Her pace was slow and uneven, stopping for several minutes before moving again, as though she were wandering without purpose.
Finally the blue marker came to a halt.
“It looks like she’s stopped.”
“Where?”
Adrian zoomed in on the location, studying the surrounding streets and buildings on the digital map.
“A commercial district,” he said.
His eyes moved across the screen before settling on a nearby building.
“There’s a small hotel directly across the street.”
Cassian gave a single nod.
“We’re going there.”
The driver acknowledged the order and immediately steered the lead vehicle toward the city center.
The convoy followed closely behind as rain continued to pound against the windshields, turning the streets into a blur of headlights and reflections.
For several minutes neither man spoke.
Then Adrian glanced over his shoulder.
“Alpha…”
“What?”
Cassian closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat, clearly uninterested in conversation.
Adrian hesitated for a moment before curiosity got the better of him.
“So… you really want this human as your mate?”
Cassian slowly opened his eyes and looked at him.
“What do you think?” The question came with a pointed stare that made Adrian shift slightly in his seat.
He had known Cassian for years, and this was not the first time the National Pairing Authority had assigned someone to him.
As an Alpha of his standing, pairings had never been difficult to come by, yet Cassian had rejected every single one without hesitation.
He had never shown the slightest interest in any of the women the Authority had matched him with.
This time, however, everything was different.
Cassian had not only accepted the bond—he had gone looking for the woman.
“But, Alpha…” Adrian began cautiously.
“She’s human.”
Cassian’s expression hardened instantly.
Adrian continued anyway, unable to keep his opinion to himself.
A human can’t possibly offer you the same advantages.
She doesn’t have the strength, the instincts, or—”
“We should kill her.”
The suggestion came so casually that Adrian almost stopped breathing.
Cassian turned his head slowly toward him.
“You can definitely do that,” he said in an almost bored tone.
“And then you can join her.”
Adrian’s mouth snapped shut.
He faced forward again and suddenly found the rain outside extremely interesting.
For the next several minutes he didn’t say another word.
**********
Westbrook Apartment
After taking a long shower, Nathan stepped out of the bathroom and dried himself before getting dressed.
His mind was still consumed by everything that had happened, and despite everything Lena had said, he could not stop himself from wanting to hear her voice.
He picked up his phone, found Lena’s number, and called.
The phone rang several times, but she did not answer.
Nathan tried again.
Still nothing.
A sense of unease had long settled in his chest.
He lowered the phone for a moment before opening their messages and typing out a text.
Nathan: Lena, please answer my call.
I need to talk to you.
He waited.
The message was delivered and, after a moment, marked as read.
But no response came.
Nathan stared at the screen, his jaw tightening as he sent another message.
Nathan: Where are you?
Please just tell me you’re okay.
Again the message was read.
Again there was no reply.
LENA
Lena had remained standing in the rain long after the notification disappeared from her screen.
The city continued to move around her as though nothing had happened.
Vehicles crawled through the flooded streets with their headlights cutting pale ribbons across the wet pavement, while pedestrians hurried beneath umbrellas, eager to escape the worsening storm.
Everywhere she looked, Pairing Day carried on without pause.
Some people smiled as they walked beside the strangers the system had declared to be their perfect match, while others argued openly as they struggled to accept the lives that had just been chosen for them.
No one paid much attention to the young woman standing alone in the middle of it all.
To everyone else she was simply another casualty of Pairing Day.
Lena lowered her gaze to the phone still clutched tightly in her hand.
Raindrops struck the screen one after another, distorting the words until Cassian Ashford’s name became little more than blurred light beneath her trembling fingers.
A hollow laugh escaped her lips as she whispered bitterly, “What did I ever do to deserve this?
Was losing Nathan not enough?”
She closed her eyes, but the memories refused to leave her alone.
She remembered the first time Nathan had taken her hand, awkward and nervous as though he couldn’t quite believe she had agreed to go out with him.
She remembered their conversation about their future after they got married, the late-night conversations about future children, and the countless promises they had made to grow old together.
Three years of laughter, dreams, and unwavering faith in a future they believed belonged to them had vanished before the afternoon was even over.
A sharp vibration against her palm pulled her back to reality.
Nathan’s name appeared on the screen beside a new message.
Nathan: Please meet me.
I can explain everything.
Lena stared at the words until they blurred together beneath the rain.
Explain?
What explanation could possibly erase what she had seen?
What explanation could undo the image of another woman lying in the bed where they had planned their future together?
What was there to explain about his parent’s standing?
No matter how many answers Nathan offered, they could never change the truth she had witnessed with her own eyes.
It couldn’t erase the truth she came to know.
Her thumb hovered uncertainly over the screen before she opened their conversation.
Thousands of messages stretched back over the past three years.
There were photographs from birthdays they had celebrated together, anniversary wishes, late-night conversations that lasted until sunrise, arguments that always ended with heartfelt apologies, and endless discussions about the wedding they intended to have someday.
They had talked about….