Chapter 4

Shane

The surprise on Karri's face disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

She stepped aside to let me in, then turned around and walked back toward the bedroom without sparing me another glance. I closed the door behind me and stood there for a moment, watching her retreating figure. That was strange.

For three years, Karri had never wasted an opportunity to have me in the same room with her. If I came home, she would follow me around, asking whether I had eaten, telling me about her day or finding some ridiculous excuse to keep me talking to her. Even when I made it obvious that I wasn't interested, she never seemed discouraged. Tonight, she simply walked away.

I followed her toward the bedroom, still trying to understand the sudden change in her behavior. "Karri, I expected you to attend the Alpha meeting today because you're my Luna, but you didn't show up…how could you?" She stopped near the bedroom door and finally turned to look at me.

"I wasn't needed."

My brows furrowed immediately. "You are the Luna. You are always needed."

Her expression remained calm as she looked at me. "Marisa already handled it."

"You're the Luna, Karri, not Marisa."

"Oh please."

The simple answer bothered me more than it should have. I stared at her as she turned away again, and something about the way she dismissed the conversation made me want to stop her.

"Why aren't you even trying to hide that you're abandoning your responsibilities on purpose?"

She stopped and remained silent for a moment before turning around to face me. There was no anger in her expression, no attempt to defend herself or argue with me. She simply looked tired.

"Because everyone already has the Luna they want." Her words settled heavily between us.

I didn't have an immediate answer. She didn't sound angry or like she was trying to make me feel guilty. She simply sounded as though she had finally accepted something I had never bothered to question.

I watched her walk into the bedroom, and for some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about what she had said. Was this because of me? Had my attention always been so obviously fixed on Marisa that Karri had finally stopped trying?

I couldn't deny that Marisa had always been important to me. Long before Karri entered my life, Marisa had already become a part of my family's history.

I was twelve when I went into the woods and was attacked by enemy wolves. I had been separated from my guards and didn't stand a chance against them. By the time they left me, I was barely breathing, my body covered in wounds and my wolf too weak to move. I remember the cold ground beneath me and the sound of my own breathing becoming weaker, but I also remember a little girl appearing beside me.

She had golden eyes.

I never got a proper look at her face before I lost consciousness, but I remembered the warmth that spread through my body when her blood entered my mouth. When I woke up, she was lying unconscious beside me, and there was a deep cut across her wrist where she had used her claw to make her golden blood flow.

It was Marisa. She had been barely ten years old.

The healers later explained what she had done to me. She had been far too young to use her golden blood to heal a dying Brandes Alpha. The golden-blooded Lunas were only considered mature enough to safely heal an Alpha as strong as me when they reached eighteen, but Marisa had forced her power to save me when she was only ten.

It had taken a terrible toll on her body.

After that night, Marisa became weak, and the healers warned my family that she had given too much of herself to save me. My family had never forgotten what she had done, and neither had I. Even though the goddess had not made her my mate, Marisa was still the person who had saved my life when I was a child. She was my benefactor, and my family had always treated the debt we owed her as something that could never truly be repaid.

Maybe that was why my attention naturally remained on her. What's there to be jealous about?

I looked toward the bedroom again, Karri had already gotten into bed. She didn't even look at me.

That unsettled me more than I wanted to admit. For three years, she had tried everything to make me notice her. But tonight, she wasn't trying.

My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, I needed her.

The headache had grown worse during the drive home, and the restless feeling inside my body had become almost unbearable. Karri's scent had always helped me sleep, even when I refused to admit how much I depended on it. Tonight, more than anything, I needed to be close to her.

I went into my room and took a quick shower before returning to the bedroom. Karri was lying on her side with her back toward me, already covered. I slipped into bed and moved closer, pulling her gently against me.

She didn't push me away, but she didn't react either. Her body only stiffened in my arms, so rigid that it felt as though she was deliberately holding herself still, as if even the warmth of her mate's body touching hers disgusted her.

"Shane..." Her voice was quiet, and I waited for her to continue. "I don't get it. Aren't you already exhausted today?"

I went still for a moment, that had always been my line.

Whenever Karri came looking for me after a long day, I would tell her I was exhausted. Sometimes she would pout, sometimes she would try again, and eventually the pull between us would become too difficult to ignore. I would reluctantly give in, convincing myself it was nothing more than the mate bond.

But tonight, she was the one saying it to me… She didn't want me.

My wolf needed her scent, and right now, Karri was the only one who could give me the rest my body was desperately asking for. I buried my face on her back, she arced as my lips traced kisses down the line on her back. Her body suddenly heated up.

“Shane—” she begged, but before she could continue, my hands slow lifted her nighty, fuck! Seeing her in it earlier must have worsened the need.

I want to strip her and bury myself in her until there's nothing left.

“Shh! I want you Karri…can we forget every other thing for now? Please?” I whispered but it came out breathy.