He knew I was going to refuse him, yet he wasn’t angry or hurtful or proud. He was simply Misha, the man I’d come to know.

I blinked a few times, taking in every ounce of his enticing features, from his godlike face, to the impenetrable wall of muscle surrounding his tall frame. Good Lord, Misha was masculine beauty molded to perfection.

And yet not the one who I desired.

“I’m sorry, Misha. You deserve better than what I can offer.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” he said almost silently. For the second time since I’d met him, Misha’s eyes lost their sting. There was no hint of a wicked smile or of the ruthless master that terrified his keep. At that moment, Misha seemed more human than the day I’d returned his soul.

Instead of taking me to his house, Misha ordered Hank to turn the BYTE ME mobile around. I didn’t know what he planned until the limo pulled up in front of the ice cream parlor we’d frequented. When Hank opened the door, Misha stepped out and offered me his hand. I took it. Then we walked inside to drown my sorrows.

• • •

A strange sense of quiet surrounded my neighborhood and thickened as Misha and I sauntered up the front steps. I didn’t know why until I opened the door. Aric stood in the middle of our family room with his fists clenched, his face red, and his wolf on the verge of attacking. Taran must have placed a silencing charm around the house to contain his growls. He lunged at Misha the moment he saw us. The wolves barely jumped on him in time.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll tear out your goddamn throat!”

Emme tried to help hold Aric with her force. Shayna quickly manipulated the fire poker into restraints. Taran stepped in front of me and gathered her magic to stun him.

Although Misha remained calm, I didn’t want to risk another confrontation. I shut the door and led him back to the limo. “I’m sorry for everything, Misha. Thank you for your friendship tonight. I would have been lost without it.”

“It is not your friendship that I seek, my beautiful kitten. But it will do for now.” With that he kissed my lips and left.

Everything stopped when I entered the house. Their combined strength had succeeded in restraining Aric.

I scoffed, disgusted, and moved toward the stairs.

“Release me now.” Aric’s command sounded more animal than human.

As soon as they did, Aric scrambled to his feet. “I’d lay down my life for you to be happy, Celia,” he said behind me. “With anyone but him.”

Aric’s words hit me like a tangible force. I dropped my purse and slowly turned to face him, meeting his anger with my own. “You walked out on me without looking back.” The lump in my throat ached when I swallowed it back. “You don’t get to decide who makes me happy!”

There was more I wanted to say, but it was torturous to stand there and look into those brown eyes I had once cherished. I moved quickly and reached for the railing.

Aric grabbed my arm before I could take the first step. The moment I felt his skin against mine, that familiar warmth I’d longed for spread throughout my body, making me shudder. When I met his eyes, his anger was gone. Only the tenderness I knew so well remained.

I ripped my arm away from him. “Don’t you touch me!” I sobbed at him. “Don’t you ever touch me again!”

Aric’s face and voice were nothing short of an agonized mess. “Celia . . . Mon âme fait mal sans toi.”

I fled. I couldn’t take more of his games. When I reached my bed, I collapsed, crying. Emme and Shayna tried to soothe me, but the pain was too overpowering to suppress.

“You a**hole!” Taran screamed downstairs. “Can’t you see what you’re doing to her?”

I presumed Aric could, because I heard him leave. It sounded like Koda and Liam followed him.

“What the hell did he say to her anyway?” Taran asked Gemini, her voice cracking from her rising emotions.

Gemini let out a sigh before he spoke. “He said, ‘Celia . . . my soul hurts without you.’”

CHAPTER 27

Sleep evaded me that night. A million thoughts raced through my head, but the emotions remained the same. Aric’s actions had pummeled me back into despair and left me angry and confused.

Does he still want me? Or does he just not want Misha to have me?

Regardless, I still wanted him. And while I knew I loved him, my tigress would never have allowed me to beg or plead with him to stay. No matter how much my human side wanted to.

