“Look, let’s take a breather for tonight, huh?” Ryan asks. “No one was expecting this, but let’s all be grown up about it and take some time before making life-altering decisions.”
Ugh, he knows me too well. He’s baiting me, and he knows I never back down from a challenge. “Fine. But I’m going to go get a breather somewhere that smells better.” I scrunch my nose again and shoot Luca one last glare.
Before anyone can object, I storm out the back door, slamming it closed behind me. I strip off my dress, bra, and panties, and kick off my heels as soon as I get outside. With one last breath, I let my wolf loose, relishing the pain of my bones cracking and lengthening as the shift takes hold. I drop onto all fours and shake out my chestnut brown fur.
My sight sharpens, scents bloom stronger—the damp leaves and the fresh hint of earlier rainfall, the pine of the forest. The cold air rustles my fur, and thankfully, my wolf is pissed enough about the scent of other females, that she takes the opportunity to run off this tension rather than fighting to stay close to her mate. She has my back, even if it’s not for the same reason.
My wolf lets out a howl of pain that I have no power to restrain. And then she runs at full tilt until she’s spent, until my lungs burn, and my limbs collapse, unable to go another step forward. Only then does my wolf drop into a crouch and submit to the quiet forest. Shifting back into my human form alone in the forest, I curl up and finally let the tears come in heaving sobs.
I don’t cry often, especially not over boys. Not anymore.
If you were to ask anyone other than Emily, they would probably tell you I’m incapable of crying. I’ve worked hard to learn to hold in my pain and hide it from anyone who would use it against me.
So, I’ll cry now and get it all out. I’ll let mascara stream down my face and allow my sobs to choke me. Let out all the pain and thegriefof fate fucking me over. But then I’ll shake myself off and suck it up. And before I go back and face anyone, I’ll get back to being the Sofia who kicks ass so much that no one has a choice but to respect me.
The version of me I became because the little girl part of me got her heart broken. Repeatedly. First Mom left, then Dad, and then, finally, Luca left too. When he cast me aside and left the pack for two years without a single message to check in. He made me feel as though I mattered, and then he dropped me like I was nothing. And he never looked at me again. Not the way he used to.
I would be a fool to let that happen again. Especially when he’s not even pretending to want me now.
Chapter Ten
Luca
I drop back onto my couch as soon as Sofia storms out the door. My head falls into my hands. What the fuck am I going to do about her? And why the hell did I tell her to reject me if she wanted?
Jackson saunters into the cabin like he owns the place, yanks open my fridge, and pulls out three beers. He tosses one to Ryan, who has barely moved a muscle.
“You’re really okay with this?” I ask Ryan. “Don’t you think it’s messed up? I’ve known her since she was a baby.”
“I mean, it’s going to take some getting used to—and if you could never touch her in my presence, that would be great—but it’s fate,” he says, twisting off his bottle cap before shrugging his shoulders. “And honestly, it makes sense.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. That’s the second time he said Sofia and I make sense, and I have no idea what he means. As much as I want to disagree when others comment about how Sofia and I hate each other, I’m not even sure what’s real anymore.
We used to get along—before I pushed her away. Back when she was a kid, Sofia followed me around like my shadow. Ryan hatedher constant presence at first but I was the one to tell him to quit being a dick and let her tag along. I loved her laugh, the way she made everything lighter. Even when Ryan and I were buried in training and pack responsibilities, she had a way of brightening the room.
But then she grew up.
Now she’s… fuck. She’s stunning. Long legs, curves that fill out every inch of those tiny outfits she insists on wearing to training, dark eyes that cut sharper than claws. She’s fierce, too—never backing down from a fight, never letting anyone tell her she’s not good enough. That sass of hers? Goddess help me, it drives me insane. Infuriates me. Makes me want to shut her up in ways I should not be thinking about when it comes to a female nine years my junior.
And I hate myself for it.
But I barely know her anymore. I started it by distancing myself. She definitely upped the ante. Batting back whenever I said anything, even when I was just being protective. Truth is, the only version of her I see these days is her sassy brat side. We haven’t spent time together in over five years. All I really know about her is that she drives me crazy.
“She’ll come around,” Ryan assures me, or maybe it’s himself he is reassuring, because he seems pretty damn invested in me and his little sister getting together. “No one rejects their mate.”
“Well, not no one,” Jackson says as he sports a shit-eating grin that makes me want to punch him. Emily rejected her original mate, and the mate bond between her and Jackson snapped intoplace as soon as she did. But this is not the same. I might be an asshole but I’m not a sadistic monster. “What did she say?”
I scrub a hand down my face as I contemplate my answer. “Basically, that I’m too much of an asshole and she doesn’t want to be with me because she thinks I don’t even like her. She’s being a brat about it and needs to grow up. It’s not as if I’m happy about this either.”
They both growl at my words. Even my wolf snarls at me. He wants me to follow her, to chase her down, dominate her and make her accept the bond. Accept me.
“Watch it; that’s still my sister you’re shit-talking,” Ryan says with a snarl, his voice laced with alpha authority.
“You know what I mean. I can’t see Sofia that way. She’s way too young for me.” I’m lying through my teeth, and I have no idea who I’m trying to convince; me or them. My jaw clenches so hard my teeth could crack. I want to let my wolf out so he can chase her down and force her to listen to me. But honestly, I don’t even know what to say other than to shout at her to accept the bond.
“Or maybe she’s not the one who needs to grow up,” Jackson offers. His face is serious, and yet his eyes dance with delight at my current predicament. I guess this is payback for my not supporting his being so drawn to Emily when they first met.
“What are you talking about? I’m ready for a mate. Been ready for years. I just… I didn’t think my mate would beSofia.”
