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Evelyn sucked in a breath. Kade’s words were like a dagger stabbing between her ribs. She had run. He spoke the truth, but his tone—harsh and disapproving—demonstrated he didn’t understand. Deep down, she was a protector, and she’d protect Kade and those she loved, even if it broke her heart to do so. She’d rather have scars on her heart than the threat of war.

She marched over to the door, easing it open and allowing the drizzle of rain to enter the tense apartment. “If that is what you think, then there’s nothing more for us to say. Please leave.”

Kade swallowed. “Evelyn . . .”

She opened the door wider. “Kade, please.”

His boots beat against the wooden floorboards of her apartment, Evelyn’s heart hammering in unison with them. Kade paused at the door, and Evelyn soaked in his stare. The kindness, the light. A mirrored pain.

And then he left.

The instant the door clicked shut, Evelyn’s magic retreated so deeply inward, she collapsed to the wood floor. Pain throbbed in her chest. It was her heart, her soul breaking in two.

A sound, one fueled by physical and emotional pain, came out of Evelyn. A miserable, devastated cry. Her soul gaped open, empty, and vacant. Hot, wet tears streamed down her face. She sat against the door, the weight of loneliness and what she’d lost too heavy to bear.

Chapter Forty-One

Kade

Kade left in a rush, his wolf fighting against him as he sprinted down the stairs from Evelyn’s apartment. She’d wanted him to leave, and Kade couldn’t face the hurt in Evelyn’s silvery eyes. The hurt he had caused.

Stars above, he wished he could take it all back. He wished he’d told her in the commissioner’s office all those weeks ago. He hated that this was how she’d learned who he truly was.

His wolf whined, unsure why his mate had pushed him away, crying at the memory of her in pain. What if she ran? What if he never saw her again? Kade debated. He could go back. Talk it out. Apologize. But a glaring truth hit him in the gut. Evelyn had lost her flame.

All of his life, he’d trained as Son of the God. He’d been taught that his union with the Daughter of the Goddess would defeat the darkness. With the power of the Sun, Evelyn’s flame, and the power of the Moon, his wolf, they’d become a team and fulfill the prophecy. Why did twenty-five years of belief suddenly feel wrong?

Pain shot through Kade with every step he took from Evelyn’s apartment. His chest hurt. His eyes stung. His soul twisted. It had been a decade since pain of this nature had assaulted him, and like last time, his wolf took over. His bones creaked and muscles stretched, shredding his clothes as he shifted. He fully turned on the outskirts of town, sprinting off into the surrounding hills.

Thankfully, his beast did not turn back to its mate. He ran, wolf and man, around the village farms, through the old faerie ruins, to the edge of the sea cliffs. Hours passed, and Kade struggled to shift back. He grew anxious, flighty, but it was no use.

His pain drove him to the state of his beast, his wolf adamant on staying.

Like when his mother had died.

Yet, this pain felt more raw, more fearful. When his mother had died, it had been laced with grief. She was gone. The pain he carried now was heartache. Evelyn was out there, in her apartment, possibly readying to leave. The thoughts of what would come next were limitless. There was no end.

Kade stayed as a werewolf for three days. He patrolled the outskirts of Callum. The days crisp, nights chilly. The moon waned above, mocking him and his mistakes. The sun shined bright but offered no comfort or warmth.

At least, praise the moon, only one rain shower drenched his fur coat, his paws sticking with mud. He ate a few rabbits to keep his energy sustained. The village never left his sights, and he found the perfect vantage point to keep tabs on Evelyn’s apartment. It felt wrong keeping an eye on her, monitoring for movement, but he never spotted her. Aster came and went from her shop. Kade grew restless. What if Evelyn had used her magic to cloak her departure? What if she was halfway to her next destination already?

Wretched screams on the wind tore him from sleep on the second night, but nothing moved about on the hills or in the streets of the town. It was Kade, the foggy night, and his thoughts.

The next morning, Maxie left the apartment from the bay window. The sight filled Kade with hope. Evelyn would never have left her familiar.

She’d stayed.

Kade’s renewed hope, little as it was, allowed him to reconnect with his wolf, tapping into the need to shift back to his human form. He fully shifted in the alley behind the Runaway Radish, hidden behind stacks of barrels. Sweet whiskey and malty mead seeped into the air. He stood, stark as a newborn babe. He hadn’t shifted in enchanted clothes, shredding his previous attire in his haste to leave Evelyn’s apartment.

“Aye, lad.” Miss Patricia stood at the back door, arms crossed, her expression sorrowful. “I have a pair of clothes for you on the step. I’ll see you inside.”

Thank the stars above only his head reached above the barrels, the rest of him out of sight. She went inside the inn, keeping the door open. A pair of his trousers and a tunic sat folded on the step like she’d promised. Checking the alleyway and street, Kade dashed to his clothes, changing quickly before anyone saw him. His dirt-covered feet slapped against the stone ground as he entered the Runaway Radish, the tavern empty aside from one guest eating lunch by the fire.

Miss Patricia stood in the kitchen, ladling a bowl of steaming soup. “Now sit.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Evelyn