CHAPTER 13

Nothing,” she slurred. “What you should be asking is… what didn’t we do?”

“What didn't we do?” Jace snapped. His voice was low and shaky. A mix of rage and disbelief. "How does that make sense?"

Luci tilted her head lazily. Dropping back to the bed and cuddling up with the pillow. She stretched like a satisfied cat. A coy smile danced on her lips as her voice remained soft, almost amused, as she let out a little laugh.

Jace’s fists clenched at his sides. His heart pounded heavily in his chest as he struggled to make sense of anything. Everything that had happened the night before made no sense.

“I’m going to ask this again,” he said slowly, trying to keep his rage locked up. “Why are you naked in my bed? Why am I—” He looked down again, the bile threatening to choke out. “Why am I naked, too?”

Luci turned to face him, and her expression dropped. She curled her lips slightly. “You don’t remember?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I did,” Jace snapped. “Start talking, now! The sooner, the better. I’m not in the mood to play games.”

She chuckled, rising from a lying position. She stared at him for a while, smirking hard. She swung her legs off the bed with deliberate slowness. She stood to her feet, letting the duvet slip down her features slightly, all the way down her legs.

“You’re in no position to bark orders at me, Alpha,” she said. Her voice came out smooth. “Not after the way you had me last night.”

Jace stepped back, his face twisted in contempt. “Don’t talk to me like that,” he growled. “What the hell is wrong with you? Have you completely lost your mind?”

Luci shrugged. She couldn't be any less interested. Her gaze remained steady. “The only thing I lost,” she paused, her voice was soft but sharp, “was my virginity.”

The words hit Jace like a heavy blow to the chest.

He stood frozen. He opened his mouth, then closed it partly, his mouth half open. His breath caught as he pondered over her words over and over.

His mind screamed at him to reject it, to refuse the very idea, but the more he tried to remember, the more he was met with nothing.

He looked away for a moment, trying to calm his nerves. He tried to make sense of what she’d just said. Could it be true? Could he have? No. He wouldn’t, not with Luci, not ever.

But the look on her face, the confident look she kept. It all didn't add up.

He turned back toward her, still searching for an answer. He looked into her eyes, looking for some form of doubt in her eyes, but there was none.

Then he let his eyes drop, taking in her now exposed figure. Then he returned his gaze to her face, meeting a smirk from Luci.

"Thought you had enough of me last night," she teased.

“Get dressed,” he said through gritted teeth. “Now!”

Luci just laughed, not out of amusement. Her laugh held a wicked story behind it.

Back at Clara’s apartment.

Clara stirred with a groan, the dim morning light snuck in through the half-parted curtains. She tried turning, but couldn't; she felt pain in many places. Her neck was in an awkward position. She’d fallen asleep in a strange manner.

Her back felt stiff, and one of her legs dangled halfway off the bed.

She blinked slowly, trying to recall when she fell asleep. Her head hurt terribly, pounding rapidly as she tried to stand.

Her head was at the foot of the bed while her arms were wrapped tightly around the duvet like a shield. One of her knees poked off the edge of the mattress. The pillow and bead spread lay scattered on the floor.

Her throat felt dry, hoarse like she hadn't had anything to drink in months. Her memories of last night slipped in slowly, each one hurt more than the last. The shower, the dress, the supposed dinner, Jace's snub.The slow realization that Jace wasn’t coming, that he never would.

Her arms tightened around the duvet, remembering how she had clung to it like it could protect her from her betrayed trust. She’d cried herself into exhaustion, and her body shook long after the tears had stopped. The pain still lingered.

She lay there for a few more minutes, not quite ready to face the day. At least not till the stiffness in her back subsided.

With great effort, she pushed herself into a sitting position.

A groan escaped her lips as she clutched her side tightly. Pain surged through her abdomen, her head pounded, matching her heartbeat.

Her whole body ached.

Her hands trembled as she reached for the edge of the mattress, trying to recall herself. Her waist, her back, her shoulders—all of it felt like she had been carrying loads for hours.

She raised a hand to her head, resting her head as it felt too heavy for her neck. A thought ran through her head, a fragment of last night.

She could see the events of last night again, in bits. The dinner table, the lights, the hopeful glances toward the door, the growing panic as time ticked slower than ever. Then the resolve.

“I’ll never feel like that again,” she whispered.

She swore it to herself like a vow.

Never again.

Clara slid her legs off the side of the bed, wincing at the feeling of the cold floor beneath her feet. She took a deep breath and forced herself to her feet, only for another sharp pain to shoot through her abdomen.

"Fuck," she cursed. She clutched her stomach again. A cold bead of sweat formed on her forehead.

Her eyes narrowed with her hand still pressed firmly against her belly.

It wasn’t just the emotional pain again. It was something else.

A sharp, persistent pain that had nothing to do with heartbreak.

Her breath caught in her throat as it dawned on her heavily. She looked down slowly and froze.

Something she had forgotten.

She gasped softly, her eyes widened.

Something very little…

Yet so serious.