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Chapter 14

Mia watched him leave,her beautiful, broken warrior.

But he wasn’t hers. He wasn’t her mate.

Eve and Meredith were wrong. And though she wished otherwise—had never wanted anything more in her entire life—she’d learned a long time ago that wishing for something out of your reach brought you nothing but disappointment.

He carried so many secrets, so much pain locked inside. The way he’d touched her, looked at her. Zenon had a way of making her feel wanted, cherished, like she was precious—important. The fact he didn’t think he deserved the same broke her heart.

Was controlling the intimate side of their relationship another way for him to keep her at arm’s length? And if so, why go there with her in the first place? There was more to it, she just didn’t know what. Was he injured? Maybe there was a physical reason he couldn’t have sex? She believed him when he said he wanted her. You couldn’t fake the longing she saw in those intense yellow eyes.

Gah. She had to stop this.

She flopped back on the bed and glanced at the alarm clock.

Wasn’t there something she had to do this morning?

“Crap.” She’d completely forgotten she had a training session with James. Shoving back the covers, she raced out of bed and quickly showered and dressed in comfortable clothes, a pair of black yoga pants and one of Chaya’s old Led Zeppelin tees. It was soft and worn and made her feel closer to her big sister.

James wasn’t alone when she got there. Chaos stood against the wall. They watched her walk in, Chaos in that predatory way all the knights seemed to have, head tilted to the side, studying her like he was trying to work something out, while James gnawed on his fingernails like it was his last meal.

Great. Now what?

“How are you feeling, Mia?” Chaos asked.

Nerves assaulted her belly and she shook out her hands, trying to warm her suddenly freezing fingers. “I’m good. Thanks so much for the concern.”

He raised a brow at her obvious sarcasm but didn’t call her on it. “James tells me you had a breakthrough the night of the attack?”

“I guess you could call it that.” She was still uneasy around Chaos. He’d been so angry with her after Zenon brought her in, but he’d pulled it back as quickly as he’d lost it, like he’d flicked a switch and turned off his emotions, just like that. That steely control was what scared her most.

Zenon wasn’t the only one who had built up a wall, but when Chaos’s walls cracked, she got the feeling all hell would break loose.

He took a step closer. “How did you feel right before it happened?”

“I don’t know. Angry, scared.”

“Which was it, Mia? This is important.”

She gritted her teeth, biting back the smart-ass comment on the tip of her tongue. “Anger?” She tried to put herself back there. “Yeah, more than anything else I was angry.”

“You sure about that?”

She rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help it, he was so damned arrogant. “Yes, I’m sure.”

The door opened and they all turned to see Zenon storm in. His cold stare landed on James. “You weren’t there when I got back. You didn’t tell me you were seeing James today.”

Was he…jealous? “I forgot I had a training session until after you left.”

“I don’t think you want to be here for this,” Chaos said, breaking the stare down Zenon and James had going on.

His wide shoulders stiffened. “Why?”

Chaos gave him a hard stare. “You might not like my methods.”

Mia’s gaze moved between the two hulking males. “What do you mean?”

They both ignored her. “I’m not going anywhere.”