Around seven in the morning, I sluggishly crawled out of bed and made breakfast. My sisters and their wolves emerged from their bedrooms one by one. No one spoke, and no one appeared to have slept all night. I loaded their plates with the mountain of food I’d prepared. My sisters regarded me with empathy. The wolves kept looking at me like I might snap. Maybe I should have. But then maybe I already had.

“How did Aric find me last night?” I finally asked.

Liam brought his chair closer to the table, staring at his plate before answering, “He came by shortly after Misha picked you up. I guess he wanted to talk to you about what happened at the pizza place.”

Koda put his fork down. “Aric was pissed the moment he smelled Misha in the doorway. When he realized you’d left together, he went crazy.”

You think?

“Aric tracked you to the restaurant, and we tracked him,” Gemini said quietly. “We called everyone, knowing Aric wouldn’t hesitate to attack Misha.”

“We tried calling you, dude. But you didn’t take your phone.” Shayna reached into the back pocket of her jeans and placed my cell phone on the table. “When I used your phone to call Misha, the vampire who answered refused to put me through. She said he didn’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the night.”

Liam wasn’t eating. He pushed his plate away, worry wrinkling his brow. “When Aric saw you and Misha all over each other, he completely lost it.” He shook his head. “I’ve never seen him like that. He’s always had such control. Then he met you. And everything changed.”

I covered my head with my hands, wanting to scream. “I didn’t do anything to him. He’s the one who left me. We’re not together anymore.”

“No, but he’ll always belong to you, Celia,” Gemini added gently.

Taran stood so fast she knocked her chair over. “Like hell!”

My arms dropped to the side with defeat. Nothing I said seemed to get through to the wolves. Their loyalties to Aric blinded them. He was their friend and hero. “I can’t believe you would say this to me, Gemini. Aric is not mine. He’s marrying someone else. She’s the one who gets him forever. I don’t have that option.”

“Barbara may be his fiancée.” Koda paused. “But, Celia, you’re Aric’s mate.”

Of all the things Koda might have said, nothing could have hurt me more. I gripped the counter tightly. “That’s not true.”

Koda exchanged glances with Gemini, who took a deep breath and reached for my hand. “Celia, Aric has known you’re his mate since the first time he saw you. I think he’s tried to suppress his feelings to spare you both. Our Elders . . . they never wanted you together. Perhaps he’s always known he’d have to leave you.”

A strange shiver crept up my spine despite the warmth in the kitchen. I could barely breathe. “Did he tell you this?”

Koda mimicked a statue, hard and barely moving. “No, but as his Warriors, we sensed your bond the night you claimed each other as mates.”

I blinked back at Koda, certain I’d misheard. He dropped his eyes and glanced around awkwardly. “Koda . . . I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Liam smiled. “Celia, the moment you and Aric accepted the claim, our connection to him linked us to you. That’s how we know. And that’s why we’ll always protect you, just like we’re duty-bound to protect him.”

Shayna appeared as confused as I felt. “Okay, so you’re all connected to Celia. But what’s a claim, and how do you make one?”

Liam and Koda looked right at Gemini, with the expectation, it seemed, that he would elaborate. Gemini didn’t appear eager to do so. In fact, his head shot to the nearest exit. “I don’t feel it’s my place to discuss this.”

Koda grew impatient, and so did his tone. “Don’t be such a wimp. You’re Aric’s Beta. This is your territory.”

Gem scowled. “My duties do not oblige me to explain delicate matters to my Alpha’s mate.”

I turned to Taran. She got the hint right away. A slow, seductive smile spread across her face. She danced her fingertips up his arm and whispered closely in his ear, “Please, baby. We’d like to understand more about your ways.”

Gem’s eyes followed her hand, before he cleared his throat. “Celia, do you remember a time when Aric asked you during your, uh, lovemaking if you wanted him?”

My body grew warmer, and my cheeks immediately flushed. “Um, yeah, a few times.”

