Chapter 2

Xavier:

For a heartbeat, I just stared at the papers in her hand.

A divorce.

She had actually filed for a divorce…

My fingers closed over the document but I didn’t look at it. My eyes stayed on her, on the way she held the sheet around her body like armor, on the way her chin didn’t tremble even though her pulse did.

“You’ve lost your mind,” I said finally, my voice low. “And if you think that this is a way out, then you are very wrong.”

“No,” she said calmly. “I don’t think I am.”

Heat rolled through my chest, my wolf pressing against my skin, furious. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to? You’re crossing your limits. And I think that you need…”

“I’m talking to my husband,” she said, stopping me, her tone sharper now. “And telling him I’m done being humiliated. I am done watching you with other women while I sit back. You are not even being subtle about it. You are speaking to her right in front of me. She does not like you being with me, touching me… as if she should be the one to have a say.”

“You don’t get to walk away,” I growled, stepping toward her. “Not from me. And you sure as hell do not get to speak of her in such a manner.”

She didn’t back up. “Watch me.”

My hand shot out, grabbing her wrist before she could turn. “Valerie.” Her name came out like a warning, like a plea I refused to recognize. “Do you really think that bringing in a paper that has a few lines written on it that you can just walk out? Do you really think that it means anything?”

“It means everything,” she said, yanking at her arm. “It means I’m finished. I’m not your Luna. I’m not your wife. I’m a woman you use when you feel like it, and I’m done. I do not want to be in your life.”

“Stop talking,” I hissed. “Unless you want things to take a turn that you do not like… I will recommend that you stop talking.”

“No,” she snapped. “You stop calling her while I’m still in your bed… while you were just inside of me. You stop acting like I’m a duty and she’s your life. You stop treating me like a mistress and she’s your mate. You stop pretending this is anything but a cage! I am done playing this game with you. And I sure as hell do not want to find myself being stuck in this.”

My wolf surged forward. I slammed my palm flat against the dresser beside her head, caging her in without touching her. “I told you, you don’t get to walk away from me. And the fact that you think that you can just walk away, that you can make a decision like this one, and angers me.”

Her eyes didn’t flinch. “And I told you I want a divorce. I do not care about what you think anymore. I am done living that life where I am living under your shadow. I am done.”

For a long, furious moment, the only sound was our breathing. Then I forced myself to step back, my voice rough.

“You think this ends with a signature? You think you can decide when you stop being mine?” I asked, taking a step towards her. She looked up at me. My body towered over hers, and yet she did not cower.

She lifted her chin. “Yes. Because it ends things between us.”

I smiled then, slow and dark. “You’re wrong.”

Her throat worked, but she didn’t look away.

“You’re still my mate,” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. “And until I say otherwise, you’re not going anywhere. And I do not care how many papers you file, I will just burn them all and I will make you a watch.”

I walked to the fireplace and through the paper in it, watching as it burned before turning to the counter. It was winter, but it was not the cold air that brought the child to my spine. It was her words and the fact that she thought that she could do this. “You want to run, little wolf? Go ahead. But remember what happens to prey when the Alpha starts the hunt…”