My pulse hammered anyway, hard enough to shake my vision. I listened, catching the rustle of sheets, the wet rhythm of movement, the low, guttural growl of someone taking what they wanted.
My fingers curled in my pocket around the metal balls until the edges of my nails bit into my skin.
It couldn’t be. There was no way….
“Mr. Winstale?” Fitz’s voice cut in behind me.
Ignoring Fitz, I tapped the side of my watch. My phone started ringing in my pocket. Once. Twice.
I held my breath so hard my ribs ached, waiting for her voice, sweet, familiar, loyal, to cut through the noise and prove to me that I was losing my mind.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
The sound came from behind the door, but that didn't mean anything… yet.
“Shit. My phone. Put me down.”
My breathing kicked up as I gripped tight on a shred of hope. It was stupid. Desperate. I knew that, but my mind wasn’t working. My heart had taken the reins, and it kept telling me it wasn't true. Couldn’t be true.
A man’s voice, low and amused. “Don’t pick up, baby. Remember what I told you? If I don’t come, my wolf won’t know if we’re mates.” A wet sound. A hitched breath. “Don’t you want to find out?”
My throat tightened until it felt like swallowing glass.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“I have to,” she whispered. “Just—just give me a second.”
Sheets rustled. Bare feet padded across the floor, getting closer.
“Hey, babe!”
The words echoed from the room and my pocket at the same time, and my heart dropped. I grew sick as my stomach soured. My whole world was crumbling right before my eyes.
“Calie?” Valentina’s voice came again, muffled by the door and my pants. “Are you there?”
The hallway tilted. My pulse roared in my ears, drowning out everything else. The lights overhead blurred. My lungs forgot how to work.
Behind me, Fitz’s voice sounded far away. “Mr. Winstale… Are you okay?”
I couldn’t comprehend his words, and my own weren’t coming out at all. I could hear was the blood rushing through my skull and one thought burning through the fog.
How could you?
Nine years.Nine. Fucking. Years.
All that time. All that effort. All that trust. Everything was burning up in front of me. My mouth was dry with the ashes of my future choking me.
Behind the door, the man chuckled. “Get your sweet ass back over here and let me fuck you good, mate.”
Something in me snapped, and I moved before I decided to. The door flew open so hard it ripped off its hinges and crashed into the wall.
I stood there in the frame, chest heaving, hands clenched, the air around me thick and hot.
“Hey! Get the fuck out! Who the fu?—”
A big, broad, naked werewolf spun toward me, half-risen from the bed, but I didn’t truly see him. I sawher. Valentina.
My Val.
