Melanie
As soon as I left the restaurant, I strode through the gardens. It was only after I calmed down that I realised I had no idea where I was.
I’d stopped in front of a wide tree that dappled my skin with shadows, but I was too fired up to stay still, so I just paced.
I couldn’t do anything about my feelings. I didn’t know how to calm down, but I didn’t want to unleash myself on anyone who didn’t deserve it.
All I felt was useless. I just wanted someone to be there for me after all that.
I used to think I was so strong, but it looked like I’d found my breaking point.
Because stupid tears rolled down my face, and I couldn’t stop myself from snarling in frustration.
I bet Zania didn’t care. She probably waved her hand, ordered the table to be removed, and they carried on with dinner like nothing happened.
I couldn’t make a single dent.
And I just kept picturing Kai, Sin, and Caspian’s faces as I left.
It didn’t matter if Kai was reaching for me and tugging on our bond. He still wasn’t with me.
I had to move, but where was I going to go when I was stuck outside in my underwear?
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Caspian snarled from behind me, and I cried out.
It was half surprise, half relief. Because one of them actually came for me, and they actually did something that didn’t involve their cocks.
I really wanted to spin around and let him gather me up into a hug. Sin or Kai would, if they had come, but I already knew what expression Caspian wore.
I didn’t understand why he was the one who had come. I still turned, because I wanted to see him. I wanted all of them there to hold me, to show me that someone cared.
I flinched when I met Caspian’s shattered gaze. It definitely wasn’t the fury I was expecting.
“You look like you’re worse off than me,” I said hoarsely. I swept my hand over my body, showing what state I was in.
His nostrils flared as heat fired in me at the barest scrap of attention. I didn’t even know if it was my omega instincts reacting to an alpha, or if I was so sad that I’d take any comfort I could.
He held my dress in one hand, the other clenched into a fist.
His skin was ashen, his shoulders hunched, and even his eyes looked dim. It didn’t matter that he was growling, because I could feel the hurt beating off of him. It spun in his scent like burnt sugar, fragile enough to crack with one touch.
“You don’t know what you’ve just done,” he said as he prowled towards me.
I always thought he was dangerous, but he had an edge today that told me if he got his hands on me, I’d never make it out alive. “My mother could fucking kill you for that shit.”
“Are you saying you’d let me be killed?”
His eyes widened as another growl rumbled from him.
I was too haywire, too vulnerable. I’d never expressed myself so violently, and I didn’t know how to calm down. I backed into the tree, the bark rough against my back as my head tilted so I could meet the storm that was Caspian Risler.
“You need to be more afraid than that, Mel. You need to be fucking terrified.”
Drawing in a slow breath, my heart jumped into my throat as he leaned closer.
I replied with my own low growl as he got further into my space. “After everything you’ve done to me, there’s no way I’m going to be scared.”
