Now it was empty, scooped out like it was never there.
Fiona sighed. “I’m not going to get to use the lightning, am I? I’m going to have to talk to him. I’ll be back.”
Olivia held me as the door clicked shut behind her, whispering soft words of comfort. It was lovely, and she was kind, but she wasn’t mine.
My mate wasn’t here.
And I had no idea if he was coming back.
Chapter 52
Valens
Never in my life had I shirked my duty. Not to my parents, not to my sister, not to my pack, not even to myself.
I was duty personified; the boring kind of day in and day out reliability that everyone built their expectations around. But after I found Olivia and Fiona and told them to go to Elodie?
I didn’t consult my Alpha. I didn’t go to work. I didn’t check to see if the damn war was on.
I took fur, and I ran.
I ran and ran and ran, until my sides heaved and flecks of foam flew from the corners of my lips. And when I could run no more, I collapsed onto my belly by a stream, lapping up the painfully cold water until my belly ached with it.
But the ache of too much exertion couldn’t touch the pain at the center of my being, where I’d wrenched the bond closed.
Where the memory of Elodiedistraughtover finding out we were mated lay.
That was a pain worse than death, yet somehow, I was still fucking alive.
I could run my paws raw, but I couldn’t escape that feeling. That Goddess-damned memory.
Right as I was starting to consider getting up and running some more, a branch snapped a few feet behind me. I froze, head swiveling to see who was walking up.
To my surprise, it was Reed.
In wolf form, just like me, but he hadn’t stepped on the branch.
His djinn mate, Fiona, with her blue skin and raven hair, walked just behind him, and she looked ready to skin a wolf alive.
“You,” she spat, fist clenching at her side as thunder rumbled and crashed overhead.
She took one more step closer before Reed was back in his skin, wrapping both arms around her.
“Remember what we talked about,” he whispered against her cheek, then stepped back, leaving me at her mercy as he stalked back into the woods.
I stood and turned to face her, head low, tail straight out.
I would never hurt a female, but I also didn’t need to let her take a free shot. She’d obviously spoken to Elodie and decided the pack could get by with one less male.
“You rutted her, marked her, and then fucking left her! You should beashamedof yourself! Do you know how upset she is that you’re gone? She’s hysterical. She’s been hysterical. She’s scared, and she’s lonely. And that is on you. So I need to know right now if you’re going to do right by my girl, and if the answer is no, I hope like fuck that you can move faster than lightning, because I might not be able to contain it.”
I sat down, confused.
She must have been able to tell by the cocked angle of my wolf’s head, because she scrubbed wearily at her face.
“Look, I know you’ll be buck naked, but can you just shift back? A one-sided conversation isn’t going to get us anywhere. I’ve been tramping through this damn forest for hours, I’mhungry and tired, and I’m really pissed off that I’m not with my friend right now. So, chop-chop, wolfman. Change back.” She gestured for me to get on with it, then turned her back.
Brave, given that her powers weren’t such that I couldn’t have physically harmed her.
