him, he’d felt her rejection. His beast had felt it too, and its possessiveness had roared through and messed it all up.
Now he had to get her to see the truth of the Fewshon, a truth he hadn’t been aware of until she was gone.
He didn’t own her. She wasn’t his. He was hers.
He opened the car door and slid out. Streetlights illuminated the deserted street in an orangey fluorescent glow. A wave of sadness suddenly hit him, and he tensed.
Not now. Please, not now.
No odd taste entered his mouth, and he relaxed, but he stood, staring at her house. She was inside crying. Over what?
Over who?
As he crossed the road and stepped onto the curb, a car flew around the corner. Headlights blinded him for a moment before the car screeched to a halt in front of her house.
A tall man with dark hair shot out of the car and hurried up the walkway. Halfway there, her door crashed opened and she sprinted down the stairs. The grief increased as she threw herself in the arms of another man, her sobs like punches to his gut, knocking the wind from him.
The guy shushed her, holding her close. When he kissed the top of her head in such an affectionate, loving way, Liam felt as if his world had been turned on its axis and he stumbled back.
This man loved her, and from the warmth that filled his veins—she loved him too.
“No,” he whispered.
The idea of Ava loving anyone but him felt impossible, especially when he’d always love her and only her.
He started to turn away just as the couple drew apart. Ava glanced at him, her eyes widening. Shock zapped his blood. She stepped forward. Then stopped. They stared at each other. He soaked in her beauty, the way her strawberry-blond hair hung free around her shoulders, a strand lightly flipping into the air as a breeze blew by. The way she still wore her favorite pajamas: an oversized T-shirt with a pair of men’s boxers.
Most of all he soaked in the way she looked at him, with awe, and could he believe it? Happiness? It was there in his blood too. Slightly. Just a tingle.
She took another step closer. Never saying a word, eyes locked on him. He stood frozen, willing her to choose him. To run to him and throw herself in his arms.
Let him be the one to comfort her, the way it should be.
The guy placed a hand on her forearm. Ava jumped, her gaze tearing from Liam’s to stare at the fingers on her arm. Slowly she lifted her head.
Liam’s breath caught, waiting for her answer.
His blood ran cold from her decision even before she turned away and walked arm-in-arm back into the house with the other man.
As the door closed behind them, Liam wished he was completely connected to his beast, could set the seething animal free, yet all he felt was numb. She’d rejected him. Again. But instead of running off into the night and refusing to see him, this time she’d stared him straight in the eye, turned her back on him, and willingly walked away with another man.
It was official.
He was doomed to hell on earth. All he could pray for now was that the afterlife might bring him peace.
Chapter Five
Jaylin tapped the end of her pen on the oversize calendar on the top of her desk, staring at the many empty appointments she’d yet to fill. If things didn’t take a drastic turn, she’d be forced to seriously consider closing the practice.
God, she didn’t want that. She’d opened the practice just weeks after graduating from college and had been here ever since with a thriving clientele—of shifters.
Could she have made a mistake by changing focus?
She didn’t want to think so. She could still remember her relief when she’d finally made the decision to go strictly human after months of back-and-forth.
Unfortunately, time had proven that shifters were where the money was and she’d pretty much cut herself off at the knees when she’d weeded them from her client list. Money was necessary. Without it, she was screwed. Left with nothing to live off. With it, she was still screwed. Stuck working in an area of therapy she no longer wanted to be a part of.
The question was, which was worse?
Flicking her pen on the calendar, she leaned back in her chair and groaned. Why did life have to be so damn hard? Everything had been going fine until she’d decided