“No.” Mica shook her head. “I haven’t seen him, but it’s only been a few hours.”
Long enough to allow the truth to sink in. To realize that somehow Navarro had been so against mating her that he had managed to escape it.
He had done what no other Breed had been able to do. He had been able to reverse the mating hormone.
How? How could he have done it?
“He fears what he carries inside him more than he fears losing his mate,” Cassie said softly as that thought brushed through her mind.
Mica froze. “What did you say?”
“Aren’t you listening, Mica?” Cassie asked gently.
“I missed part of it.” Her heart was racing now. How had Cassie known?
“I said, Ely told Dr. Armani that Navarro fears what he carries inside him more than he fears losing his mate. I think I believe it. I know he’s recessed, but he sometimes appears more human than even a recessed Breed.”
Mica was on the verge of breathing a sigh of relief. God help them all if Cassie ever developed the talent to read others’ thoughts. She would single-handedly start World War III.
“It doesn’t matter what he fears,” Mica finally said, the weight of the rejection pulling at her, exhausting her until she just wanted to curl into a corner and weep herself. “He started this, Cassie. He mated me. I didn’t ask for it. Now he thinks he can escape it?” Bitterness welled inside her. “He obviously wants to escape it.”
“I don’t believe that, Mica,” Cassie sighed. “But I’m not there either. You always told me you were woman enough to know when a man was yours and when he wasn’t. You’ll know if you should fight for him, or if you should see if all those vicious little mating hormones can become compatible with another Wolf Breed. Just think, girlfriend, you could set a precedent yourself by showing all Breed females, and perhaps later the world, that no one has to be a victim of mating heat. Right?”
“Yeah, right. How about I just swear off Breeds period? I think that would be the better course of action, Cassie.” All she wanted to do was find ease and sleep. She wanted to sink against Navarro’s flesh and find the comfort, the satisfaction she’d known earlier.
“And I think we both know that’s not possible,” Cassie reminded her sadly. “If I could help you, Mica, I would. I wish I were there with you. We’d give them so much hell they’d regret the day either of us was ever born.”
Mica guessed that may have already happened. They’d terrorized the Breeds at Haven and in Sanctuary for years before they’d become adults.
“I know, Cassie.” She wished her friend were there as well. It was just her luck that she was left to face it alone instead.
Somehow, she’d always suspected this would happen, and that when it did, she would have to face it without help.
“Call me, Mica, if you need me,” Cassie whispered. “You know I’m always here.”
“I know.” Mica felt her lips trembling again. “I promise, Cassie. Now I better go. I have a few things to finish here, then I think I’ll go to bed.”
“I love you, Mica,” Cassie stated, the regret and compassion in her voice nearly breaking Mica as Cassie fought to hold back the loneliness and the fear Mica could hear building inside her.
“I love you too, Cass,” Mica promised. “Good night.”
She disconnected as she breathed in a hard, ragged breath.
She couldn’t let herself cry. God only knew if she would ever stop if she started. There was too much pain built inside her, too many long, lonely nights of wondering what was wrong with her, why it seemed that even making friends was so difficult. Let alone lovers. Before Navarro, she’d only had one previous lover, in college, and she’d awakened the next morning to find him gone. He’d never even called her back, after spending months chasing her.
She’d moved to New York to escape her father’s rule and learned that the big city was less than friendly. Making friends was nearly impossible for her.
She’d never seen herself as an unlikeable person.
She was friendly. She was reasonably attractive. Sometimes, she even knew how to carry off a joke. Yet she’d spent the better part of her life alone, except for Cassie and her parents.
Alone and wondering why.
Now she was mated and her mate had rejected her in the most elemental way, proving once and for all that something was indeed wrong.
Rising to her feet, she moved slowly across the room to the windows on the other side. Standing before them, she stared into the gathering darkness, hands shoved into the back pockets of her jeans, and faced the knowledge that she would spend another night alone.
Aching.