Page 77 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

We were nearly to the dining room when Cristian’s harried voice reached us.

“Miss! Miss! I must insist you wait for me to announce you!”

“I know the way, Cristian.” The dismissive female voice and the sound of high heels clacking on marble froze me in my tracks. I knew that voice.

Shit.

I felt like all the blood was draining from my face, leaving me light-headed.

“BD? What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Before I could work through the lump in my throat, the woman I’d hoped to never see again cleared the corner, a consternated Cristian hot on her heels and red-faced.

“Everything okay out here?” Reed poked his head out of the dining room and cursed when he spotted her before bobbing back inside. But I couldn’t worry about him or anybody else. The only person I could think of was Leigh.

This couldn’t be happening at a worse time.

Not now. Not when we’d finally connected, finally taken that next step in trusting each other. The fledgling bond in my chest ached as I looked down at her, sorrow clawing at me as I finally found my voice. “I’m so sorry, Leigh.”

“Sorry? For what?” she whispered, confusion and anticipatory dread warring on her features. Her fingers on my arm went tight, but I didn’t have time to explain. Knewshewouldn’t give me time to explain.

“There you are, Gael. It’s so like you to fly home and leave me to hear through the grapevine thatmy fiancéis back on the same continent.”

Feminine gasps echoed behind me, and I knew the rest of the pack had come out of the dining room. But Leigh’s fingers dropping from me like I was burning her told me all I needed to know.

“Celeste, now is not a good time.” I ground out the words, not even sparing her a glance. Leigh’s face was ashen, and I was worried she was going to faint. “It’s not how it sounds, Leigh. Please, let me explain.”

She shook her head, backing away from me, first one faltering step, then another. My lungs seized as the three women surrounded her in an instant, Brielle and Olivia taking each of her hands, while Shay stepped between us, eyes aglow and teeth bared in a protective snarl.

“Leigh, please—” I took a step forward, but Shay wasn’t having it. Her hands were half-shifted, and she stepped toward me threateningly. Dirge appeared at her side like a furious shadow, and I knew with sinking certainty that they weren’t going to let me anywhere near her.

Fuck my life.

THIRTY-EIGHT

Leigh

Fiancé.

The word echoed in my head like a razor-spiked pinball, making me bleed every place it touched as it bounced around inside my skull.

He had a Goddess-cursedfiancé, and somehow I was not only pregnant with his child, but I’d just spent the morning having brain-shattering orgasms with him in my bed, and he hadn’t bothered to mention that?

I am such a fucking idiot.The waves of pain crashed over me as my wolf howled and clawed at my control, and the worst tearing sensation I’d ever felt down the center of my chest made it feel like I couldn’t breathe.

I’d thought Marcus’s betrayal was bad, and yes, it had fucking hurt at the time. But that was his fate. It was never going to be me for him.

But Gael? Gael wasmine. My fated, my destiny, my other half. And the fact that he had someone else—he’d made me his Goddess-damnedsidepiecewhile I was pregnant with our child? I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover.

Because there were only a few possible reasons for that, andnone of them were good. Was he ashamed of me after all? Was he just a fucking cheater? Did he get off on lying to me? Because seriously, the time to tell me he was spoken for wasbefore we got in bed togetherthat first time, not weeks later.

I was not the other woman. I was no cheater, and I couldn’t forgive him for making me one.

A sob broke free of my throat, and I shook my head, backing away from him like he was a stranger. Not the man I’d just spent the morning with, talking and kissing and sharing dreams. I could still feel the ghostly warmth of his palm on my belly, protecting our child.

All lies.

“Leigh, please, just let me explain.” He took a step toward me, and I practically fell backward as I stumbled to put distance between us.

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