He fidgeted in his chair, glancing back at Taran before continuing. “Did he also ask if he could have you?”

I thought back to the night I’d posed for Aric and nodded.

“And at the time, was there a, um, barrier, when he, ah, finished?”

I shook my head no. That was the first night we’d made love without a condom.

Gemini clasped his hands together and rubbed them. “Well, then, that was the night you claimed each other as mates and consummated your union.”

“But Aric’s wolf recognized you as his mate before then,” Liam explained. “The claim is performed after the human side accepts what the beast already knew. It’s the official way of becoming mated.”

“The claim only works if both partners feel the same way,” Koda added when he saw my blatant disbelief. “Otherwise, it would have failed.”

I gaped at the faces staring back at me, not knowing what to think or do. Then I remembered Heidi had referred to me as Aric’s mate a few weeks back. “Gemini, is Heidi also one of Aric’s Warriors?”

He nodded. “Yes, but she’s not close to him like we are.”

Yeah, sure she’s not. I stood there, dumbfounded. Why would Aric keep this from me?

Shayna practically glowed. She draped her arms around Koda’s neck and smiled. “Is this what you were trying to talk to me about the other night?”

Koda returned her smile and stroked her cheek. “Yes. There’s no doubt in my mind,” he answered softly.

Shayna rested her cheek against Koda’s massive chest. I didn’t remember ever seeing her so happy.

Taran turned the color of sand. “Oh, shit,” she whispered.

Gemini gathered her in his arms and pulled her close. “It’s okay,” he told her patiently. “We’ll wait until you’re ready.”

Two of my sisters were next in line to be “claimed” and “mated.” But when Emme faced Liam expectantly, his head dropped and he let out a weary breath. Her cheeks flushed and she turned to Gem. “Now that Aric is with someone else, will he remove his claim on Celia?” When she saw the hurt on my face, she quickly explained, “So Celia can move on, I mean.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Emme,” Koda replied, holding tight to Shayna. “Even if Aric never claimed Celia—oh, hell, even if they’d never met—she would still be his mate.” He offered me a sad, sympathetic smile. “She’s the one. He’ll never love another.”

My escalating frustration caused my hands to tremble. “But then how could he leave me?”

Gemini rubbed his goatee, searching for the right words to say. “Celia, you can’t fathom how much Aric is struggling. All he’s ever known is conflict with what he feels for you. Believe me, there’s nothing he wants more than to be at your side. But he’s bound by blood and obligation to our pack. It’s his duty to ensure our survival.”

My stomach twisted uncomfortably. As much as I wanted to believe I was Aric’s mate, I couldn’t. After all, he never admitted to loving me, even after knowing that I loved him.

I left them in silence and returned to my room, with the realization Gemini was right: Aric had to help continue his race. Without the weres, our world would perish. So as much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn’t. How could I hate someone who would put the world’s needs before his own?

• • •

“This is stupid. Why are they ha**ng s*x if the psycho with the machete is after them?”

Bren tore his eyes from his flat-screen just to roll them at me. “Ceel, graphic nudity in slasher flicks gives the viewer a chance to breathe before the next set of limbs gets hacked. Everyone knows that.” He shrugged. “Besides, the blonde has awesome hooters.”

“I thought they were designed to warn teens against ha**ng s*x?”

“Hooters?”

“No, Bren. You know, slasher movies?”

Bren shook his head. “I don’t think so. I lost my virginity while watching Halloween.”

I rubbed my eyes, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. When the blonde with the awesome hooters arched her back during the “act,” the psycho in the mask stabbed her in the chest. The tip of his machete pushed her still-beating heart out through her back in pure slasher-flick glory. I knew how she felt. I rubbed at my own chest, still sore from crying.

Bren’s phone rang. “Yeah?”

Taran screamed over the phone. “Tribesmen attacked Emme and Liam. Emme’s hurt and she’s not waking up.”