Page 3 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

My cheeks heat up.

I know.

I nod. “Yeah, I know…” Why is he bringing this up?

“I marked you, and don’t get the wrong idea, but…” His brows knit together, and I can sense the rage in him. “If you want us to… mate to avoid it… We can.”

My eyes widen slightly, and I don’t know why, but I feel insulted. I scoff slightly and cross my arms. “Really? So, you’ll fuck me out of pity? Or is it your sense of responsibility, Jayce?” I ask, hurt and frustrated.

His expression doesn’t change as he simply pushes away from the wall and saunters over to me. And even with the way his words made me feel, my heart still betrays me.

“At least you know it’s not a want,” he answers, his harsh words mocking me.

I look away, feeling humiliated. Shaking my head slowly, I glance back at him. “I don’t need your pity aid; I’ll manage my heat without your help. Thanks for the offer,” I say, unable to stop the sarcasm from dripping into my tone.

“I offered; the rest is your choice,” he says huskily.

“Yes. It is,” I answer defiantly.

Our eyes lock; there’s so much I want to say, but what can I say after I destroyed him? The walls he’s built… It’s my fault; these are the repercussions of my actions.

He doesn’t say anything more as he brushes past me, opens the door, and leaves, shutting it behind him. I close my eyes, bracing my hand on the nearest table and exhale.

Sorry, Jayce, as much as I want to be in your arms, want you to claim me, I don’t want you to do it out of duty or pity. I want you to do it because you want me – for me.

I take a deep breath, the ache in my chest at the memory growing as I sink beneath the surface of the icy water.

How are you doing, Jayce?

He’s been gone for five weeks now, and I miss him. So, so much… I’m worried about him, too. He lost his Mama… The pain he felt… What I witnessed that day, I’ll never forget it. The way he wanted to go to her, but at the same time, he was forced to stay to protect his people; the way he held his ground so his brothers and father could go to her.

That day, he hadn’t rejected my embrace; even if he didn’t reciprocate it, he didn’t push me away, proof of just how much pain he was in.

I break the surface of the water, staring at the blocks of ice in it as I pull my knees to my chest and rest my chin on top of them.

Jayce…

You’re angry at me, and you have every right to be, but I’m not giving up on us. Call me selfish, call me stupid, I don’t care. I’m going to fight for you, fight for us, because I’m not the same Sienna who broke you, but the one who understands the gravity of what she did, the one who has learned to stand strong on her own.

That’s my vow, and I’m a Rossi; we’re stubborn like that.

The bell rings, signalling the end of another gruelling session on the obstacle field. Jaddati has only made things harder, and each day is a challenge for everyone. No one comes out unscathed.

“That was pretty neat,” Allie says as she walks over to me. I nod.

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?” I agree with a small smile as I rein my powers in.

I see Heaven on the far side of the field; she’s just finishing off, spinning in the air before she lands with the grace of a dancer.

Theo left the day of the battle; it was devastating for his family and for her. Even if she denies it, even if she tries to remain emotionless about the topic, I know she misses him every single day, though she doesn’t show it. But I know her.

She prepares those vials to help him sleep, quietly stocking them up. They take a painstakingly slow process to create, and yet every day she’s working on them on the side. She doesn’t talk about them, but I know what they are.

Aunty Raihana is still training us all, and Allie has improved, although we quickly realised attack spells are best for her rather than other spells. She can wrap her lycan claws in spells to paralyse or poison the enemy, and she can cast an illusion to mask herself for a few moments. It’s small things that give her an extra edge.

Heaven walks towards us, her hair bouncing with every step until she stops a metre away. “Shower and then poisons?”

“Sounds like a plan,” I say, my body aching. We volunteered to help with poisons; there are a few concoctions in our book that Heaven wasn’t keen on sharing with anyone, and so we ended up being the ones to prepare them.