"I... I'm Anna, Anna Green." She spoke through tears. "Ella Ross's assistant. I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but I... I don't know who else to call..."
My heart seized violently.
All thoughts of the pack, the battle report, the vampires—everything vanished in that instant.
"What happened?"
I heard my own voice, taut as a string about to snap.
"Ella's missing."
Chapter Fourteen
Layla
I stared in the direction Kayden had left, watching his tall figure disappear around the corner.
He walked slowly, each step seeming to wait for me to call him back.
But I didn't.
I just stood there, feeling something slowly seeping from my chest, like a wound bleeding silently, steadily losing warmth bit by bit.
But this was right. We shouldn't have any connection. Let everything return to before we met.
Diana curled in endless sorrow, unable to stop me from driving Kayden away.
Those words you said...
You're heartbroken too, aren't you?
Only when his figure vanished completely did I allow my eyes to show a trace of longing.
The Kayden Blackwood I remembered shouldn't be like this.
He was steady and composed, detached and calm. Whether the prince who descended from above to save me at fifteen, or the ruthlessly fair Alpha heir at my disastrous engagement—he was everygirl's dream. Even when accused of murdering Finn, I couldn't hate him. He was only doing his duty, believing the evidence, refusing to favor me, treating me as just another pack member.
The Moon Goddess must have erred, making me his mate, letting the lowliest hybrid become the sole blemish on his perfect life.
I'd always believed that.
Until the reunion dinner, when Kayden pressed me against the wall, and I saw desire burning nearly out of control in those silver eyes.
Each time he called me "Layla," I resisted and denied it, yet he remained stubbornly determined to see the truth, even purchasing Lucas's company—a jewelry business utterly unrelated to Blackwood affairs. He actually did something so foolish.
He kept my diary, that cheap, tattered notebook, treasuring it like something precious. He begged for a chance, wept for me, stripped away his rational facade repeatedly before me—obsessive, desperate, broken.
I didn't dare consider whether that was love—the word carried too much weight for me to touch. But perhaps, just perhaps, this time it was real. Kayden Blackwood cared about Layla Gray.
This was everything I once dreamed of. I had it.
So why did my heart still ache so terribly?
"Ella?" Lucas's voice pulled me back. I steadied myself slightly and turned to face him.
Evening's amber light fell across his face. That face, usually wearing a cynical smile, was uncharacteristically grave.
"Thank you," I said hoarsely. "For helping drive those people away."
