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“Put those fucking phones down.”That was Relic.

Sutton spun away then, running for the door.The crowd had closed in, and I’d lost sight of her at that point, but then again, I’d forced myself to look away.

I snarled viciously when I saw what actually happened after she ran.She’d tripped, hitting the ground hard.Her familiar had exploded from her coat, while she lay there, her dress tossed up, her bag sliding across the floor, her things going everywhere, clothes, underwear, a toothbrush.

She’d packed as if she’d planned to stay.

Then it hit me, she thought she’d be staying at the clubhouse—with me.

I was growling continuously now, and there was no stopping it.I didn’t like the strange sensations inside me, or the physical responses that came with them, like I was burning up, like I was in someone else’s body and mind.No, I fucking hated them.

Fern and Willow helped her up and gathered her things, while the female filming laughed and said a bunch of shit about how Sutton looked.

Then I saw blood drip from her lip to the floor, more when she stood, from her knee.

Willow said something, and Sutton held out her hand, her familiar finally coming back to her, then she glanced at the camera, then back to Willow and shook her head.

That’s how her fucking lip was split open.Then she shoved her way through the crowd and ran out to the parking lot.

Rage pumped through me.In the end, my instinct had insisted I go after her.I’d told myself I’d just see if she was okay, instead I’d yelled at her while she’d cried, like a fucking deranged asshole.Now I couldn’t work out if I was more pissed off at the wolves who’d filmed and posted that video, or myself.

No, I wasn’t her mate, but she hadn’t deserved that.

The beast slammed against my psyche, trying to break free, the roar in my head so loud that my fucking bones rattled.What thefuck?Why was I so messed up over this little female?It didn’t make sense.

Fender pried his phone from my tight fist, then shook his head at the way it was now crushed on the sides.

“Brother, I thought you and Sutton?—”

“Don’t fucking think,” I snarled and strode away before I took all this rage out on the wrong person.

The truth was, if I could have a mate, if things weren’t so fucked up and I could have what War and Relic and Dirk had, I’d want that with her.That’s why I’d stormed after her, that’s why I’d stopped her from leaving and acted like a giant prick, because she stirred something inside me, made me feel things, want things, that should be impossible—things that fucking terrified me.

Because if I could have a mate, I’d want it to be Sutton.

A mate wasn’t something I’d ever wanted, though, for several reasons—and I’d made a deal a long time ago to ensure that I never found one.

That’s how I knew Sutton wasn’t mine.

It was impossible.

ChapterFour

Sutton

“I’m okay, Boo.”My sweet familiar was pressed against my cheek, trying to comfort me.He’d been doing that a lot lately and had sought me out when I got home this morning.He should have been asleep.I rubbed my hands over my face.Gods, last night was one big hideous blur.My brain’s way of trying to protect me, I guess, and I would’ve been happy to keep it that way.Unfortunately, there was now video evidence, not only filling in the blanks in my memory but making sure that everyone else on Nightscape had every single gory detail of my humiliation locked in their minds as well.

My mother, and the rest of my estranged family, would have definitely seen it by now.

It was too awful to think about.Too painful.Too…everything.

Stop.Don’t go there.

I would not waste time thinking about the people who didn’t want me in their lives.Nope, I’d focus on the people who knew the real meaning of family.My coven, my friends.

That’s when I remembered seeing Luke at the Dogwood fights last night.He was alive and well, thank the goddess, so why wasn’t he answering my calls?And why the hell had he run from me?

It didn’t make sense—unless he was in some kind of trouble.