“No.” The wolf seemed agitated now, like I was keeping him from his day.
“Okay. So that’s it? I can just go?”
“Yes. In fact, I’d recommend it. They probably need to get all the rooms cleaned to prepare for the next ball. I’m simply here to make sure you’re on your way in a decent amount of time.”
Right. I was being brushed off. Thrown away like yesterday’s trash.
And it wasn’t even being done by my mate himself. He had some lackey do the dirty work.
Fuck.
How could I have been so stupid?
Of course, I couldn’t even blame myself. He was my mate. I guess it made sense that some mates would be absolutely horrid. After all, not everybody was a good person. But still… last night had been so perfect. So wonderful. Dain hadn’t given any indication that he was such an asshole.
Clearly, I didn’t know this Dain at all.
I fought back tears. But I wasn’t going to break down here. Not when I needed to find a way home.
If Dain could spend the night in my arms and then drop me like I was nothing, not even hours later, then I could hold it together.
I lifted my chin. “Right. Okay. Thank you.”
I held my bag tightly against me. The tux that was mine, and the two masks that were the only things left over from the night.
Great. Just great.
At least no one was around to see me make this walk of shame. With any luck, Preston wouldn’t be home to see me in this embarrassing display.
I’d put this entire night behind me. Somehow. I just had to focus on something other than the ache in my chest where my heart had been.
Chapter 7
Nym
Five Months Later
“All right, time’s up.”
My best friend and newest addition to never-ending list of roommates, Preston, dropped a brown paper bag onto the counter. It was the small type, like a person might carry a sack lunch in. It couldn’t hold much at all. I looked at it as if it were a snake poised to bite.
“Not necessary,” I said and looked away. If I didn’t look at it, it would disappear, surely.
He didn’t have to tell me what was in it. I already knew. He had told me as soon as I came home from that ball that I needed to take a test. He may not have caught me on my walk of shame, but he had asked me for details when he visited after work that day. I’d spilled all my secrets as if I were under oath. It wasn’t long after that that Preston had moved in. I had avoided the idea of taking a test for five months. There was no avoiding the swell of my stomach, though.
“Nym,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s going to be positive. Of course it’s going to be positive. I mean, obviously I was in denial for a while, but I really can’t deny this.” I gestured down to my stomach. I was using a hair tie to keep the button on my jeans together, and I wore a long shirt to cover up the fact that I couldn’t zip the zipper. And I was running out of shirts that I could fit over my belly.
He grimaced. “Obviously you’re pregnant.”
I nodded.
“Do you want to take the test just for funsies?”
I chuckled. “No. In fact, you should return it, because we’re both going to need all the money we can get. I got a notice from our landlord. The rent is going up again.”
Preston’s eyes widened again. “That’s illegal.”
