“…should be resting…,”
Jessalyn’s shoulders slump as she moves to the side. The beta adjusts himself casually so he’s stood between us, a furrow in his brow as he moves aside for Sienna to move past.
The first glimpse of my Soul Bonded pushes the air from my lungs, threatens to take me to my knees.
She meets my eyes, her own sunken with deep, dark purple circles in the thinness of her face.
It’s been two days.
Two days.
And she looks…
“Sienna.” The choked word falls from my lips, but as I step forward, she holds up a wavering hand.
“Do not,” she says quietly, “come near me, Tristan.”
“Shortcake,” Jax breathes, and I see the flash of pain across her face as her eyes flicker to him. “Don’t call me that.”
Her eyes continue moving, and I hear Logan swallow next to me. I can’t take my eyes from her, our broken Soul Bonded, but I can feel their absolute devastation in my chest, a beating, pulsing wound in my heart.
I’m looking at the consequences of my bad decisions, and I know with sudden certainty that my words to Gray were true.
I can never atone for this. Never.
But she has to live. And right now, I’m certain that our Soul Bonded is walking a very thin line. My fists clench, my nails digging into my palms so hard I can feel the warm trickle of blood spreading in my palm.
“You deserve an explanation.” My throat is dry, the pain in my chest blinding, but I know, I know, that it’s nothing to what she’s feeling. I can see it in the way she holds herself, heartbreakingly careful, as though one touch would shatter her completely.
As if we haven’t done that already.
14
SIENNA
Ican’t breathe.
They’re here, all of them, staring at me with sad, broken faces. Pretty lies in perfect faces, even if they all look like shit.
Good. Join the fucking crew.
I’m not buying what they’re selling.
I made that mistake too many times. And I don’t have the time to fuck around waiting for their pretend apologies and half-truths.
Tristan opens his mouth, and I flick my eyes back to him. “You deserve an explanation.”
“You fucking think?” Jess snarls, but Emmett taps her arm, and she crosses them with a dark glare at Tristan.
“I deserve a lot more than that.” I take a careful, measured step forward, keeping my body as straight as I can, battling the urge to hunch over at the blinding pain in my stomach that’s tugging me towards them.
Betrayed by my own fucking body.
“I deserved a pack who would have given me everything,” I say to them all. Gray looks grim as his eyes scan down, taking in the changes in my body underneath the oversized shirt I borrowed from Jess.
“Short- Sienna.Please.” Jax shakes his head in despair, dark hair flying everywhere and his violet eyes dark. “I can see you fucking fading away. It’s only been twodays.”
“It hasn’t only been two days.” My words land like a whip. “Because you never showed up at all.”
