“Fine.” Slayton pointed at War. “If you see that dick, rip his arm off.”
Griff clucked his tongue. “I don’t think Roman left enough of him to rip.”
The thought made Violet’s stomach clench. Roman hadn’t torn Dom to pieces forher, he’d done it for Vivian, and that hurt more than Dominic’s betrayal. They’d been friends once. Didn’t that warrant sticking up for her? She’d never let anyone seriously speak ill of him.
Violet didn’t know what made her hate herself more: still wanting Roman to a degree, or wishing someone would fight to the death for her honor.
She and the men said their goodbyes, and War and Violet made their way to the forest. The duo meandered along a winding path through the lush foliage toward the shore. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell Roman?” she asked the beast at her side.
War stopped and peered up at her with a nod. His bright orange eyes unsettled most people, but not her. “He’s not in there with you, is he?” War shook his head and her shoulders drooped, unable to hold up the heaviness of the day. “Did you hear what happened?” War nodded and nuzzled Violet’s side. She plopped down on a large, blue tree root, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “It hurts, War. I can handle him telling everyone about us.” She stopped to collect herself. “But he’s just another person who wanted my sister instead.”
She dropped her head and the first tear fell. “I get Dominic couldn’t have Vivian, or missed his chance with her before they announced her as Roman’s mate, but why did he have to say that?” She sniffled. “What good did it do him to let everyone know he’d settled for a look-alike?”
Tears fell faster down her cheeks. “He’s not the only one, you know.” She sniffled. “At school, no boys paid me attention until they announced Vivian as Roman’s mate.” She met War’s tangerine gaze. “They never wanted me before even though Vivian and I are identical.” Her voice broke and she pressed a hand to her chest. “That means it’smethey don’t like. Even the gods.” Roman might have wanted her once upon a time, but the gods chose Vivian for him. What was so wrong with Violet that even the gods chose selfish Vivian over her?
Violet put her head in her hands and salted War’s fur with her misery. She wasn’t one for self-pity, but she’d allow herself this.
She picked up her head and looked to the gods. “I won’t change.” The words came out nasally from crying. “One day I’ll be enough as I am, whether you think so or not.”
* * *
Roman laid on his bed and closed his eyes, reaching down the bond for War. The moment they connected, Violet’s tear-stained cheeks ripped him wide open. The anger he’d worked hard to snuff out returned tenfold.
Dominic would die.
“Get out,” War growled.
Thefamiliar’stone took Roman by surprise.“Where are you? I’m coming.”
“Roman, I know you still hold a candle for Violet, but if you aren’t going to defy the gods to keep her, then you need to stay gone.”
“You told me going against the gods was impossible,”Roman reminded him. “Do you know something? Is there a way to mate her other than marriage? She’d never betray Vivian.”War stayed silent for too long.“What do you expect me to do?”
“I don’t know,”hisfamiliaradmitted,“butshe is heartbroken over something deeper than what that boy did to her today, and the last thing she needs is you as a reminder of her pain.”
Roman cut the connection and stared at nothing.
If you aren’t going to defy the gods to keep her, then you need to stay gone.
The last thing she needs is you as a reminder of her pain.
If he could reach into the heavens and drag the gods to Eden, he would. He would kill the gods with his bare hands to have her as his own, if he could. If he couldn’t find a way to transfer the bond, he’d find a way to break it, consequences be damned.
She might not need him, but he needed her.
And wanted her.
And loved her.
He always had.
* * *
Violet woke the following morning with swollen eyes, a headache, and a weight in her chest. Feeling sorry for herself did her no good, but her mother always said a good cry now and then was therapeutic.
She rolled to her side, and a burst of color on her nightstand caught her attention. She rubbed her eyes to clear the sleep away; the small bouquet of violets and scattering of shells didn’t disappear, and she sat up to lean forward and feel the light purple petals. They were real.
Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she picked up the entire bouquet and examined the sloppily tied string around the stems. She set it aside and carefully picked up each shell in awe. They were exactly what she would have searched for.Things had mysteriously appeared in her room before, and she’d chalked it up to forgetting she had them, but this solidified her suspicions. Someone snuck into her home at night.
