Page 14

This had happened before, and each time I had struggled to erase the events of that evening from my mind. To erase him from my mind.

He was manipulative, deceitful, and had no place in my life, even less in my mind.

I had no idea how he had ever managed to evoke feelings in me other than contempt. Especially that evening...

The night hadn't ended at the ball, nor outside in one of the courtyards. Shortly after Miles had disappeared, Mica and his men had appeared in the corridors, shouting my name as if it were a matter of life and death.

Markov, Mica's closest confidant, had found me and looked around with a grim expression before he had eyed me up and down.

I had stood there in front of him, crying, and he had silently handed me a handkerchief while I had stared wordlessly at the thick scar on the left side of his face.

Then Mica had appeared and immediately taken me in his arms, which had overwhelmed me even more after everything that had happened.

His closeness had been unfamiliar, but I had clung to him desperately, as if I could get Miles out of my head that way.

And I had been ashamed, afraid that Mica would immediately realize why I had been crying. But he had only asked:

“Did he follow you?”

“Did he threaten you?”

“Did he try to hurt you?”

“How dare that lowlife dance with a female Senseque in front of two Alphas?!”

“How could you go outside without an escort?”

It had taken me a while to answer.

“He wanted to provoke me,” I had managed to say in a trembling voice. “He always does that.”

Mica had snorted and taken me straight home.

He had hit the steering wheel of his Jeep five times. Each time, he had sworn in Russian. And each time I had flinched.

When we had gotten out of the car, he had given me his jacket and pulled me close again.

I had accepted it, using his irritating warmth to regulate my pounding heartbeat.

“He did that for the last time!” he had pressed out through gritted teeth. “None of them will hurt you, Emely. I promise!”

I had thought he would pull me further into his arms, but he had broken free, stormed into the house, and his men had followed him.

I didn't remember how long I had stood there in the driveway, staring into the night. But at some point, Hunter and Cody had arrived, and that had been the moment I had found out about Julian's father's murder, even though I hadn't been able to process it right away. Not until three days later. Not until his damn funeral.

The morning after the ball, I had just wanted to push everything out of my mind, but the Russian Alpha had thrown a spanner in the works.

I had thought the guys' questions about Miles' actions would be hard to bear, but I had been able to fob off every single one of them with the same answer.

“Miles is a harmless idiot who wanted to cross the line again. Nothing new.”

But Dimitrio Rolanow hadn’t been satisfied with that. He had completely lost it, had raged and trashed my father's study, and my father had just stood there and accepted his uncontrolled outburst.

“The head of their clan sent this man to your daughter!” Dimitrio had yelled. “Did he leave you a message?! What did that dirty little bloodsucker say?!”

And, of course, his words had brought back all the memories. Memories of the things Miles had actually said while his hand had been on my lower back...

I could still feel his gentle fingertips there. How they glided over my skin, softly burning into it...