Sorrow entombs my heart. “I didn’t know.”
“Then you weren’t listening,” Callum hisses, “because not only did I mention this upon our arrival in this godforsaken arena, but Alistair proved this to you weeks ago.”
The mountain. He’s talking about the shifter’s run on our first night at the academy.
“AlistairisSienna’s true mate,” the vampire continues, his sharp fingernails digging into my skin as he squeezes even tighter. The edges of my vision blur as my lungs scream for oxygen. “You need to accept that before your selfish desires kill her.”
I didn’t mean to hurt her. Ineverintend to hurt her.
Why is it that I always do?
Callum releases me and crouches to wipe his bloody fingertips onto my clothes. “I know you love her. I know that you need her. But she does not need you. Not anymore.” Our eyes meet, and there’s a hint of pity lurking in their depths. “A word of advice, wild wolf.” He takes a deep breath. “Find another mate so that you do not lose yourself. She is strong, but...” His gazedrifts over to her. I can’t bear to follow. “Bonding with you only to lose you would break her.”
But letting Sienna go will breakme.
Sighing, he shoves me onto the snow with the sole of his shoe, then holds up his hand. “Goodnight, Revyn. May you find peace in your dreams.” He snaps his fingers, and I’m plunged into darkness to face my sins.
There is no peace.
Only stabbing guilt and the haunting chill of regret.
Chapter 23
Sienna
Pain grips me like a vice,hitting multiple areas all at once. My chest throbs, the pain as sharp as it is hot, my face feels like someone smashed it with a rock, and my thigh—holy shitdoes that burn like a motherfucker. No one hit me—not a single opponent—so this has to be a trick. Someone has touched my mind and contorted my sense of reality so that all I feel is the twisted knot in my gut and the knives in my lungs.
I search for Callum. As the only mind-bender I know, he must have an answer. A solution.A cure.But when I finally lift my head and steady my spinning world, it isn’t Callum that stands before me.
It’s Alistair, remaining as gorgeous as he was on my balcony, only this time with a fierce set to his jaw and a burning gaze that would set me on fire if I weren’t already ablaze. “Alistair,” I choke out, reaching for his outstretched hand.
He takes a step back and leaves me to stumble.
“Go home, Sienna,” he growls, the menace in his voice unmistakable.
I catch his emotions on the upswing and growl right back. “Fuck you.” I’m still pissed that he treated me like a child needing punishment for something that isn’t even my fault. Ican’t change my relationship with Revyn any more than I can change my relationship with Alistair. Pain pulses through my limbs in time with my heartbeat, and I take unsteady steps closer to Alistair.
For every step I take forward, he takes two back, increasing the distance between us with dizzying speed. The worst part is that he’s barely trying. I lick my lips, tempted to whine about how stupid this is, but that feels like admitting defeat, so I keep my mouth shut and push on. He dodges every single one of my uncoordinated punches, and I stumble along after him.
“Go home,” he repeats, clenching his jaw. “You don’t belong here.”
“Fuck you!”
In one fluid motion, he grabs my wrist and hauls me against his chest, the heat radiating off him making me nauseous. “Is that all you can say, Wildfire?” He clicks his tongue as he grabs my jaw to hold my wandering gaze. “Here I was, thinking you had more fight in you.”
“Stand still, and I’ll show you.” I bare my teeth against his grip. “I won’t even use my tongue this time.”
A flush blooms across his cheeks. “You’re pathetic.” With a forceful shove, he tosses me to the snow. The top layer of ice cracks as I land. “Run away before you hurt yourself. You’re not cut out for this academy if you need someone to save you.”
I glimpse Revyn lying beneath Callum’s boot, the man himself unconscious. Shit. I don’t know how many points we earned—it’s not like I was counting—but getting knocked out is a bad sign. Injuries will compound until his shifter healing doesn’t kick in as quickly, or worse, doesn’t kick in at all.
Like mine.
Gritting my teeth, I push myself to my feet. “I don’t need saving, just like I don’t need a mate.” Something cracks inside my chest, and I wince, the pain radiating outward from thebreak. Shit. I think that was a rib. I take as deep a breath as I can before another one snaps and the pain doubles. My vision doubles as my body forces me into a slow, painful shift, taking much longer than normal for the transformation to complete.
It shouldn’t be this difficult, especially on a full moon. Something must be wrong. Something must be?—
On fire.
