t hear from me for a while, they got worried and made a surprise visit. I was practically comatose. They brought me back to Denver, convinced me to transfer schools and talk to a professional. That helped. So did medication.” I draw in a deep, bracing breath. “But I’m not cured because there’s no permanent fix. And I worry all the time that I’ll have a bad episode like I did then and I won’t be able to pull myself out of it.”

“You want to be in Denver because of your brothers. Because they’d recognize it. They would know how to help you.” Warner doesn’t ask. He just realizes the truth.

I press my face against his chest. “I came to Pine Falls to test out living without my family around me all the time. Their love is a gift, but sometimes, I felt suffocated by it. I mean, you’ve met my brothers. You know what I’m saying, right?”

The brush of his chin against the top of my head tells me he’s nodding.