len

to me, their curiosity a palpable force. My first instinct was to have security throw the impertinent courier out on

ut the courier, a fresh-faced kid named Ricky Hicks accor

it must be signed for by you, and only you," he announ

air tasting like ash. Through clench

owd part before me like I was a leper. I snatched the electronic c

rd box as if it were a holy relic. Then he turne

eightless and impossibly heavy, a Trojan h

e office?" Seraphina whispered, gliding to my sid

of the room, turning my back on the prying eyes. M

d turne

ery same document I had contemptuously crumpled and

resh copy. Prist

the line for the rejectin

a Va

egant, confident,

et from an international wire transfer. The amount, $2

re piece of stationery, was a sing

We owe each

he wolf inside me howled, a primal

lla and wildflowers. My wolf whined, craving the mate who had just rejected

trum. This was a

reduced our two-year marriage, my patronage, my very name, to a t

me-shattered into a million pieces. A woman who could conjure twenty-two million dollars out of

his Beta instincts sensing my distress. His eyes fell on the contents of th

ence, approached again. "Kaelen,

a gunshot in the quiet corner. My knuckles were

not rejected. I was not dismissed. And I was

e," I snarled, shoving

out of my way. I didn't look back. I couldn't. The feeli

, her voice laced with p

o bring my car around. I snatched the keys from his hand an

found it was almost a physical illness. I needed to hear he

er number o

not to voicemail, but a deliberate, clean en

to process what had just happened. She ha

t redial. This time it didn't even

the phone tightened until the screen creaked. The silence in the ca

ing. For two years, she had craved my attention. And now, whe

he could sign a piece of paper and be done with me. She thought she co

to the night. I didn't know where she was.

thing with abso

I called. Even if I had to hunt her