Page 6 of Crescent Warrior

“Lyta, please.” He reached for her but she pulled herself away, pointing to the door imperiously.

“Leave!”

He hesitated, watching the tears fall down her cheeks. His heart broke, wishing he could reverse time. If only he could find some way to fix the mess he made.

Swallowing against the lump in his throat, he turned, stumbling out of her bedroom. He passed Phaedra just as she was returning, her smile faltering at the sight of him.

“Cole? What happened?”

He shook his head, unable to voice what he needed to say.

I’ve broken Lyta’s heart.

But this was for the best. It was better that she have her heart broken now, when they were still young, rather than when she met her real mate.

“Lyta needs you,” he choked out, pointing weakly in the direction he just came from.

Phaedra leaned forward to pull him into a hug. “You need me too,” she murmured.

The tears sprung even faster to his eyes, guilt pouring over him. Now he was taking her mother away when she needed her the most. He disentangled himself from her arms, wishing he could just stay there and hide from the world, giving her a shaky smile. “I’ll be fine. Lyta… Lyta thinks we are mates.”

She nodded, watching him closely.

“We aren’t.” He closed his eyes against the rush of new tears. “But she still thinks it.”

“Cole, you can’t possibly know yet.”

“I would,” he snapped. “I would know if she was. But she’s not.” He turned away, giving her his back. “She’s upset about it. She needs you.”

Phaedra sighed, reaching out to pat his shoulder. “Give yourself time, Cole. One day, you might be surprised—”

He walked away, the words stabbing at his heart. He couldn’t afford to have hope. Hope was only made to be shattered. Anything that he ever hoped for in his life was taken away.

Hoping that his mother would survive the illness that ravaged her body was futile. Hoping that his father could somehow overcome the loss of his mate was also dashed to the side. Hoping that Hippolyta could ever be meant for him—impossible.

He hurried to his own empty house, ignoring the waves and calls from other Werewolves nearby. He needed to be alone. He needed to mourn the loss of his friendship. There was no way she would ever let him near her again.

He slammed the door closed, hurrying inside and going directly to his bed, dropping onto it. He stared at the ceiling, wishing he was still with her. Wishing his wolf could, for once, just listen to him and recognize Hippolyta as his.

He couldn’t afford to lose her. She was everything to him. As remorse and despair settled over him, he wallowed in his broken heart until he could barely stand to be alone with himself. Stiffening his back, he made himself a promise.

I’ll win her back. She will be my best friend again. If that’s all I can get from her, then I’ll take it.

He couldn’t be without her. He knew that with certainty. It was agony to be separated right now and they had only been apart for a short time ago. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be by morning. Settling back against the headboard, he formulated an apology plan in his head, approving and rejecting ideas as they occurred to him.

I can get her flowers. She loves white sand lilies. I’ll gather thousands of them until she forgives me!

Satisfied, he lay down properly, drifting off to dreams of her.

CHAPTER TWO

Stiffening his spine, preparing himself for what he was sure would be the verbal spar of a lifetime, Cole ran from the beach where he finally finished picking enough lilies to satisfy even the worst of Hippolyta’s moods. One particular memory surfaced of when he accidentally broke one of her prized weapons and she tried to strangle him.

He shuddered at the terror he felt in that moment, but she eventually forgave him for that, and he knew that, somehow, she would forgive him now. He had missed the sailing of the boat carrying the members of his pack that were leaving, seeing it disappear from the beach but not bothering to stop what he was doing.

Lyta is far more important.

Hurrying toward her house, he slowed his pace when he realized that the front door was closed. It was never closed during the day. Confused, he stopped in front of it, raising his hand to knock.

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