Page 94 of Noah

“Adrienne?”

Noah gave into his beast as an urgency to find her hit him. He turned the cooker off, even though he didn’t give a damn if dinner burned.

Smashing down the spices in his hands, forgetting for a moment his strength, they cracked. Flickers of orange and green spread on the marble in a blend he hadn’t intended.

Much like him and Adrienne, they were a blend he hadn’t intended but what he could smell…

Striding outside, Noah leapt over the porch. He didn’t care if he broke an ankle, it would heal. There were more critical things like…he reached the spot where the scent was sharp.

Jesus!

As he stumbled, his knees went weak, and he hovered his hand over her imprint as if he could hold her. What happened?

For one heart-stopping moment he thought maybe she had been kidnapped but no…there was no fear, and no one could have gotten this far without raising the alarm.

His skin crawled and his beast hit the walls of his mind so hard that he got an instant headache.

His head pounding, he fell to his knees.

A faint imprint of her shoes, a deluge of her wrenching shame. His eyes shot to the porch where he and Drey had been standing earlier, but there was no way she heard him.

She had left, hadn’t she?

He took another breath.

Shame. Horror and fear were so thick that they chilled him. Why would she be horrified?

Only one thing made sense, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t even entertain it. His breath got stuck and his claws dug into the ground beside her imprint as he struggled to control his rage.

Everything was so perfect. And wasn’t that what he had been saying in his mind all along? Perfect. Well, it wasn’t perfect, this was human and raw, and he should have trusted her; given her time to choose him.

Not trapping her without her knowledge.

What he tasted was a broken heart, grief sharp and acrid-like swallowing needles. A distasteful sour scent that coated his tongue until all he wanted was to find her and make it better.

A sound had him spinning with a snarl on his face.

Briar was leaning over the balcony his head peeking around the side of the home. He grimaced, sympathy and regret in his eyes when he saw Noah on the ground.

“She left,” Noah guessed.

His body spasmed with pain as his heart filled with crushed dreams of them, and his beast clawed at his insides, its pain unbearable. It was ironic that he could honestly say that now she was gone he could feel the pain.

“Sorry. She wasn’t in a good way. Mhane took her home,” Briar informed him.

Noah straightened and trudged back to the porch. He stared at the two steps and shook his head. He couldn’t do this without her.

He couldn’t continue with the life he had started to build. Everything reminded him of her. Staying in Moon was only a choice because Ren was his mate; his. And he was hers.

If he hadn’t wanted all the best things for her, he would be living wild somewhere. The truth was, she made him more than his beast. She made him human.

Noah’s steps stuttered as he walked inside. A tight ball of painful sensation engulfed his middle.

“Noah,” Briar called, not daring to step over the threshold which was fortunate because Noah needed their scent to be undisturbed. “Whatever happened, she was gutted. She didn’t leave easily; she was in a lot of pain.”

“Can Mhane protect her?” Noah asked in a broken voice.

“Yes, without a doubt. There’s more to her than first appearances. Believe me when I say she’ll look after Adrienne.”

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