William ran a hand over his face as he felt Anna leaving, swallowing down the pain that swelled in his chest. He should have learnt, she would never follow him when it became difficult, she would always prefer to run away and try to deal with everything herself. It was so fucking frustrating and it hurt, knowing she wouldn’t come back to him. Maybe that was it. Maybe she’d be gone for another few hundred years. Maybe he’d messed up again.
And why should she? He was obviously useless when it came to dealing with people he cared about. How had he even been considering suggesting to Indie they could find someone to sire together? It would just mess everything up even more. He had managed to upset her so much and that hurt most of all, knowing that he could do that to someone he was so connected to.
He sat up with a frown as he heard Indie rushing after Anna, surprised by that and wondering whether Indie might actually be able to bring her back when William would have given up, thinking it was a lost cause.
He slowly followed them, padding barefoot out of the house, the cuffs of his jeans scuffing along the pavement. She was calmer – but that was nothing to do with him, that was Indie. The redhead was so hot and cold with Anna, but he knew how to act when it was needed.
When William spotted the two younger vampires heading back towards the house he felt a weight lifting off his chest. She wasn’t gone again, she was here and coming back. Indie could be such a prick sometimes but apparently he was much better at this than William was and William needed that.
William picked up his pace a little until he met them and without hesitation wrapped his arms around Anna, one over her shoulder and the other around her waist, not quite as comfortably as Indie could with his greater height, but pulling her close, ignoring any attempt she might make to stop him. He wanted to thank Indie for bringing her back, but he had to focus on her first of all.
“I thought I’d lost you again,” he murmured, pressing his cheek against hers, the dampness on her skin sending a sharp throb of guilt through him.