Chapter 13

Arielle

The moment Joss finished speaking, the room erupted into whispers again.

I couldn’t listen anymore.

Every word seemed to cut deeper than the last.

Second mate.

The phrase kept circling through my mind.

Joss had another mate.

Another woman who could feel the same bond I had once believed belonged only to me.

I stood frozen beside Tori, trying desperately to hold myself together.

Then Joss started walking toward me.

My heart immediately began pounding.

He stopped in front of me.

“Arielle.”

I couldn’t look at him.

He gently reached for my hands.

I allowed him to take them, but I didn’t return the gesture.

“I’m sorry.”

I swallowed.

“I know.”

“I never wanted this.”

“I know.”

“Nothing has changed between us.”

That finally made me look at him.

“Nothing?”

His expression softened.

“No.”

I stared at him.

“Joss, you just stood in front of our entire pack and announced that another woman is your mate.”

“I know.”

“And you’re telling me nothing has changed?”

“Our bond hasn’t changed.”

“But your life has.”

He went quiet.

I pulled my hands from his.

“How can you possibly promise me everything will be okay?”

“Because I love you.”

My heart twisted.

“I love you too.”

“Then trust me.”

I almost laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because it was impossible.

“Trust you?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

His brow furrowed.

“I will never stop loving you.”

“But you can’t promise that.”

“I can.”

“No, Joss.”

My voice trembled.

“You can promise me what you feel right now. You can’t promise me what you’ll feel six months from now.”

His face fell.

“I won’t change.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

I looked past him.

Clare was standing across the room.

Watching us.

Her eyes were fixed on Joss.

Not me.

Him.

I felt a cold knot form in my stomach.

“She isn’t going anywhere, is she?”

Joss followed my gaze.

He sighed.

“Arielle…”

“She told me.”

“What?”

“She told me she isn’t going anywhere.”

His jaw tightened.

“She has a right to exist.”

“I know.”

“And she didn’t choose this.”

“I know that too.”

I looked back at him.

“But neither did I.”

His expression broke.

“No.”

“Yet I’m the one who has to stand here and watch another woman look at my mate like she wants to take him from me.”

“Clare isn’t going to take me from you.”

I shook my head.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“You can’t.”

“Arielle—”

“Look at her.”

He did.

Clare was still watching us.

There was something in her expression that made my skin crawl.

She wasn’t looking at Joss like someone who had accidentally discovered her mate.

She was looking at him like someone who had found something she intended to keep.

I turned back to Joss.

“She wants you.”

“I know.”

The admission stunned me.

“You know?”

He nodded.

“She told me she wants a chance to know me.”

My chest tightened.

“And you’re going to give her that chance.”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I haven’t decided anything.”

I stared at him.

That was enough.

He hadn’t rejected her.

He hadn’t promised me that he would.

He was simply…

Undecided.

And somehow that scared me more than anything else.

“I need Tori.”

Joss looked hurt.

“Arielle…”

“I can’t do this right now.”

I turned away from him.

Tori immediately stepped forward.

“Come on.”

She wrapped an arm around me and led me away.

I could feel Joss watching us.

I didn’t turn around.

The moment we reached a quieter corner, I collapsed against Tori.

“I’m scared.”

“I know.”

“What if he falls in love with her?”

Tori tightened her arms around me.

“He won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No.”

She pulled back and looked into my eyes.

“But I know you.”

I wiped away a tear.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything.”

She took my hands.

“You’re not going to let this destroy you.”

“I don’t know if I can stop it.”

“You don’t have to stop anything tonight.”

I looked at her.

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand more than you think.”

She glanced toward Joss.

“He loves you.”

“He does.”

“But Clare is going to fight for him.”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

“And that means this isn’t going to disappear tomorrow.”

My stomach twisted.

“I know.”

Tori pulled me into another hug.

“You have me.”

I closed my eyes.

“I don’t want to lose him.”

“You may not.”

“But what if I do?”

“Then I’ll be there.”

I started crying again.

Tori held me tighter.

“You hear me, Arielle? Whatever happens, I’m not leaving you.”

I nodded against her shoulder.

Across the room, I could hear the party beginning to recover.

The musicians had started playing again.

People were talking.

Some were dancing.

Others were still whispering about what had happened.

But nothing felt the same anymore.

This morning, I had walked into this ballroom believing I was the luckiest woman alive.

Tonight, I was standing in the same room wondering if the man I loved would still be mine tomorrow.

I looked toward Joss.

He was watching me.

There was love in his eyes.

I could see it.

But for the first time, love wasn’t enough to make me feel safe.

Because now there was another woman.

Another bond.

Another claim on the man I had always believed was mine.

And somewhere deep inside me, I knew the real battle hadn’t even begun.

Clare had already made her intentions clear.

She wasn’t going anywhere.

And I was beginning to fear that Joss’s promise that she was no threat to me…

was a promise he might not be able to keep.