Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ispotted Miko bounding toward the tower as the sun got ready to set, Cate close behind him.
He looked seriously annoyed.
Regardless, I hurried down to the gates to meet him, not thinking clearly. Ready for a confrontation.
What a fool.
Miko stopped before me, a face full of thunder. “Not now.”
Stars. If looks could kill…
“Yes, now,” I said, knowing full well I was being petulant and unreasonable. “We need to talk. I’m not being put through—”
“No!” He roared. “Fucking no!”
I backed off, his boom a hurricane.
“Sir, please…” Cate tried.
He turned on her, a force of scary muscle and fury. “I said no. To all of it. No fucking exploring, none of that shit.” Back to me. “I have nothing to say to you because this ain’t happening. Fuck the bond. Fuck all of it.”
Revelation hit me between the eyes. “Bond…”
Oh. No. It couldn’t be that. Could it?
My throat closed up as I tried to speak. “What—”
“Yeah, the universe decided to have a giggle and bond us. That’s what happened last night.”
I heard Cate gasp.
Miko carried on yelling. “But forget about it. We’re not fated mates, we’re not anything. I don’t want anything from you.” He poured so much poison into that last sentence.
“I—”
“Leave me the fuck alone.” He stormed past me, bounding up the stairs.
My heart winced, a horrible ache ricocheting through my rib cage. I wobbled and toppled forward.
Cate caught me.
Unbearable ache. Lost at sea, no life raft, no way out.
Grief. This felt like grief.
“It’s okay,” Cate soothed.
I righted myself, taking a step back.
“Orion.”
“I’m done.”
“Give him—”
“I don’t have any time to…” Crap. What was I even saying? We were bonded. The wolf had imprinted on me, declaring me as his mate. The storm and the blood licking fell into place, and I hated it.
Seriously hated it.
“I can’t let this happen to me,” I said.
“There’s no breaking it,” Cate replied, keeping calm. “When it’s done, it’s done. Destiny found you.”
“Destiny can lose me again.”
“Orion…”
Curse me for wanting him, for this mourning of his rejection.
Curse him for being the worst sort of assbug.
I’d read a book on rejected shifter mates before. It was fictional, a romance, and apparently rejections never happened in reality. Destiny never got bondings wrong.
First time for everything, I guess.
I ran, ignoring Cate’s calls, crashing into my flat to gather my things.
As I got to packing, tears broke free. Tears Miko didn’t deserve to have.
Weeping over nothing. I didn’t want him romantically, didn’t—
Okay, maybe I did kind of want him like that, but whatever.
What I really wanted was to get out of this tower.
It took me ten minutes to break out of the stupid grief over the stupid bonding I never wanted.
I dressed, forgoing a trip to the food stores to steal some supplies.
There was an energy bar in my backpack. That would be fine for tonight.
I’d find shelter, sleep off this crap, then scavenge for food.
Reset. Get back to me. Free of this nonsense.
Being alone beat being yelled at and having my head messed with. Soft Orion might have taken it, but not Apocalypse Me.
I pondered leaving the axe, but took it for survival reasons, along with my new clothes. After filling my water bottle, I went to the balcony.
Cold night air greeted my face, the threat of rain lingering in its metallic-scented glory.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I whispered to myself, giving my wind-watch a turn.
Air curled around my wrists, moving up my arms to my head, ruffling my newly cut hair.
Miko’s head was so lodged up his backside he hadn’t even noticed my new do.
Who cares?
I inspected the distance between me and the ground. Far enough to make my stomach roil, the fences possibly a problem. Hopefully, I’d float clear of the fences.
I clicked the float button on my device and climbed onto the balustrade, praying to the stars for an easy landing.
“Three. Two. One.”
I stepped off the balcony, immediately caught by the air.
Don’t look down…
The air carried me beyond the fences, depositing me onto the path with grace.
Right next to a slowie.
I drew my axe, my hands releasing only a dull throb of pain now. I ended the zombie with two strikes into the top of her skull, then took off west along the Thames path. Eyes hot with tears again, a nasty throbbing in my heart begging me to go back.
Shifter bonds might not break, but I’d make sure to fray the thread.
I never wanted to see his face again.