“Who is it, Nova!?” His hands clamped on my shoulders, trembling, not from fury but from how hard he was holding himself back.
I tore myself away, tilting my chin up in defiance that barely masked my shaking voice. “Conrad,” I bit out. His eyes flared. “And Nick.”
The roar that followed wasn’t just anger, it was heartbreak turned monstrous. He spun, driving his fist through the wall with a sound that made my heart jump. Dust rained down as he shook his hand free.
I forced a bitter laugh. “Great. Add that to my to-do list.” My voice wavered despite my attempt at sarcasm. The broken furniture, the scuffed-up wood flooring, the shaking in my hands, it all felt too fitting. Two people who’d finally come apart after pretending they never would.
“Look,” I said, my voice rough, “we need time. Space. To think.” I gestured between us, the wordushaving all the sharpness of glass in my mouth. “Separately.”
His jaw clenched so tight I could hear it. “How do you know?” The question came out half-yell, half-plea.
I lifted my brow at him, eyes flicking between the fist-sized hole and him. He closed his eyes and took a breath. After a few seconds, his horns retracted. His chest heaved like he’d just run a marathon, and when he finally lifted his gaze to me, I saw the sheen of tears he refused to let fall.
“When I was with you last night,” I said, touching the spot on my wrist, “the mark flared up.” Hope flickered in his eyes, small, fragile. I needed to be honest with him. It was the only way we could get through this, whatever this was.
“But it did with them, too.”
He froze, breath stuttering before escaping in a jagged exhale. His hope shattered so visibly I felt it in my bones.
“I haven’t told them yet,” I went on quietly, “but I will. My wolf… she responds to them, and she’s never responded to anyone but you.”
That undid him. His shoulders slumped, his body folding in on itself. Every trace of power bled out of him until he was a ruin of the man I knew. He pressed a hand over his heart, and, for one dizzy second, I almost reached out. Almost took back the words that had hurt him so.
Instead, I turned away, building that boss mask up brick by brick until I felt safe again, letting all the hurt and pain slide down my back as I straightened it.
“I’m working from home today,” I said, the words steady but quiet. “Someone’s out there tampering with supe DNA in my land. That’s what matters right now. The rest—” I waved at the wreckage “—can wait.”
I turned to the door, looking back toward him as I asked, “Can you focus on this? Or do I need to call on someone else?”
Footsteps shifted behind me. He stopped just short of touching me, his breath brushing my shoulder before he stepped back. “I got it, Boss.” The words came out hoarse, threaded with grief.
I nodded once, then left before my mask could crack. Through the gym, I kept my stride even, chin up, face unreadable. I could feel the heat of his gaze on my back, heavy with everything we didn’t say.
Outside, the cool air hit me like a slap. My throat burned, my chest tight. But no tears fell. I refused to let them.
I was a Rossey, and Rosseys didn’t shed tears, didn't show disappointment or sadness.
That was when the wolves descended and ate the weak, and I wasn't weak. I was fucking Syndicate.
* You Broke Me First by Tate McRae
18
NOVA
“It seems like some of the local turned supes have been going missing. There are three that have been confirmed by their families as missing and another two that have recently disappeared, reported as not coming home or showing up for work.”
Glaring down at the receiver, I pushed my breakfast of cooked steak aside and growled in frustration. “Good work, Devin,” I replied, “but I need you to see if you can find any leads as to where they could’ve disappeared to.” I needed something, just fuckingsomethingto give me a direction to dedicate myself to. Fucking anything.
He told me he was going to dig around some more, and before I hung up, I reminded him to check all the dump spots we used to get rid of bodies. Whoever it was might be trying to hide what they were doing by blaming it on us.
“Got it, Boss. I’ll let you know.”Click.
As soon as he got off, I shoveled the protein into my mouth, trying to eat my feelings and fill my stomach to drown out mywolf’s incessant whining. She was hurting, and I knew that. I’d separated her from her mate, one that said they wanted to be with her, too, but I was having a hard time getting over the pain, the hurt. I needed time to think and work through this.
It was years’ worth, so it was going to take me longer than a fucking day.
A whole day and night of not seeing him, not saying more than a few words via text, was torture in of itself. I’d watched those little texting dots run and run and run until a one-word reply came through, and disappointment seeped in.
