4.

CLEO

Black glasses covered Laurent’s eyes but it didn't matter. I could feel his gaze burning through them. 

I picked up my bag and crossed the tarmac toward him.

The years had done nothing to soften him. If anything they had stripped away whatever softness had once existed and left something harder and more formidable in its place. 

In his place stood a man whose shoulders filled his black coat completely, with a jaw that could have been cut from granite. 

Without looking back, Laurent snapped his finger at someone. A man dressed in black coat opened the car door. 

“Get in." Laurent ordered. 

I rolled my eyes sarcastically. “Good morning to you too, Laurent. What a pleasant surprise to see you here.” 

I saw a flicker of disbelief behind his blank eyes. “You disappear for years and you expect a marching band to welcome you back? Get into the damned car, Cleo.” 

Yeah, he definitely didn't approve. His tone was a mix of rude and annoyed. But his condescending manner was what made my blood boil. 

“I didn't expect anything. Come to think of it, anyone else would have been more welcome than you.” I said, eyes narrowed. 

How dare he? He lied to me for months, and got married behind my back. And then he had the guts to question how I choose to react to that? 

Laurent’s eyes darkened, a dark gloomy look crossing his face as he glared at me. “I've had a long morning, Cleo. Please, just get into the car.” 

The air seemed to be sucked out of the space between us. My fingers tingled as I fought the urge to smack that superior look off his face. 

I sighed. He was Alpha of this pack. I sure as hell couldn't disrespect him that way, especially when I desperately needed his help. 

Think of Kyle. This man could quite literally save his life. 

I bit back the rest of the words rattling in my throat, exhaled and climbed into the car. 

Laurent climbed in behind me, and slammed the door shut. The driver climbed into the car and the car purred under us and rolled smoothly out of the hangar. 

He turned away from me. His profile was flat and devoid of any emotions, his lips firm, a scowl gracing them. 

When we arrived at the pack house, he stepped out of the car, and stood just beside the door, holding it open for me. 

I climbed out, my pulse hammering harder as I took in the breathtaking mansion behind us. 

The landscape was still stunning, with an elaborate garden out front, a gurgling fountain, and a line of insanely expensive cars lined up. 

“Cleo!” My mother's happy scream filled the air. 

I squeezed my eyes shut tight. When I opened them, Laurent had a cold mocking smile on his lips. 

“What? You're not eager to meet your mother either?” His eyes burned into mine, projecting his anger at me. 

“Cleo? Oh Cleo. I've been waiting so long for you! I've missed you.” My mother threw her arms around me, sobbing against my chest. 

I stood stiffly in her embrace, my eyes dry and hard. I wanted to feel something, anything at all, but there was nothing. 

It took her four years to finally miss me? With Richard Wright’s wealth, she could have found me in seconds if she wanted to, and she never did. 

I pulled away stiffly, stepping out of her arms. “Hello, Mother. You look well. I see the years haven't treated you too badly.” 

Her face fell, her green eyes glittering with tears. “Cleo, please…” 

I cut her off, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag. “It's fine, Mother. I'm tired. I've had a long day. Where's my room?” 

I needed to get into my room and call Gabrielle so I could speak to Kyle. I needed to hear his voice, and know he was fine. I also needed the reminder of why I had come here. 

My mother swallowed, and nodded, wiping her eyes gently. “Of course. We left your own room for you. It's just the way you left it.” 

She turned and eagerly went back up the stairs, barking orders at the staff around her like a drill sergeant. 

Laurent was still standing beside me. Part of me wanted to walk away right then and never look back. If I took the job with Alpha Matt, I could keep trying the tests until I found Kyle a match. 

I should just leave and forget about them just like they had forgotten about me. If I thought leaving hurt, being back here was so much worse. Why didn't they ever reach out to me? And why did I still care? I wished I didn't. 

“Come on.” Laurent said. “I’m curious to hear what was important enough to bring you back after four years.” 

“I didn’t come back for you, Laurent. I think it's best if we get this over with quickly.” 

One corner of his mouth lifted, but there was no humor in it. “I’m aware, but you should come in. This is not a conversation we want to have outside.” 

The air between us tightened instantly, charged with everything we hadn’t said, everything we had never resolved.

My eyes were fixed on his, and no matter how I wanted to avert them, it was as though they were glued there. 

I backed away first. What was wrong with me? 

Laurent caught up to me easily, his longer strides closing the distance like it was nothing. The intensity of his presence was so magnetic, worsened by his broad shoulders towering over me. 

We stepped into the house. I looked around, feeling eighteen again, standing at the bottom of the stairs, begging my mother to come with me to New York.

She had flatly refused, and now she wanted to pretend the past had never happened? Without even an apology? 

Mother was coming down the stairs, smiling down at me. “Laurent? Please take Cleo upstairs to her room.” 

I glanced at her, surprised by the ease in her tone when she spoke to him. It was nothing like the tense relationship between them after mother 's marriage to Richard. 

And where was Richard? I'd thought the man would be in here, but he wasn't. 

I turned to Laurent, my brows drawing together. “I didn’t realize you and my mother had become so close.”

Laurent didn’t even look at me. He just kept walking. “If you hadn’t run off, you wouldn’t need to be surprised.”

Heat rushed up my spine, disbelief and anger tangling together until I couldn’t separate them.

How could he be so dense? Wasn't he the reason I'd had to leave the pack? I explained everything to him in the letter I left on his desk. 

There were a hundred things I wanted to say, a hundred sharp, biting words sitting right on my tongue, but I swallowed them down.

I thought of Kyle, and his small, smiling face and it was enough to cool the pulse hammering unevenly in my chest. 

I stepped forward, reaching for the handle, desperate to get inside, and put a wall between me and the man beside me. 

But before my fingers could close around it, a hand wrapped around my arm. 

A current sparked to life under my skin, racing where Laurent’s fingers had touched my body. My breath hitched violently as the sensation ripped through me, overwhelmingly intense as though I'd been struck by lightning.

I gasped, my heart slamming hard against my ribs. Laurent’s fingers fell away like he had been burned. The silence between us was thick and stunned. 

I turned to him slowly, my chest rising and falling too fast, my pulse loud in my ears. A stunned frown fixed on Laurent’s face. 

No, no, no, no. No, this wasn't possible.

I had to swallow before I could force the words out. “You… you never marked your wife?”