Chapter 2

My parents were the Alpha and Luna of the Red Hill pack. They'd never approved of Ethan as my mate. We'd had a huge fight about it, and I'd left with him for Goldstone without their blessing. I closed my eyes and reached for our link.

When the link opened again, I heard my father's worried voice. "Sienna, we heard a rival pack attacked your territory. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay."

They kept going. "Are you still with Ethan?"

I thought about it before I answered. "Mm-hm."

My mother's voice came through, urgent. "Your father and I talked it over. If you'll come home, we'll give you our blessing. We'll arrange the mating ceremony ourselves."

Talking to them made me feel a little better, so I settled into the reception room and started scrolling on my phone.

Everybody was posting pictures of their food from the shelter with captions like, "Evacuating, but at least our Alpha's keeping us fed!"

I looked at all those bright, mouthwatering photos, and my stomach growled. Only then did I remember I hadn't eaten dinner.

But the office was empty, so I tried to ignore my hunger.

While I was scrolling, a coworker texted me. "Sienna, is that your mate?"

He sent me a photo of Maya with her arm hooked through Ethan's. The table in front of them was covered in food. Her caption read, "His cooking is so good, I can't get enough of it."

I typed back, "Not anymore."

Glass shattered somewhere down the hall. I rushed out of the reception room and saw that the shelling had reached the building. Several windows had been blown out by the blasts.

Smoke came pouring in. I ran back into the reception room and shoved the couch against the door and window.

It looked like the end of the world out there. I took out my phone and called Ethan again.

The phone rang and rang. Just when I thought he wasn't going to answer, he finally picked up.

Before I could say anything, Ethan said quickly, "Sienna? Hang on a second. I'm a little busy right now."

I was scared, and the words tumbled out. "Ethan, I'm still at the office. The shelling's getting closer. The windows are shattering. I'm so scared. Can you stay on the phone with me?"

All I could hear was noise on his end. I had no idea what he was doing. After a while, his voice came back. "What? I can't hear you. Just stay in the safe zone. I'm busy right now. I have to go."

A second later, Maya's voice came through, sounding hurt. "Eth, is there anything you're not good at? You're amazing at video games too."

Ethan sounded resigned. "You went easy on me, that's all. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have won that fast."

"Then will you cook for me again tomorrow?"

"Okay, okay."

I pushed down my fear, but the ache in my chest hurt even more.

I couldn't lie to myself anymore. Everything I'd given him over the years meant less to him than a coworker he'd known for two years.

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms.

I stayed silent for a long time. When my phone slipped to the floor, I didn't even pick it up.

After a while Ethan spoke up again. "Hello? Sienna, are you still there?"

When I didn't answer, Maya said, "It's probably just a bad signal. It's fine.

"Eth, come on, let's keep playing."

Then the call ended.

The shelling continued outside. Smoke reached the window, and I stood there frozen, my face blank.

I barely got the words out. "Ethan, I regret all of it."

The shelling drowned out my words.