Page 30

Something had reached inside me, pulling out my guts before slamming me into the bedroom wall. It hit me like a truck, but when I landed on the ground, I found myself intact. Not gutted, after all.

But somehow, I still felt empty.

It took a moment for my mind to catch up with what had just happened, and I could finally comprehend that I was in Nayeli's room. I sat there, chest heaving, rubbing the spot beneath my sternum where my connection to Nayeli had lived for weeks.

It...it was gone. The bond was broken.

My eyes shot up to see Nayeli kneeling on the bed, also breathing hard, her hair a mess, and the remnants of a spell sparking at her fingers.

"Nayeli!" I growled, my wolf clawing its way to the surface. He was furious, and I was right there with him. "What the hell did you just do?"

"I'm sorry," she said softly, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was terrified, but as I watched, she lifted her chin stubbornly. "I broke it. Finally. I did it."

I slowly stood, using the wall as a brace. There was a hole where my body had hit. "You...what?"

"We're free now," she went on, and I hated that there was relief in her voice. "You don't have to feel anything for me anymore. We can go back to our own lives."

My jaw clenched, and my chest ached. The bond wasn't natural, I knew that well enough, but I'd started to consider my life if it was never broken. It meant considering a life with Nayeli, forever, and I found myself wanting that more than anything else.

Nayeli, though, apparently had other ideas.

She kept talking, "You'll be able to choose a wife now, and I can master my magic in peace. We won't have to worry about heat cycles or misunderstandings or any of this messy—"

"Messy?" My voice was rough. "Is that what this was to you?"

Her lips parted, and I saw the first thread of hesitation in her expression. Tears still leaked from her eyes, some side effect of the spell. "Scott..."

"No," I snapped, "Don't. Don't act like this was some kind of favor, like you did it to save us both.

You promised to tell me if you were going to mess with the bond again, and you lied !

You left me sitting down there at the dinner table like an idiot while you were busy tearing our connection apart! "

Nayeli looked flabbergasted. "You don't get to guilt me for trying to survive! You rejected me when this started years ago, and we've wasted so much time pretending just because I messed up a spell."

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "That's rich coming from a woman who kissed me like she meant it, slept in my bed, screamed my name when she came, and let me take care of her. And now all of a sudden it's pretending?"

Her eyes narrowed, and she bared her teeth in anger. "What was I supposed to do? You made it clear that you wanted to keep things simple. Easy."

My stomach twisted. "I want you, Nayeli. I want you so bad it fucking hurts, and I have for years."

She looked like she'd been slapped. "That's a lie, and you know it! I was scared of...of.."

"Of what?"

"Of you!" she yelled, fists clenched. "Of how badly I wanted you and the entire time you never even said—" She cut herself off, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly. "You know what? It doesn't matter. I fixed our problem, and now I'm leaving."

I wasn't sure if she expected me to leave the room, but I didn't. If she was going to do this, then I was going to bear witness to it. She packed her things while a hollow sort of fury boiled in my gut, every Alpha instinct I had screaming at me to grab her and force her to stay.

Instead, when she left the room with her sloppily packed bag, I snapped. "Don't bother coming back."

The second the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back, but it was done. Nayeli froze for a beat, but she didn't turn, and a moment later, I heard the front door open and click shut. I let myself slide to the floor and just lay there, miserable, in the remnants of the spell Nayeli had cast.

My wolf was howling in my head, and I felt like I was dying. It hurt so much, and I didn't understand it. The hole left by the bond ached more than any physical wound I'd ever had. I'd been bonded to her for less than two months, and already my life felt empty.

But she'd made her choice. I was numb.

Eventually, I called Samson, because where the hell else would she go? He picked up on the first ring like he'd been expecting my call.

"Did she make it there?" I asked hoarsely.

"Yeah." For once, I was glad for Samson's gruffness. He didn't ask any questions. "She's safe."

I hung up and walked out into the night, kicking off my shoes as I went. As soon as my bare feet hit the grass, I called the shift, and it hit hard and fast, tearing through me. The wolf took over, and for a moment, there was peace.

Too bad my wolf was just as pissed as I was.

I ran through the trees, crunching through leaves, leaping over fallen logs, and pushing myself harder and harder. I didn't have a destination in mind; I just wanted to outrun everything that had happened. My wolf wasn't having any of that. He wanted blood, and I was inclined to give it to him.

At this point, I was willing to do anything to distract myself from the pain of losing Nayeli.

It was like my chest had been torn open, and the wound was bleeding out.

It was impossible to think of anything else, even if I tried.

She'd done this to us, and she'd left. My wolf snarled, but I forced him back under control.

As an Alpha, I always had to be in control, but even that seemed beyond me at the moment.

I let go, just a little, and we hunted. The rabbit was fast, but I was quicker. It tried to hide under a bush, but I grabbed it and crushed the fragile bones between my teeth. The warm blood was comforting, but it didn't take the edge off my rage.

My wolf wanted to keep running, to find more prey and destroy it. We couldn't keep doing this, though; we needed to go back to our lives and pick up the pieces. So instead of more bloodshed, I turned towards a more human source of sorrow drowning—the bar.

It was mid-week, so it wasn't as packed as usual, but I could still smell the scents of my pack members inside. I took a breath, squaring my shoulders. I wasn't going to talk about Nayeli or the bond. If anyone asked, I'd shut them down. I'd tell them I'd cut ties with her, and that would be that.

I didn't give a shit if it sounded harsh, either. I'd been too soft on Nayeli, and I knew that now. She'd played me for weeks, and I'd let her because I thought she needed protecting. But it had all been a lie. She'd used me.

The truth hurt.

I walked into the bar with purpose, heading straight for the barstool that faced away from everyone else. I didn't need to see anyone's pity, I just wanted a drink. "Whiskey," I barked at the bartender, "and don't stop pouring until I tell you to."

The bartender nodded and grabbed the bottle.

He was a wolf from another pack, one of the few wolves who didn't answer to me.

It was good, because I didn't want to be a pack Alpha at the moment.

I just wanted to be Scott Nevada, the man who'd screwed up everything and wanted to drink himself into oblivion.

My throat burned as I slammed back the first glass and went straight for the second. My wolf was prowling inside me, angry and restless. He wanted to track down Nayeli and make her take back what she'd done. He didn't understand why I'd let her leave so easily.

When my hand snaked out to grab the third, another hand stopped me. I jerked my head to the side to see Samson in the stool next to me. I'd been so caught up in my head I hadn't even noticed him sit down.

"She asked me to check on you," he said after a long silence. "She said the spell hit you pretty hard."

I laughed bitterly. "And what, this is a rescue mission?"

"Nah." He pushed the whiskey out of my reach, and shoved a glass of water into my hand instead. I resisted the urge to pour it over his head before punching his teeth out. "I'm here because she's worried. She cares about you, Scott."

"Ha. No. She broke the bond and walked away like it was nothing."

"You and I both know that bond was unnatural and unsustainable. It had to happen sooner or later."

I drank the water, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying. "Don't you dare make excuses for her."

Samson, ever the short fuse, rose to his feet. "You think she didn't cry the second she walked through my door? You think she wanted to do it? You didn't even give her a damn reason to stay."

I stood too. "Yeah? She seemed pretty damn calm when she gave me her little speech about going back to our lives. You still think she cares?"

He came closer until we were almost chest-to-chest. "Actually, I think you're both idiots."

I shoved him. Hard. Samson stumbled back and stared at me for a long moment before smirking. "Damn, I've wanted to do this for a long time."

And then he swung at me.