PROLOGUE
Iran through the Crescent Hotel lobby, clutching myself as though the pressure alone could keep my heart from splitting in half. Every inch of my body hurt. A dull, bone-deep throbbing pain. How could he kiss me so passionately—rock my entire sense of self—and then reject me?
How could he touch her?My stomach lurched.
As I pushed through the glass door, the softpitter-patterof rainfall filled my ears. I lowered my head, tucking the hood closer to my cheeks, and my knuckles grazed tears.
At some point, I’d started crying.
What was more likely was—I’d probably never stopped.
Dad’s little Civic sat at the end of the drive, where fancy vehicles lined up in front of the hotel. I ran toward it, stepping out from under the awning that was blocking the sleet of rain.
Water pelted onto me, seeping into my hoodie, but I didn’t care, running full speed toward Dad, who was currently getting out of the car. He caught me against his chest, pulling me close.
“What’s the rush?”
I could barely hear him over the rain and my sobbing. My chin tipped up until I met his eyes, and I blinked away the droplets clinging to my eyelashes.
“Papá—” I choked off, hiccupping. I couldn’t see him through the liquid coating my eyes.
“What is it, Joey?” His thick eyebrows furrowed.
“Please, let’s leave. I don’t want to be here.” I hiccupped.
“Joe . . .”
“Please,” I sobbed, bending to hold my stomach. My cell phone slipped out of the front of my hoodie, hitting the pavement on its face.
Tears wouldn’t stop coming, to the point that they dripped off my chin.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me upright. Blinded, I grabbed my phone and staggered after him. The door screeched as he swung it open, and he guided me onto the seat. I plopped down, and the door shutting left me in silence. I swiped my damp sleeve across my eyes.
Dad was around the car, sliding onto the driver’s seat, and detaching from the curb within my next breath. He sped through the main road, leaving behind the sprawling, luxurious hotel where my fated remained.
Good thing we hadn’t brought down all our stuff, or we would have been stuck getting everything back in the car.
I swiped my sleeve across my shattered phone screen, and it glitched. I threw the trashed device into the side of the car door.
“What happened?” Concern seeped from his tone, making the knot in my throat throb.
“Where did you go?” I struggled to ask. “I went to the room, and you were gone.”
“I met with one of the Alpha’s Dominants to discuss joining the pack?—”
“I don’t want to.” I shook my head hard. My tears had calmed to the point that they only spilled when I blinked. Dad became silent as a sob obstructed my breathing. We’d left everything behind becauseIwanted to move. “But we can’t go back to our last pack—” I sucked in a breath. “What are we going to do?” I hiccupped.
Another wave of pain assaulted my chest, and I doubled over with a groan. “It hurts.”
My heart hurt, too. Literally ached with each beat like it was making a point to drive in the agony.
I wouldn’t be able to attend the university I wanted to, not with my mate so close. Everything I’d planned and expected of my future was no longer possible. I was so dead set on moving to Portland that I didn’t apply to any backup schools.
A hand cupped the top of my head and forcefully turned me. Dad peeked at me and then turned back to the road.
“We’ll figure it out. Even if we have to be Rogue for a while.”
Another wave of pain pulsed in my heart. I’d put him in this situation. I sniffled, swiping the back of my hand across my cheek. The rain had become a drizzle, and the beams of the car illuminated a path forward. Towering trees lined both sides of the road, slightly curving in as if they were appendages reaching to grab us. I wasn’t sure how long it was; time ceased all meaning.
