“Anne—”
“You said you couldn’t feel the bond.” Her voice is shaking now, rising. “You said the amnesia damaged your connection to your wolf. That you couldn’t feel anything for me.”
My chest tightens. “I know what I said—”
“So, you lied?” Her eyes flash with rage at the realization.
“No, Anne—” I try to reach for her, but she jerks away and gets out of the bed.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” she snaps, backing toward the door as if to put as much distance between us as possible. “You looked me in the eye and told me the mate bond was dead. That was a lie?”
“Anne, let me explain—”
“Explain what?” She’s in the doorway now, her expression a combination of fury and hurt. “That you’ve been lying to me this whole time? That you knew exactly what you were doing when you kissed me, when you—” She stops, shaking her head. “Get out. I mean it. Get out of my apartment.”
She turns and storms into the living room. I jump up immediately, grab my clothes, and follow her.
“Anne, wait—”
“No!” She whirls on me, her eyes flashing as if she wields a storm within them. “I said, get the hell out!”
She pushes me in the chest, and I let her, struggling to put my shirt on. “After what just happened, we can’t go back to—”
She cuts me off again. “Nothing just happened. I’m going to forget you were ever here and go back to my plan to move on.”
I see red instantly. “Move on? Are you going to keep seeing that guy?” The question explodes out of me before I can stop it.
Her expression hardens. “Yes.”
My wolf snarls, furious, and I feel my control slipping. “No.” I cross the room to her in two strides, startling her with my sudden approach and backing her up against a wall. I cage her in with my arms on either side of her head. “You’re not.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Her voice is defiant, but this close, I can hear her heartbeat racing.
“I’ll kill him.” The words come out raw, primal. “If he touches you again, if he kisses you, if he so much as looks at you—”
“You have no right—”
“I have every right.” I lean in closer, my forehead nearly touching hers. “You’re mine, Anne. You’ve always been mine. The bond may be damaged, but seeing you with someone else is driving me crazy.”
Her heart is pounding as understanding flickers in her eyes. “Your wolf is jealous.”
“I am jealous,” I correct her. “I know I hurt you. I know I don’t deserve another chance. But I’m asking for one anyway.”
Her brow furrows. “What does that even mean?”
“I’m asking you to give me a chance, Anne.” I cup her cheeks now, trying to make sure she’s looking at me. “As who I am now. I know I’m not the man you remember, but maybe…maybe we can start fresh as the people we are today. Let me prove to you that I can be someone you want, even if I’m not who I once was.”
A look of hurt flashes across Anne’s face before she turns her head away, forcing me to release my grasp.
“Get out, Kain.”
I put one hand back on the wall. “Anne—”
“Get. Out.” She ducks under my arm and moves away from me. “I need you to leave. Now.”
I stand there for a moment, my chest heaving, everything inside me screaming at me to stay. To fight. To make her understand.
But the look on her face stops me. She’s not merely angry; she’s hurt. She feels betrayed. And I’m the cause.
