Page 28 of The Wrong Bond (Wolf Billionaire #4)

CHAPTER 28

ARLENE

I pushed my shopping cart down the milk aisle, looking for oat milk, because I’d found out early on that Ruby was allergic to nuts. She always caused a bit of a commotion in the morning if there was no milk for her cereal. She was currently obsessed with cereal.

I eyed the rows and rows of milk on the shelves, my eyes looking for oat milk, and then my phone dinged.

Can’t wait to see you in a bit ;)

Shawn

I smiled as I responded to the text.

Me too ;)

Me

Things had been going good with us ever since Coral’s party. My mind still felt too messed up to get involved with Shawn, but I also didn’t know how to pull away and let him be.

My heart, body, and soul wanted to be with him. I’d resisted it for years, but now there was nothing more I could do about it.

He’d reassured me that everything would be fine, and even though I was still a bit skeptical, I was willing to trust him and see how it went.

Just as I turned the corner to head to Ruby’s favorite aisle—the cereal aisle—I saw a familiar face perusing the cereal too. I couldn’t ever mistake that pale skin and brown hair.

She was the person who had completely shattered the dream bubble that Shawn and I had been living in.

Lora McGregor.

The last time we’d met, she’d given me money to leave Shawn, and here she was, casually checking out cereal. I slowly wanted to back out of the aisle and hope she didn’t see me, but she’d already caught sight of me before I could run.

“Arlene,” Lora gasped as soon as she saw me. “Oh my God, I didn’t expect to see you in this neighborhood.”

“Hi,” I said, a little too cheerily for my liking.

I wanted to be mad at her, but I knew that it wasn’t really her fault. She’d been trying to look out for Shawn because she cared about him. And now I felt guilty because I’d just kissed her fated mate a couple days ago.

Did she know we were involved again?

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said with a smile.

I smiled back, this time genuinely. “I live just by the corner.”

“Wow” was all she said, and I knew what that meant. How could you afford to live in this neighborhood? It was the money she’d given me that had enabled me to live this life.

“So how have you been?” I asked, turning the question back on her.

“I’ve been good. Doing a lot of traveling.”

“Really? Where?”

She sighed happily. “Everywhere, really. After Shawn and I cut things off, I’ve just?—”

I interrupted her quickly. “Cut things off?”

Shawn had hinted at something like this before, but he’d never really explained, and I hadn’t asked any questions because he’d seemed uncomfortable.

She looked at me, confused. “That’s why you’re back, right? Because we cut it off years ago?”

“What?”

She peered at me. “You didn’t know?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Well, apparently I repulsed Shawn so much…” She threw her head back and laughed, which made me chuckle. “That he would rather risk dying than be with me, or rather, be away from you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s gone through a very risky and dangerous electronic experiment to break our bond and be with you, Arlene. He almost died just so he’d be able to be with you.”

My mouth went dry with the revelation. Everything began to make sense. Him losing weight and looking sickly was because of that? Wow.

“I had no idea,” I mumbled.

Lora squeezed my hand. “Well then, you need to speak to him about it. But make sure you cherish him, Arlene. He’s a great man and he’s done a lot for you.”

I nodded. “I will.”

“Alright. I guess this is goodbye. I’ll see you around.”

I was frozen to the spot as Lora walked out of the store. I felt sick that the man I’d loved, the man who had risked everything for me, had gone through hell and I’d had no idea.

I knew I needed to talk to Shawn. I checked out the items I’d bought and headed to his place. As I stepped out of the car, I took a deep breath. This was going to be a difficult conversation, but it was one that needed to happen.

When I walked into his home, he was working in the living room. I watched him for a bit, feeling sorry that he’d gone through all that alone, without me by his side.

“Shawn,” I said, drawing his attention.

“Ally! I didn’t even hear you come in. I’ve been so busy with work lately.”

I gave him a small smile and continued, “I bumped into Lora at the store today.”

His face fell and I knew what she had told me was the truth, but I needed him to confirm it.

“Is it true? About the experiment? ” I asked.