Chapter 5 5

Lorien POV

I didn’t have to watch him go. I felt it the hollow snap of our bond tearing, like threads of my soul unraveling and being carried away with every step Rhael took from me.

My legs refused to keep pace with my desperation. I stumbled, tripping over roots and stones as I sprinted toward my pitiful excuse for a home. Each uneven breath ripped through my chest, and my palms pressed hard against my sternum as though I could physically hold myself together.

The door groaned as I flung it open and slammed it shut behind me, the noise cracking through the quiet like a gunshot. Still moving, I paced the cramped space back and forth, fingers tangling in my hair until my fists ached from pulling. Thoughts screamed through my skull, a million of them colliding too fast for me to catch even one. The room swam; the walls wavered like heat ripples.

How could he do this to me? After everything. After all the years I had waited. After last night.

I had given him everything. My heart. My trust. My virginity.

My skin was slick with sweat from shock and pain, but beneath it all, I could smell only him. His scent clung to me like a brand. I could feel him still his body pressed to mine, skin sliding against skin as he drove into me, the sound of his low groans etched into my memory. The memory burned; it coated me in shame.

His sweat still mingled with mine. Bits of dirt from the forest floor clung to my back. His seed was still between my thighs.

My fingers twisted harder in my hair, tugging at the roots until my scalp stung. Instinct screamed for punishment because how naïve did I have to be, believing someone like him would ever truly want someone like me?

Tears streaked down my cheeks. I wiped at them with shaking hands, but they only came faster. My nails were dark with dirt, my palms as grimy as the rest of me. The noise in my head roared louder.

I bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door into the wall with a crash. The small space echoed with my ragged panting as I twisted the faucet and let the water run. The first icy spray hit my skin like knives, but I didn’t move. I deserved it.

A guttural sound left me half moan, half growl as I snatched up the soap and began scrubbing, scraping at my skin with frantic strokes. I had to get him off me. I had to scrub away the feel of his hands, his mouth, his body. Because that’s all it had been to him.

Mates made love, honoring their bond. He hadn’t. Rhael had taken a weak Omega who trusted him and used her simply because he could.

No matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn’t get clean. My skin burned raw under my own touch. My body stiffened beneath the unrelenting cold as I collapsed to the shower floor, curling into a ball. The sobs ripped free, loud enough for neighbors to hear through the thin walls, but I didn’t care.

At some point, I forced myself out of the bathroom. My blanket smelled faintly of dust as I curled beneath it on my thin cot. It barely softened the floor beneath me, but it was all I had.

I pulled the ripped, tattered fabric up to my chin and stared at the peeling wall while the tears just kept coming.

Day turned into night and back into day again. I groaned, yanking the blanket over my head, wanting to disappear. My cot wasn’t comfortable, but it was familiar. It was all the safety I had left.

My bladder screamed at me, but I stayed still, torn between getting up and staying hidden. Then the front door slammed open, the handle smashing into the wall behind it with a deafening crack.

I jumped to my feet, my sore muscles screaming in protest. I didn’t care that I was naked. My soul felt shredded, my body broken, but I wasn’t ready to die yet. I’d defend myself if I had to.

And then he filled the doorway.

Rhael.

The sunlight cut across his face as he stormed in, his expression dark and violent, a storm about to break.

“Rhael!” I gasped, shock spiking through my chest. Why was he here? After last night, after his rejection, after acting like I was nothing, I hadn’t thought he even knew where I lived. “What are you doing here?”

He didn’t answer. His steps were heavy, threatening, every line of his body a warning. “Did you tell them?!”

My breath hitched. Goosebumps swept over me whether from the draft of the open door or the cold fury in his eyes, I couldn’t tell. “Who? What are you talking about?”