But nothing about this is okay. It feels like the universe is playing a cruel prank on me.
“You’ll be sleeping at my place tonight,” Sienna announces. “I can’t let you go home and be by yourself like this.”
I simply nod, trying to breathe as I wipe my face with my sleeve. When I meet her eyes again, she motions with her head toward the street. We walk to her car and drive to her place.
Night eventually comes, but sleep is impossible.
I lie in Sienna’s guest bed and stare at the ceiling while my mind races. The memory of that moment plays over and over again in an endless loop. The cold and distant look in those amber eyes that were only ever warm and kind when they used to look at me. His words—“Have we met?...I don’t believe we know each other.” The way his arm jerked away from my touch like I was dirty.
Poor Sienna stays up and checks on me periodically. She offers gentle sympathy. But nothing penetrates the spiral in my head.
How can he not know me? How could he forget his mate? Why would he say those things to me?
My brain can’t come up with any answers. No theory I could possibly conceive would make any sense.
Morning arrives with me still in a haze of thought. I haven’t had any sleep, but I drag myself out of bed. I find Sienna brewing coffee in the kitchen.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, though the answer is probably written across my face.
“I don’t know.”
She hands me a steaming cup. “Do you think you should go to work today?”
The thought of facing that place, of potentially seeing him again, makes my stomach turn. But I can’t just stop going to work. Plus, my car is still there.
“I at least have to pick up my car,” I tell her.
Sienna drives us first to my apartment, where I manage a shower and a change of clothes, then to headquarters. An ache digs into my chest the closer we get to the building.
Once Sienna kills the engine in the parking lot, I take a deep breath. She looks at me with a question in her eyes—like she’ll turn the car right around if I say I don’t want to go in today—but I give her a nod.
We make our way into the lobby and up to our floor. I walk toward my cubicle as Sienna heads to her own workspace. My body moves on autopilot, pure muscle memory carrying me to my desk.
I sink into my chair, and like clockwork, my eyes fall on the photograph. Just like they always do.
He’s still there. Smiling at me. As relaxed and warm as always.
Hesitantly, my hand stretches out. I pull the photograph from the tape and bring it close to my face. My eyes roam over every single detail of him. Like maybe I’ve missed something, some detail that I never saw. Maybe the picture will grow a mouth and explain to me why the boy with his arm around my shoulder looked me in the eye yesterday and said he’d never seen me before.
The worst part of all this is that I have no idea what to do. It’s such a cold, painful, helpless feeling.
A voice cuts through the silence. “Ms. Donaldson.”
I freeze. My entire body shudders at the sound of my name on his lips. My wolf yelps within me, aching for him. I draw in a slow breath before turning my head to look at him.
Kain stands at the entrance to my cubicle. His frame appears rigid in his suit, his shoulders unnaturally square. There’s no expression on his face as he looks at me, his hands in his pockets.
“May I have a word?”
I swallow. “Yes.”
He nods but says nothing more, already turning around and walking away slowly. My eyelids flutter for a brief moment before I force myself to stand, the photograph still clutched in my hand as I follow him.
He leads me toward a quiet area near the stairwell, past where any of the cubicles extend. It’s secluded here. When hestops and faces me, I swear his expression may as well be carved from stone.
I hold my breath. My heart hammers in my chest.
He clears his throat. “I’ve had some time to think about yesterday’s debacle. After much reflection, I think there’s something I should tell you.”
