pauses.
"For what it's worth, I am sorry," he says.
quietly.
flatly.
does not want to say that.
then he leaves.
strange alphas.
all of them.
Chapter 5
RAVEN
"Geo, wait!"I call out, hurrying after the burly alpha's retreating form. His heavy footsteps echo through the stone corridors as I try to keep up with his determined stride. "She needs time and space. You can't just?—"
Geo snorts without breaking stride. "She's been scurrying around in my tunnels for hours. She's had plenty of both."
I lengthen my stride to catch up to him. "You don't understand. She just found out the man she loves has been lying to her for years. She's processing."
Geo rounds on me so suddenly I nearly collide with his chest. "If she wants space, she can take her tank of an alpha and go topside," he growls. "I'm not running a fucking therapy retreat."
I straighten my spine, meeting his glare head-on. "You wouldn't dare kick an omega out. Even you have standards."
His single eye narrows dangerously. "Don't presume to tell me what I would or wouldn't do, boy."
I narrow my eyes. Usually, when he calls me that, it elicits a confusing jumble of arousal and rage.
But right now, it'sallrage.
"She's going to leave on her own sooner or later," he continues, voice dropping to a rumble. "You'd better get used to that."
The words hit harder than they should. Than they have any right to. I've known Cosima for such a short time, yet the thought of her walking away feels like someone's tearing out my heart with their bare hands.
"If she does," I say quietly, chin lifting, "I'm going with her."
Geo looks like I've punched him in the gut. Winded, shocked, wounded. I've never seen that expression on his face. Never.
"You're what?" he asks, voice suddenly hoarse.
"You should have seen this coming," I murmur, trying to ignore the way his reaction makes my chest tighten. "She's my mate."
Geo's face hardens into a mask I know too well. The one he wears when he's about to do something brutal. The one that means someone's about to bleed.
"Yeah? She has a lot of those." His voice is flat, deadly. "Men who would kill you without blinking. You get that, right?"
I swallow hard, holding his gaze. "I'm not helpless, and I don't care," I reply, fighting to keep my voice steady. "I don't understand why you're so upset. You've talked about nothing but getting rid of me since I showed up again."
Something flickers across his face—something raw and vulnerable that vanishes so quickly I might have imagined it.
"Forget it," he growls, turning and heading into the central cavern of the black market.
I follow him.
