Broken Bond - Callie Rose Page 0,40

is right, as always.

The three of them never once made me feel less than wanted or needed. Or less than whole. Even Trystan with his macho, hothead alphaness hasn’t made me feel worthless at all.

Ridge shakes his head as he presses away from the wall, and his face contorting with fury. He lashes out, punching Dare in the face. The blow clips the black-haired man across the jaw, and Dare’s head jerks sideways as he grunts. With a snarl, he recovers and lashes out, his hand wrapping around Ridge’s throat as he slams the amber-eyed shifter against the wall.

Ridge’s hand tightens into a fist again, and I brace for the blow. But it never comes. Instead, he uncurls his fingers, glaring at the man in front of him.

“You fucking jackass,” he rasps, a disgusted tone in his voice. “No one here is a monster but you.”

My panic has risen in the face of all this anger and violence. I clutch at the bedcovers, swaying on my feet. I want to run away and get out of here, to flee from the emotions churning through the room like thunderclouds. But I don’t. I stare at the two men before me, wondering how on earth we got to this moment.

“Please. Stop,” I whisper, surprised at myself that I even have the nerve to speak.

For a split second, Dare doesn’t move.

Then he backs away, letting go of Ridge’s neck as if his skin had burned him. He looks over at me guiltily, then glances away before we can fully lock eyes. His jaw hardens, but he keeps his gaze firmly away from me.

Nobody moves.

Nobody even seems to breathe, really.

Then from the doorway, Archer speaks up. His voice is pained, as if he already suspects the answer to his question.

“Does this mean it’s over? You’ve chosen Ridge to be your mate?”

14

Sable

An absolute silence settles over the room at Archer’s question.

Shocked, I have to readjust my grip on the edge of the bed as my knees go weak. Is it over? Have I chosen? A pang hits me right in the chest, and I press my fingers to the spot, trying to massage it away.

Having sex with Ridge felt right. It felt incredible, and not just physically. It was the perfect expression of the feelings growing between us.

But it didn’t feel like some kind of magical “mating” ceremony. And I don’t feel any different about him now than I did before it happened. If we completed the mating and cemented the bond, wouldn’t I know? Wouldn’t I have picked up some kind of special mate feeling? Wouldn’t Ridge know or have mentioned it in those moments after we finished?

“No. It’s not over,” I say quickly, glancing at Ridge with my brow wrinkled. “That didn’t happen. Right?”

Honestly, I’m looking for reassurance that I didn’t miss something important. I try to imagine what it would be like to just be with Ridge, to watch the other three shifters walk out and never return.

The idea sends stark terror flooding through me.

I can’t stand the thought of losing them. Not because I don’t care for Ridge and definitely not because I don’t want him. I do care for him, and God help me, I still want him. But I care for them all—even Dare, no matter how much he seems to hate me. I want them all. Mentally, emotionally, and physically. I’m incredibly sated from having sex with Ridge, but I can still imagine leading them to the bed and letting each of them claim me exactly as he did. The thought makes warmth spiral through my core.

Ridge is leaning against the wall, naked and unashamed of it. He shakes his head. “No. I don’t think it was a choosing,” he agrees. “The mate bond isn’t solidified.”

“I didn’t choose Ridge,” I say, my voice gaining a little strength now that he’s backed me up on this. “But I didn’t not choose him either.”

God, I’m so fucking bad at this.

I look around at the other three men, not quite able to read the expressions on their faces. They each wear an odd mixture of pain, anger, and hope, which seems like a vast ocean of emotion to be feeling. Not that my own wild emotions are any easier to handle.

I take a breath and steel myself before I begin to speak. “Since the moment I was dragged into that summit meeting and you each began claiming me, every single person who seems to know what they’re talking about has said