Cam!
Goodbye, Ismerelda. But only for now.
What? No! But I?—
Agony sliced through my mind, sending a cascade of icy pricks down my spine.
And then I was engulfed in a deadly silence.
Cam?
Nothing.
Cam?!
Quiet. Peace. Solitude.
I sat upright in bed, my heart beating rapidly in my ears as I searched the bedroom for the man I knew wasn’t there. My Cam. My lover. My other half.
He’d left yesterday to meet with Darius and discuss a strategy for how to handle Lilith and her new world order. I’d begged him to let me go with him. But he’d demanded I stay with Luka.
“Where it’s safe,” he’d said.
But I didn’t feel safe. Not now. Not with our link blocked and his fate unknown.
I pulled the sheets away from my sweat-soaked skin and slid out of the bed.
I needed answers. I needed to know if Cam was okay.
And more importantly, I needed to know if this was just a bad dream.
Please, God, let this be a bad dream,I prayed. Not that I believed in an almighty power. But I would if it meant Cam was safe.
However, I wasn’t naïve. And I could feel deep inside that something was very wrong.
He’d mentioned this was a possibility, that he might have to cut me off to protect me. But he’d promised it would be a last resort.
Yet he’d severed our mental link without hesitation.
Because he’s already hurt?I wondered.
I pulled on a robe to cover my silk pajamas and padded out of the room.
“Izzy,” a deep voice said, the soft rumble one I rarely heard from the alpha lycan standing in the hallway.
“No,” I replied, already seeing the bleakness in his kind light-blue eyes. “Tell me this isn’t real. Tell me Cam is okay.”
He merely shook his head in reply, his thick, dark hair falling across his forehead with the movement. “I won’t lie to you.”
“Then why are you here?” I demanded as I stalked up to him to poke him in the chest. “Why are you here, Luka?” But I already knew why. Just as I knew the sudden aggression I felt toward him wasn’t fair or rational.
But he was here while Cam was not.
He was here to keep me safe.
No. Hold meprisonerso I wouldn’t chase after Cam. Track down my mate. Demand that he lower this fucking wall between our minds.
There had to have been a better way!I screamed at him as I slammed a fist against Luka’s firm chest.You should have talked this through with me, not leave me in the dark. Alone. Here. Not with you. This isn’t fair. This isn’t fucking fair!
