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Chapter Thirteen

Noah

Noah woke with a start and glanced around the strange room, looking for the one person he needed close to him.His brows furrowed when he took a deep breath and he could barely smell Jade’s scent anywhere in the room.

Where was she?

He searched his memory and tensed when he remembered the attack.The shifter moved so quickly that he barely took a breath before he found himself pulled from the car and slammed onto his back.Noah still had no idea what his cryptic comment meant, but after that there was pain and Jade’s panicked voice by his ear.He didn’t remember what she said or what happened after.

What day is it?

He heard footsteps coming up stairs, or identified them as such, before Liv walked into his room, carrying a tray of food.

“Ja…de.”

His voice cracked and he had to clear his throat.He tried again, but his throat was dry.Noah gratefully took a glass of orange juice Liv handed him and downed it all in a few gulps.

“Where’s Jade?”

Liv gave him a sad smile.She placed the tray on his lap and backed up a couple of steps.

“Where?”

“Eat first and then I’ll tell you.”

Without looking away from Liv’s expressive face, he ate whatever he reached for, not even looking at or tasting what he was eating.He tossed the empty tray to the other side of the bed and widened his eyes when it skipped off the bed and onto the floor.Noah moved to retrieve it, but Liv waved him away.He knew that she was buying time, but he needed to know and implored her.

Please.

It took several tries, but each time Liv opened her mouth, she closed it and cleared her throat.He could see tears in her eyes and something stilled in his chest.

Is she dead?Did I hurt her?

“You rejected her and she left.”

Noah’s head whipped to where Kai was standing in the doorway, glaring at him.“What are you talking about?”

“When you woke up yesterday morning, you said something to Jade that made her leave.By the look on her face, it seemed as though you rejected her.And knowing Jade, she would never force you to do anything, including accepting her as a mate, if she knew you wanted nothing to do with her.She thought it best to leave.We tracked her for several miles, but lost her scent.If she doesn’t want to be found, you won’t find her.”

Noah suddenly remembered the fragments of conversation with Jade.His throat was tight and he woke up angry because he felt so helpless and weak.And although he had no say whether he wanted to be immortal or not, he wasn’t mad at Jade.He was angry at himself for knowing he wanted to be with Jade and not being able to tell her before the decision was taken from him.Then he remembered his words.

Not you.

Fuck.

“I have to find her.I promise, I didn’t reject her, even though it might’ve seemed that way.”

He whipped the covers off himself and wondered why Liv turned her back.It wasn’t until he glanced down that he realized he was naked.

“Do you have some clothes I can borrow?”

“You’re a shifter, Noah.You’re going to shift sooner or later—you might as well try now and use your animal senses to find her.”

He could do with less hostility, but Kai was right.

Noah closed his eyes and could feel a strange energy circling around him.He centered his thoughts on the feeling that traveled from his chest to his limbs and felt parts of his body change.Although he’d never had a conversation about what it was like to be a shifter, whether it hurt to shift or not, he found the sensations of stretching and not pain.

Guilt swamped him because out of all their conversations, Noah never asked Jade anything about who she essentially was as a shifter.