“I suspected something was going on between you and Darius,” she says carefully. “But I never thought you two were fated mates.”
Neither did I. The words lodge in my throat. I shake my head, staring into my tea.
“I should have known,” I finally rasp out. “The way he looked at me. The things he did. I was so stupid.”
“You weren’t stupid.” Anne leans forward, elbows on her knees. “How could you have known? Your wolf was barely there.”
Was. Past tense. Because she’s here now, a constant presence that grows stronger with each passing hour. She paces inside me, restless and unhappy. Her emotions bleed into mine until I can’t tell where she ends and I begin.
“I still think the two of you should sit down and talk,” Anne says quietly.
I shake my head so hard tea sloshes over the rim of my mug. “No.”
“Violet—”
“I’m leaving town.” The words tumble out before I can stop them. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
Anne’s eyes widen. “What?”
“I have some funds I’ll have to liquidate, but before that, I need to see my mother.”
A look of understanding crosses her face, followed by a softer sadness. She thinks I want to say goodbye. That I’m planning to leave and never come back, and I need to see my mother one last time before I disappear.
She doesn’t know the truth.
The medicine bottle wasn’t in my apartment when I returned. I tore the place apart looking for it. Checked every drawer, every shelf, every pocket of every bag. Nothing.
Someone took it.
It’s been four days now. Four days without the medicine.
I expected to feel sick. Weak. Nauseous. The way my mother always warned me I’d feel if I ever missed a dose. She said missing even one would make me violently ill, that my body depended on it.
But I don’t feel sick. I feel better.
My wolf is prominent inside me, growing stronger each day since I stopped the medicine. Her emotions flow through me like a river, and for the first time in my life, I understand what other shifters mean when they talk about their wolves.
Four days without the medicine, and I’m fine.
The thought sits like lead in my stomach.
“Can you arrange for me to see her?” I ask, meeting Anne’sgaze. “My mother?”
Anne nods slowly. “I can do that.”
“Thank you.” I take another sip of tea, an excuse to look away from the pity in her eyes.
Despite everything that happened between Darius and me, his words about my wolf won’t stop circling through my head. They’ve burrowed under my skin, where they’re festering.
What if something has been keeping her suppressed all this time?
My mother gave me that medicine. Every single day for as long as I can remember. Made me swallow those pills religiously, watched to ensure I took them, got angry when I forgot. Sent them to me in Paris so I wouldn’t get sickly there.
The question slams into me with brutal clarity: What if they weren’t helping me? What if the medicine was suppressing my wolf all along?
I need the truth. Was it deliberate, or just some horrible side effect she didn’t know about?
“Your scent is changing.” Anne’s voice breaks through my spiraling thoughts. “It’s getting stronger. More distinct.”
