Troy’s POVThe scalding water reddened his skin, but Troy remained under it. He was exhausted, pissed off and he had a lot of shit to deal with. He needed to find Amber, sort something out for Cleo, because she couldn’t remain in his pack. He had conference calls to make, the High Council to deal with and his mate decided to fucking run off.He finished up in the bathroom and walked to the dressing room to get dressed. Reese was still on the bed and she looked shaken and worried. He wanted to comfort her but his wolf had decided on tough love and he couldn’t go against him.Troy walked out of the dressing room in a suit and he straightened his cuffs as he looked at Reese. “Your parents are in the morgue. Please speak to Drake about any arrangements you want made.”“Troy …”He turned back towards her. “What?”“Can we talk about what happened, please?”“I have work to do, Reese. I already missed a full day’s work because you ran. You’ve made your stance pretty clear from the moment you
Reese’s POV“How are you feeling?” Reese tucked a strand of Cleo’s hair behind her ear.“I’m okay, really,” Cleo said.“Why the fuck would you reject Drake? After all this time when you thought you had no mate! It wasn’t the kind of distraction I had in mind, Cleo!”Cleo smiled sadly and shook her head. “I didn’t reject him because of you. I went to Troy’s office for said distraction and when I walked in Drake was kissing another woman, like full on kissing her and I just lost it. My wolf snapped and attacked.”“Oh goddess, Cleo!”“He belittled me, Reese, and then he turned back to her, to make sure she was okay, so I rejected him.” Cleo sniffed and wiped a stray tear from her eye.Reese moved closer to Cleo and hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”They sat like that as the minutes ticked by, each lost in their own thoughts of sadness and turmoil. Troy had sounded so cold when he said Cleo was on her own now and would face punishment for attacking his cousin.“Cleo
Reese’s POV Reese headed straight for the infirmary, not in the least surprised when Russo fell into step next to her. He moved silently, but with the new bond between them, she could feel his presence, much like Troy’s. “Where are we going?” Russo asked her. “The infirmary.” Russo hand latched onto her arm and she was forced to stop walking. She turned towards him and she saw his eyes roaming over her. He seemed worried and then she could feel that pushing towards her, looking for something. “Are you hurt?” Reese almost started to laugh. “No, I’m not hurt.” “Okay, why are we going to the infirmary?” Reese sighed and lowered her gaze. She had hoped to do it alone, to grieve in peace and make the necessary arrangements. She would have preferred it if Troy had been next to her instead of Russo, but she knew that was wishful thinking. “Reese … I’m sorry. You don’t have to do this. Speak to Drake and he’ll take care of it for you. I’ll even do it,” Russo said gently. “I don’t wan
Reese’s POV After her run with Russo, she went back to the Alpha suite and had a very intense and honest conversation with herself. If she was completely honest with herself she didn’t want to lose Troy. She liked him as a man, as an Alpha and he was a good husband. Every marriage had its ups and downs and Amber was just another hurdle. She had to push her own insecurities behind her and embrace the life Troy could give her, the life he wanted to give her. She had to fix things between them. With that decided, she headed to the shower and washed her hair, shaved her legs and went through the painful process of giving herself a bikini wax. She cursed and yelled and winced and eventually with the hot wax kind of getting everywhere, she ended up waxing everything off. She raided the packhouse’s kitchen and went back upstairs to cook for Troy. She wouldn’t bother him because she knew he’d be busy having missed two days of work. She’d wait for him patiently, surprise him with dinner and
Reese’s POV She’d left Troy’s office in a daze. He wanted a divorce. She had no idea how she got back to the Alpha suite but she found herself just inside and sank down against the closed front door. Hot tears spilled from her eyes and she lowered her head to her hands. It just cemented her earlier revelation. She didn’t want to lose him and she didn’t want a divorce. How the fuck had she ended up here? Two days ago she’d have gladly signed divorce papers, but now, now everything was different. She pushed her wolf to the back of her mind and fought to shift. She needed to clean the remnants of the dinner she’d planned. She didn’t want him to know what she’d planned, not after he said he wanted a divorce. She really was a failure. Her mate rejected her, the one person that was supposed to love her and then when she found a man that loved her for her, she pushed him away to the extent of divorce and another rejection. The food all went into the trash bin, her appetite long gone. The
Troy’s POV He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it had happened, but during the previous day, things had shifted for him. He’d taken the time to try and stand in Reese’s shoes and what he’d seen and felt, had left a bitter taste in his mouth. His feelings didn’t matter much to him. He was used to being less important, it was the Alpha’s curse after all. He would always be a slave to his pack and to his people. He would always choose them above his own needs. He’d targeted Reese because of the Oracle’s vision. He’d taken her from her home and used Justin as an excuse, because in all honesty, Justin had no idea who she was and his father had never met with her about a union between them. Justin only knew her name, from the documents he’d submitted to the Elders for approval of his arranged marriage. That night in the bar, he’d wanted to fuck her and he had. He’d taken her to Saxon Island because he knew it would soften her resolve, get her in his bed and it would make their bond stronge
Reese’s POVThe day sped by and Russo proved to be an asset. He helped Reese with her samplings and organized seeds and roots and at one point he’d disappeared for four hours. Reese hadn’t really noticed because she was busy separating stalks and petals.All her focus went towards plants and flowers that held respiratory aids and she winced slightly as she straightened up from the stool when Russo returned. He was sweaty, slightly out of breath and had a huge grin on his face.“Are you okay?” Reese asked him.“Yeah, no time to talk, come with me,” he said and walked out of her lab into the adjoining office.Reese frowned but followed Russo out of the office. He threw his arm around her shoulder and she made a gagging sound. Russo barked out a laugh and pulled her closer, pushing her face into his armpit.“Ow!” Russo said loudly when Reese pinched the soft skin there.“That’s for being a stinky asshole,” she said and laughed at the hurt look on his face.Russo made a face and pulled he
Reese’s POVTroy was fast asleep on his side of the bed by the time she finally emerged from the bathroom, hot and bothered. She only had herself to blame for her predicament. She’d told him not to expect sex from her, to get used to his hand. She could kick herself right about now.She found her saran wrapped sandwich on the kitchen counter and made a face before putting the plate in the fridge. She had no appetite anymore, at least not for food. Her nipples were still hard and brushed against her pajama top uncomfortably.Trying to sleep didn’t help much, not so close to Troy, who seemed oblivious to her presence. She couldn’t even blame him for being a dick, because she’d been a dick first. She clamped a hand over her mouth as the laughter threatened to burst through. She could do with a dick now.Her sleep was restless and dreams of a naked Troy haunted her. She woke up with her hand down her pajama bottoms and her own arousal flooding her panties. Troy wasn’t in bed anymore and s