“Valen!” I shout. “Please. I’m sorry. You were right all along. Please, Valen… I love you.”
But again, only the wind replies.
He isn’t here, I realize. He must have shifted and run as a wolf. I hadn’t even considered that possibility, silly me. He and his friends are probably already miles away.
It doesn’t matter. I will find him.
That’s all that matters to me now.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
VALERIAN
I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. This bitter man, that’s not me. That’s never been me, but with my hope smashed, I feel lost. Not even my mother’s disappearance has hit me this hard, which is shameful. Fucking embarrassing.
Rosie has broken me. I’m in love with her. Not sure I can survive without her. I can’t breathe. There is no air left in the world.
The world blurs by as we run through fields and meadows, groves and patches of forest, but with every mile I put between us, the sicker I feel.
So I stop and let the shift come over me. The wind blows, buffeting me as I shed my fur, and I feel heavier than a rock, and just as dead inside.
“Valen!” Darian barks, shifting, too. “What are you doing?”
The words come out before I know I’ll say them. “I’m going back.”
Konstam turns and lopes back to us. He shifts the moment he’s in front of me. “Say what? No.”
I shake myself. “I have to go back, Kon.”
“Don’t. She made her choice, remember?”
“She isn’t safe,” I say and swallow past the collar around my neck. Her collar. “That man is hurting her. He could kill her. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Darian growls. “You can’t save everyone, Valen.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You thought you could go out there and save your mother, but she’s dead. Has been dead for a long time. Everyone said so, but you didn’t believe them.”
I snarl at him. “So this is about me now?”
“Isn’t it? This girl is in a bad marriage. You tried to save her, tried to convince her to run away with you, but she refused. That’s on her, Valen. She is an adult and has made her decision. That bothers you, because you went and fell in love with her.”
“She is my mate,” I growl.
Kon and Darian exchange looks. “So you keep saying. Wouldn’t she feel it if that were the case?”
“Maybe she doesn’t know what it feels like to?—”
“That’s the greatest fucking bullshit I’ve ever heard,” Darian says. “She’s not an idiot.”
“Of course not,” I hiss, “and be careful what else you say about her.”
He shakes his head. “Hells, Valen. Even if she doesn’t feel the mating bond, if that’s what it is, if she loved you, wouldn’t she have come with you?”
“Fuck,” I breathe.
“Yeah. I know, it’s unpleasant.”
