She was in heat, and I wasn’t there to stop it. If she lost control, if someone found her… “Where did she run to?” I asked. He pointed toward my pack, and I ran faster than I ever had to find my Isabella.
Chapter 41
Isabella
My whole body ached.
I turned onto my side and groaned softly into my pillow. At least the heat was over for now. That was something I never—ever—wanted to happen again. I’d do anything to avoid the pain of the heat. It was like a million knives jabbing into my stomach and cutting me open, like searing in an inescapable burning house.
But it was over so soon. I expected it to last two or three days, not just a single night.
Someone wrapped their arm around me from behind and pulled me closer. My eyes widened, and I thrusted back an elbow to hit whoever it was hard in the chest. “Get away from me!”
I hopped out of the bed, tugging the blankets around me and refusing to look at whoever had laid with me last night. This wasn’t real. I… I really… I really slept with someone last night. Did I let them mark me too? Was that why I couldn’t feel any more pain?
My vision was blurry still, halfway between my wolf’s eyesight and my own, as I stared down at my bare feet. The last thing I remembered was lying in Roman’s bed, trying to calm my wolf, and being deathly hot. Then I blacked out. What if, when I did, she took control of me? What if I had mated someone without knowing about it?
“Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe I did this… I can’t believe…” I doubled over, curling into a ball and covering my face with my hands. “I’m a terrible mate.” My body heaved up and down. Roman would never forgive me now.
Someone placed their hands on my waist and picked me up. “Get off of me!” I screamed. I pulled myself out of the man’s grip and turned around, baring my teeth at him. But when I blinked back the blurriness, and my eyes widened.
Roman.
After a few moments of breathing heavily, I gazed around the room. Everything was back to normal, the water had been cleaned up, the dressers—though nearly ripped to shreds—were back in their original spots.
My hands traveled up to my neck, and I sighed when I didn’t feel a mark. Nobody marked me. Tears welled up in my eyes. Nobody marked me. I was still me. I was still Isabella. Not anyone’s.
Roman watched me from the edge of the bed, and I swallowed hard. I hadn’t seen him in almost a month. And now he was staring right at me with a wild mess of curls on his head, dark circles under his eyes, and thick, tan muscles that had seemed to have gotten bigger since I last saw him.
I wanted him, and my wolf still wanted him. Despite everything.
But I couldn’t imagine what he’d say if I told him that.
If you wanted me, you shouldn’t have left. If you wanted me, you would still be here with me. If you wanted me, you wouldn’t be sleeping under the same roof with another man.
I parted my lips, then closed them—not knowing what to say. It was probably best not to say anything at this point. Showing up in his house. Tearing up his furniture. Lying naked in his bed. I stood there staring at him and waiting for him to reject me.
When I had enough of him judging me with his eyes, I tore my gaze from him, suddenly feeling stupid for coming here. It was clear that he wasn’t going to reject me or to mark me. He would’ve done either already. He wanted me to suffer more, to suffer longer for leaving him. And, so, I would.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be here,” I said.
Next month when I go through heat, I’d just lock myself in my room, tie myself to my bed with a silver chain, and call it a day.
I turned toward the door, dressed in Roman’s sheets without a care in the world that someone would see me leave Roman’s packhouse naked. Nothing happened between us. Nothing would ever happen between us at this rate.
Roman grabbed my hand and pulled me back into his chest. Then he pressed his lips to mine. So hard. So passionately. So desperately. By the second, my body relaxed, and I kissed him back. All the stress. All the anger. It melted away. It was stupid and cliché, but it was true.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. I would take all that I could get from him at the moment. I didn’t know if I’d get another.
When I was out of breath, I pulled away and rested my forehead against his. A tear slipped down my cheek. My heart hurt. So bad. I missed him so much, and I never wanted to leave him again.
We didn’t say anything to each other. I just stood there and enjoyed it because I was afraid that even after that kiss, he’d tell me to leave. Without a mark. Without a mate.
After pressing his lips to mine once more, he lifted me off the ground, walked to the bed, and gently rested me on it. He sat across from me and brushed a tear from my cheek with his thumb. “Turn around,” he said softly.
My jaw twitched, still nervous and afraid. But I turned around and faced the mirror on his dresser. I was a total mess. My hair sat in unruly curls around my face, my makeup was smudged on my cheeks, my eyes were red. And my neck was bare. No necklace.
I sucked in a breath and touched my fingers to my neck. No, it wasn’t on my neck last night… but I left it in the woods. Somewhere. Somewhere in the forest, near the café. “Roman,” I whispered. “I-I didn’t mean to lose my necklace. I had it on me, I swear, I had it on me.”
