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“Fucking coward,” I growl, pulling out of my mate, undoing the bra from around her wrists, and gathering her into my arms.

I expect to find tears on her face, but all I see is anger and disappointment.

“Are you okay, little mate?”

She reaches up, running a hand down my face as she offers me a soft smile. “Thank you, Cassian.”

I smirk. “You don’t have to thank me for fucking you. It’s my pleasure.”

She giggles, slapping her hand against my chest before sobering. “Not for that. Okay, yes for that, too. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for seeing how much I was hurting and doing something about it. I wouldn’t have expected you to be the mate who chased me through the woods before fucking me into the ground, but I’m not complaining.”

“You’re thinking Donovan should’ve been the one chasing you, aren’t you?” I laugh at her shrug. “He’s going to be very jealous when he finds out I hunted you without him, but he’s not the only one of your mates who wants to chase you through the woods. Wraith, Donovan, and I used to do monthly hunts with the prey of the night changing up. And something tells me Brenden would love to hunt you.”

“You’re probably right.” She leans up to kiss me before pulling away to redress. When she goes to pull on her bra, she scowls as she tugs the tank over her head instead. “No more destroying my bras. Especially not when we’re in the woods. Now they’re going to be just hanging out.”

I stare at her as she slaps her hands on her hips, and I see what she means. The tank top is oversized, gaping on the sides and does nothing to hide her tits. Not that I’m complaining.

“You’ll be fine. We’ll just head straight to the house.” I push to my feet, tucking my cock away. “I’m sorry Nex took off.”

Audrey shakes her head. “You were right when you called him a coward. He wants me—and I think Brenden—but he won’t allow himself to have us. Part of me thinks this curse is all in his head, but I don’t think I’ve ever met another person more stubborn than him.”

I kiss the top of her head, looping my arm over her shoulders. “You just leave him to us. The past two weeks? That can’t happen again. Your job is to focus on the mates you do have, and we’ll help Nex see the error in his ways.”

“I can’t ask you to do that—“

“You didn’t.” I cut her off, smiling at the glare she shoots in my direction. “And you don’t need to because it’ll be our pleasure to make him see just how fucking wrong he is.”

She sighs but doesn’t argue with me any longer.

Nex is in for a surprise because I know her other mates have to be chomping at the bit to get their hands on him.

Oh, yes. We’ll be happy to show him what an idiot he’s being.

Chapter Twenty-one

Audrey

It’sbeenafewweeks since Nex jacked off to Cassian fucking me in the middle of the woods.

My thighs clench and my cheeks warm at the memory of how Cassian chased me through the woods. I’d been so lost in my head and trying to figure out how to accept losing two men who were fated to be mine that I just stopped feeling anything.

I worried my mates—something I feel terrible about. But the looks on their faces when Cassian led me into the house, both of us covered in dirt. It was fucking hilarious.

Now, I just have to make sure I don’t sink back into that hole. I can’t do that to my mates again—I won’t.

Nex has continued to avoid me, which is much easier now that I’m not assisting in his classes any longer. I don’t know if that’s better or not.

Should I be throwing myself into his path as often as possible, like I was before? It didn’t seem to make any difference, but I hate not seeing him. I hate not knowing what he’s doing.

I hate that he seems to be doing just fine without me.

I know he’s punishing himself for what happened to his sister and the vengeance he sought afterward, but it’s not just himself that he’s punishing. He’s punishing me and my other mates, too, and that’s not okay.

“Damn it, Donovan! Not my damn face.” A grunt follows the words, and I frown as I hurry up the path.

It’s late and there shouldn’t really be anyone out at this time of night. There usually isn’t when I take my two a.m. walks. I’m not sleeping well, and I don’t want to keep my mates up, so I’ve been slipping out of the house and walking around campus while I wait for the sun to come up.

I know they’ve noticed, but no one has mentioned it.