I need this solid barrier between us.
I stand there for a moment, forehead resting against the door as my heart hammers so hard that it hurts. My wolf paces inside me, frantic and accusing and furious that I just shut her out. Hewants me to open the door, pull her into my arms, and make whatever pain I just caused disappear.
Then, I hear a sound from the hallway. A sob. Muffled, but clear enough that it shatters me.
I jerk away from the door like it’s about to attack me, turning sharply before my body can betray me and reach for the knob. I cross the room in three long strides and drop down beside the desk, crouching low, as if making myself smaller will help.
“Damn it,” I snarl under my breath.
My fist slams into the floor. Pain explodes across my knuckles, but it’s nothing compared to the ache tearing through my chest. Her pain echoes inside me, and for a split second, I hate myself with a vicious clarity.
I squeeze my eyes shut, breathing hard, forcing the feeling down.
This is the only way. No matter what it costs. No matter what it does to me.
Because the mission comes first.
Chapter Three
Anne
He slammed the door. Right in my face.
It sounded final. Definitive, as if a judge’s gavel has just sealed a verdict on me that I don’t understand. The hallway feels vast and hollow as I stand there, hearing the sound of my own breathing. The air comes in and leaves me raggedly. Each inhale feels like it’s scraping against my ribs; each exhale shudders out of me in uneven bursts.
I feel as if I’ve been dropped into a dark, bottomless hole with no walls. My head spins. My fingertips tingle. My chest…There’s this pain there, like something has wrapped itself around me and is squeezing so hard that I can barely draw breath. My insides churn, my very stomach acid turning against me. All I can do physically is press my hand against the wall to steady myself because I swear my legs may give out on me.
That man, the one who just shut his door in my face…He’s Kain.
The boy from my photograph. The one I’ve spent ten years thinking about. Ten years mourning. Ten years unable to forget.
I close my eyes as I cling to the wall, trying to calm my quivering breaths.
When Alpha Darius said his name in the conference room, it was like a bomb detonating in my skull. And then, Kain walked in. He actually walked in, with those very same amber eyes that I’ve gazed at every day for a decade. Alive. Walking and breathing.
I stopped having conscious thoughts right there and then. He gave a speech, but I heard nothing; the ringing in my ears drowned everything out. Sienna turned to me at some point. I saw her mouth move, I saw the concern on her face, but I couldn’t respond. I wasn’t able to form any words. My feet carried me here as soon as he left the room, pulled by invisible strings.
I look down at those feet where I stand now.
I touched him. I needed to know that he was real, made of flesh and bone and blood. And when my fingers made contact with his forearm, it sent a thunderbolt through me that left no room for doubt. I was looking at my fated mate.
But he—he ripped his arm away. He said he’s never met me before. Me.
What is going on? Am I losing my mind?
I look down the hallway, and it starts to spin. My vision is a mess of dizziness, and the floor feels wobbly beneath my feet. I force my eyes shut and take several deep breaths, but it doesn’t help.
I leave his door behind, but each step I take is unsteady, like I’m learning to walk on a ship in rough seas. The walls are too close and too far away at the same time.
I just need to get back to my cubicle. I have to sit down before my legs give out completely.
The elevator ride is spent in a haze. The distance to my desk looks impossibly long when I reach my floor. I feel likeI’m actually going to throw up as I try to start walking in that direction.
“Anne?”
Sienna’s voice reaches me from the other side of the elevator bank. She steps closer with a look of apprehension on her face.
“What’s going on? You’ve been acting strangely since the meeting. And you left the conference room in such a hurry,” she says when she reaches me.
