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I’d felt him tracing something over my chest last night. I hadn’t realized he was actually staining me. I run the pads of my fingers over the dried blood, watching pieces of it flake from my skin.

He’s marked me. Claimed me. He’d said I belonged here. But as I look around, there’s no sight of him anywhere. Why isn’t he here?

My entire world has been flipped around and twisted inside out. I am hurting, and he is gone, having left me to sink beneath the storm that has become my life. All I want is to breathe, but the waves keep crashing over me. And for a moment, for one single moment, I thought maybe he actually cared. That he was going to be here for me. Instead, he took what he wanted and vanished. I’m nothing more than a game to him. Some naïve girl who’s way too easy to toy with.

I turn the sink’s stream on full blast, cupping the liquid in my hands and splashing it over my chest, scrubbing away his possession until all that remains is a dim outline of the word Mine.

Rhenn wants me to suffer. It’s all he’s ever wanted. From the beginning, that’s what all of this has been about. Why would I think I could possibly mean anything to him now when he’s never showed me I could?

Tears well in my eyes, a weakness I refuse to let out. “Stupid girl,” I whisper to myself. “It’s time to go home.”

After dressing, I find myself in his living room, staring at the furniture. There is thunder inside me. It’s been growing there for years. Always holding me down.

I pick up the lamp from the side table, pulling its plug from the wall. “Where are you, asshole?” I yell. The lamp flies out of my hand and crashes against the door panel with a deafening shatter. The sound echoes through the room, bouncing off the walls and ceiling. Rigid shards litter across the floor, reflecting the sun’s light in bright gleams.

The destruction provides a sense of release, so I do it again, kicking the table I’d grabbed the lamp from to its side. I pick up the nearest barstool, throwing it across the room. “Why did you have to leave me?” The question is for my mother.

My fingers wrap around the broom handle. I swing it into the couch, knocking off both throw pillows. I strike it again and again. “You ruined my childhood!” This one is for him, Mr. Ambrose. “I still can’t sleep through the night. I still hear your voice,” I cry. “Good girls behave.”

My arms begin to ache, but the anger is still inside me, needing to come out. I scream at the top of my lungs. The broom thumps against the sofa, covering it in marks and dents. “Just let me be happy,” I beg, feeling the dampness slide down my cheeks.

“Vix.” I hear him calling me, his deep voice muffled in the background. His hand falls over my shoulder and I swing the broom around. Rhenn catches it, pulling it from my grip before dropping it at his side. “It’s okay,” he tells me softly, bringing me into his arms.

I sob into his chest, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. His hands run up and down my back, trying to soothe me. I’m not sure I can be soothed, though. I’m too much like the lamp. A pile of broken fragments that can never be fixed.

I breathe him in one final time, then swallow down the last of my tears. “I’m leaving.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

SUMNER

“Hold on,” Rhenn calls, moving swiftly down the porch steps after me. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I’ve already told you. I’m leaving.”

“Don’t go back to the wolves. Just stay here and talk to me.”

I step into the guest house, shuffling through the drawer where I’d stashed the potion. My fingers brush against the cool bottle and I pull it out.

“Where did you get that?” Rhenn asks, behind me now. Ignoring him, I slam the drawer closed and walk back into the yard. “Do not drink that,” he tells me, his tone stern. Unfortunately for him, I’m done taking orders.

Stopping by the shed, I take several deep breaths, then tilt my head back, letting the soft breeze dance across my cheeks. I feel him watching me, but I focus on the scent of the wind. It always smells sweet here. I’ll miss that.

“Why didn’t you bite me during The Hunt?” I ask, closing my eyes to absorb the warmth of the sun. “Why were you soft with me?”

He comes a little closer. “You want to know why I didn’t fuck you like I hated you?”

“Yes.”

“Because, Vix,” Rhenn pauses, less than a foot away, “I wanted to experience everything with you. The good, the bad, all of it. Before…” I glance at him, only to see he’s looking through me now, rather than at me.

“Before what?”

There’s a battle in his eyes, like he’s playing out every possible thing to say. Even after several long moments, he chooses to say nothing. It’s the answer I need. “Okay.” I nod, turning away.

“Vixen.”

Snapping my head back, I face him again. “You know, the entire time I’ve been here, you’ve never once called me by my actual name.” Pausing, I take a moment to actually look at him for the first time today. His smoky eyes scan between mine, too far off to read. “At least I’ve always known my worth around here.”