“I reject you as my mate.”
Never had I witnessed such a storm of emotions all at once. Shock, fury, sadness, bitterness, disbelief. I could almost feel the pieces of his heart roll onto the bloody ground.
The werewolf boy literally crumbled at my feet. I was a Medusa; I had petrified him with my presence, my rejection the club that had hit him, breaking him into a thousand pieces.
Eyes dripping reddish tears, his body shook like he was about to shift, both hands clutching his wide, bare chest. Yet his words slipped out soft and low and sure.
“I accept your rejection.”
This time,Idisintegrated.
When Tiziano brushed my arm, I barely recognized his touch. My eyes lingered on my former soulmate. On the other half of my heart.
I always thought I would die of cancer, like my parents. Dad had never managed to teach me to drive a car like he’d promised; Mom had never managed to come to my graduation ceremony as she’d assured. Years and years without them, simply because there was no cure.Yet.
Little Ian wasn’t far from the same fate; the thief was different, but the final destination the same. For Ian, it was even worse. He knew he would die from his first breath. The disease was born within him, like an extra organ.
Since my parents’ death, getting into medical school and fighting, fighting,fightingwas all I’d ever wanted.
“Are you sure?” I heard my roommate’s voice as if he were very far away. My eyes remained fixed on the receding figure. As the distance increased, my heart rate slowed.
My only response to my mate, after he had accepted my refusal, was a sob.
But his wolf must have heard it, as he paused just a second, stiff and tense. When he turned, all I saw were tears that refused to leave his eyes, proud and breathtaking.
He roared when he saw Tiziano touch my shoulder, but then he shook his head, kicked a car door, and stormed away.
From my life.
When I heard someone cry, I didn’t realize it was me. When the ground moved and hit me hard, I didn’t understand right away that my legs had abandoned me, as if they were holding a grudge against my own stupidity.
“Come on, baby, let’s go home. He left.”
Arms wrapped around my limp form and lifted me.
“What happened to her?” Lachlan was right there. His hand on my forehead was all I’d ever wanted…until today.
Because he couldn’t give me sparks. That had always been the problem between us.
“Hey! Stay with us! Amaia, goddamn it!”
Yes. Amaia was my name. My whole self. No need for anyone else.
But all I wanted was my mate.
The one thing I couldn’t have. The one thing I couldn’t afford.
Life was too short.
And I had no time.
YVAINE
“Hello, Bunny Doc.”
A strange sense of calmness overwhelmed me upon hearing that voice. As had always happened since I’d first spoken to him.
Rudolph had come to see me, to meet me for the very first time.Lucien—that was his real name.
