I sit through the torture of watching them together until they finish dinner. A waiter brings the check, and I watch as Anne reaches for her purse. David touches her hand gently, stopping her, and pulls out his own card with an easy smile.
She says something—probably protesting, knowing her—but he shakes his head insistently.
The simple intimacy of it makes my jaw clench.
They walk out together, and I sink lower in my seat until they get in David’s car and drive away.
I should leave. Go home and stop this madness before it gets worse.
But I can’t.
I follow them, keeping my distance as David drives toward Anne’s apartment building. My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, my jaw clenched so tight, I can feel the muscles jumping.
When they stop, I park several spaces away and watch as he gets out, comes around to open her door—of course he does—and helps her out.
They stand at the front door together for a moment, and I can tell they’re deliberating whether he should come up.
Please don’t. Please don’t let him up there.
She puts her fingers on his arm, shaking her head, and he hands her purse back to her, saying what I’m assuming is goodbye.
Just as I’m about to relax, he steps forward, infuriatingly close. My vision tunnels as he puts one arm around her waist, fingers splayed at the base of her spine.
Then, he kisses her.
I can hear my pulse pounding in my head as my heartbeat picks up speed. My wolf screams and strains. I silently will Anne to stop this, to push him away and prove that she’s still mine, but she doesn’t. Even worse, after a moment of hesitation, she kisses him back.
My rational sense shatters. Red floods my vision. Pure, undiluted rage makes my wolf surge forward with such violence that I nearly shift right here in the driver’s seat. It takeseverything in me to stay in human form and not tear out of this car and rip him away from her.
The kiss doesn’t last very long, and Anne doesn’t respond to him the way she did with me, but still—he kissed her. He put his mouth on what’s mine, and she let him.
Mine!
David pulls back and says a few words. Anne nods. He touches her cheek once, gently and reverently, then heads back to his car.
I watch him drive away like a predator stalking prey, but he is not the object of my thoughts. Anne, who has just disappeared into her building, is.
There is no rational plan in my head when I’m out of my car and crossing the street, following her scent to the entrance.
Third floor. Her apartment is 3C according to the directory I memorized weeks ago without meaning to.
I find her door and knock harder than I mean to. Footsteps approach. From inside, I hear Anne’s slightly concerned voice.
“David? Did you forget something?” She opens the door, and her eyes go wide when she sees me. “What—”
She tries to slam the door, but I jam my foot in the gap, pushing forward with enough force that she has to back up.
“What are you doing here, Kain?” she demands, moving further into her apartment as I step inside and close the door behind me. “Why—”
“He kissed you.” The words come out sounding rough and accusatory. “How could you let him kiss you?”
Her shock transforms into confusion and then fury so fast, it’s almost impressive. “Excuse me? How could I—Were you watching me?”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t owe you anything, Kain! I can kiss whomever I want! You made it very clear that you don’t remember me, that themate bond is dead, that I should move on. So, that’s what I’m doing!”
She is making perfect sense, but I can’t convince myself to care about logic right now. Can’t think past the image of his mouth on hers, burned into my brain.
