Page 10 of The Awakened Wolf

“No!” I wailed. “I really don’t think he is.”

“You can’t say that. Yes, it’s total BS that it’s taking so long, but they wouldn’t write him out. He’s the whole sex appeal of the show.”

“Jayla, I’m not talking about Cat Man! I’m talking about my future husband!” I flopped back in a mini huff on the sofa. While it wasn’t as theatrical as what I’d originally had in mind, it did slow my tears. Maybe I should consider shifting and shredding the shit out of some pillows.

“Oh, wait. You mean when he left you at the castle, he left left?”

I sat bolt upright, tears stopping mid-drip. “How did you know that?”

She grabbed her phone from the side table. “The news footage. All the local channels had helicopters until the storm rolled in. I was hoping I could… I don’t know, somehow send you good vibes by watching. Guess it didn’t work. But I did see your man run away from you carrying that woman in his arms.” She paused. “I assumed he came back to you. That he was saving his mother like you all planned.”

“It did not go as planned.” My voice was tight.

“No,” she murmured. “I saw that. Got scared and started watching the stupid show instead so I could drown out the fear.”

I reached for her phone. “Show me the footage.”

She pulled it back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Elyse.”

“I want to see it.”

“Why would you want to see it when you were there?”

Tears filled my eyes again. “To prove to myself that it all happened? That he really left me there and didn’t look back.”

Jayla pressed her lips together. “Mmm, why don’t you tell me about it instead?”

She gave my knee an uncomfortable pat, and my chest ached. I loved Jayla with all my heart, but she was no Charlie. Or even Evan, who I’d abandoned to my ass-backward sister in favor of a male who’d abandoned me to his ass-backward father. For all I knew, Kiana was claiming Evan as her mate to spite me for Sebastian right now. A pat on the knee wasn’t going to hold me together. Still, she was trying.

“I think I may have lost him for good, Jayla.” I said, hiccupping. “Last night, I went to see him. To talk through some things. And um…”

My ears warmed, and I dropped my gaze as my wolf cavorted inside me reliving the moments of my fingers brushing over his skin as I helped him with his tank top, of his lips on mine, hungry and generous at the same time…

“Yeah, I figured when you never came back to your own damn room, but I can’t imagine it was so bad he tossed you aside after.” Her grin faded when I didn’t laugh. “Because if he did, I don’t care how long his fangs are. I’m going to rip them out with a wrench myself when I see him again.”

“It wasn’t that,” I said, biting my lip. “We, ah, enjoyed ourselves. Three times.”

Jayla’s eyes bulged, and then she glared at the TV. “They never let my man have that kind of night.”

I had to laugh, but it sounded a little more like a sob. I missed when Sebastian loved me the way Jayla loved a man she’d never met because he didn’t actually exist. But maybe that was the secret. Never look deeper than fate’s first blush. As soon as we became real to each other, the shine wore off. For him, anyway.

“So what did happen?” Jayla took my hand like she didn’t quite know what to do with it. “I thought wolves mated for life or whatever.”

“We’re supposed to, but…” I took a deep breath. “I kept something from him that I knew would upset him, and he felt betrayed when it came out after…you know. I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I can see it from his perspective, and I feel awful. No one knows where he is so I can’t even apologize.” Shame burrowed its way into my stomach. “What’s worse is the other shifters can smell that I’ve mated, and they know there hasn’t been a ceremony. Alpha Max thinks I cheated on him with Evan, and I can’t prove that I didn’t, so he kicked me out, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Okay, hold up.” An edge crept into Jayla’s voice. “You mean to tell me that you and Sebastian both, as consenting adults, decided to have consensual sex, and because you hadn’t gotten married yet, you’re some sort of Jezebel now? And they can smell it on you?” Her eyebrows crept up to her hairline.

My head dropped miserably. “Pheromones.”

She stood, waving her hands. “Nope. Just nope. Nah, girl. That is some medieval bullshit. You can’t put up with that. If he doesn’t come back and beg your forgiveness for leaving you in the middle of a battle where some of your friends died, then he’s not worth one of your tears.” She put her hands on her hips. “I think this is your chance to leave all this creepy misogynistic bullshit behind.”

“What are you talking about? Leave what behind?”

“Look, your family has money, right? A little anyway. And you and your sister are kind of getting along now—”

I snorted.

“No, I mean it, Elyse. Why don’t you and Evan take the opportunity to get out of here and start over? You can live somewhere else, and no one has to know that you’re shifters. You can lead a normal life.” She settled on the sofa again. “Nothing is left in the city for you guys.”

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