Love's Fierce, Patient Embrace

is coffee cup in the sink in the mornings. We didn't speak of the anniversary. We didn't speak of anything. The space between us had grown into a chasm, and I no longer had the

evening, the imp

he words swimming meaninglessly before my eyes. The scent of old paper

t. His expression was unreadable, as always. "The annua

in Veridia. It was a night of politics and power plays disguised with champagne and music. I had never been. In our first year,

of the sudden, wild hope blooming in my chest. *I

and business-like. "Several of the allied Alphas will be

of cold water, but they weren't enough to extinguish the tiny flame

allowing a small, tentati

gaze already dista

ep midnight blue silk that shimmered like a star-dusted sky. It felt wonderful against my skin, a whisper of a life I could have had.

I pulled out my grandmother's pendant. The moonstone glowed softly in the lamplight. I fastened the silver chain around my neck, the stone

devastatingly handsome in a black tuxedo, a perfect specimen

t a compliment, more a statement of fact, but I

e only sound. I sat stiffly in the plush leather seat, the scent of his expensive cologne filling the small space. I tried to make convers

This was a mistake. He's just us

was held when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and his entire demeanor

voice urgent. "What

on on the other end, but

with a tenderness and love he had never, not once, shown me. "

ove

he world tilted, sound fading to a dull roar in my ears. He loved her. He was abandoning our anniversary for her. He w

inst the wet asphalt. We were plunged into a sudden, violent stillness on t

ee me. His eyes were wild, focus

ded, the words an afte

t, the sound of tearing fabric and snapping bone a sickening counterpoint to the drumming rain. In his place stood a massiv

, completely, and

a cold, heavy blanket. The pain was so immense it was almost silent, a vast, empty void where my heart used to be. The

silk dress, plastering my hair to my scalp. I didn't care. I stumbled out onto the road, the asphalt rough and uneve

t like death. I just stood there, letting the storm

blindi

in the glare. A sleek, black vehicle, even more imposing than Mark's, screeched to a

him. He was impossibly tall, his frame exuding a raw, untamed power that made the air crackle. It was a

his piercing silver eyes-the color of a winter moon-locked onto mine. His face shif

ad tilting slightly, as if tasting the air, tasting my scent. A low, possessive growl rumbled deep in his chest, a so

ne, and he uttered a si

in