Page 2 of Forsaken By Fate
“Lachlan.” He hesitates. “You’re not part of my pack.”
“No. I’m with the Quartz,” I mumble, sensing the change in his behavior. “We’re not Apexes. Just good old, regular shifter types. Just like every other pack here besides yours.”
I grin, shrugging lightly, but he’s not amused. I ache to have him touch me again and step closer, but he raises his hand.
“You’re a prey shifter?” he asks bluntly. The effects of our bond diminish with his cutting question, and I freeze where I stand.
“Yes,” I answer slowly. “You’re a dragon?”
“Yep.”
His eyes narrow into slits so small, I can barely see the blue. I see the problem from his end now.
Oh no… he can’t seriously be thinking…
I gulp, willing the horrible thought away before I manifest it into reality.
He grunts and folds his arms over his muscled but slender chest, scowling. “Seriously?” he demands, glowering at me. “How is this supposed to work?”
I smile weakly, again reaching for his hand. “It’ll work if you promise not to eat me,” I offer lightly, again trying to break through this awkward moment with humor.
He pulls back again, his scowl deepening as he takes a step back. A familiar sense of despair overrides the fleeting elation the bond had given me.
“There’s a mistake,” Lachlan grumbles. “There has to be a mistake. I’m an Apex shifter. The best of the best. You’re…”
He purses those impossibly full lips, the ones I’ve wanted to taste since first laying eyes on them. “I reject this. I reject you, Aurora. You are not my mate.”
The words burn a hole inside me worse than anything I’ve ever heard in my life.
And that’s saying a lot.
More fireworks explode over our heads and cheers erupt around us, as if all the local packs cheer on Lachlan’s decision to break his bond with me, taboo as it is.
My lips part, a thousand protests vying to spring from them in unison, but the contempt in his icy blue stare kills them andwithers me in place. His eyes no longer seem pretty to me, but cold and distant. I want to hate him, but this bond is killing me.
“Please, Lachlan—” I try to say, but he’s made his choice.
“Don’t you tell anyone about this,” he hisses, backing away from me. “Do you hear me? If you’re smart, you’ll get the hell out of Oklahoma, so I don’t see you again.”
Without waiting for me to respond, he pivots and bolts toward the water’s edge, out of my purview. For a long moment, I merely stand there, unsure of what to do.
He has to come back. He can’t just reject me and banish me… can he?
Trembling with my stomach flipping wildly, I also back away the way I’d come.
“Aurora!”
Someone calls my name, but I don’t stop to look as I turn blindly and begin to run toward my car, waiting in the far parking lot. My head pounds with humiliation, cheeks burning as I back out of my spot. It’s a miracle I don’t get into an accident retreating to my little apartment, over the small convenience store on Lock Street in Oklahoma City.
At least the Full Moon Celebration was held close to my pack’s territory and not across the state—a small miracle.
Tears slip down my cheeks as I pack, pulling clothes from hangers, jamming what I can fit into one of the two worn duffle bags I can find stuffed in the back of my tiny bedroom closet.
I’m grabbing, and I’m going. What other choice do I have? If I see Lachlan again, the bond will undoubtedly draw me back to him, and he’ll be furious.
No, I have to go.
Where, I don’t know. But I heard Lachlan clearly. He doesn’t want his pack to know about us. He’s embarrassed by me, and if I hang around, our bond will undoubtedly be seen by everyone.The best thing I can do right now is put space between us and hope he finds some peace, even if I can’t break the bond for him.