Makayla stood on the street corner staring at the space where Ronan’s car had just been. She was in shock. Emptiness gripped her chest and she couldn’t breathe. What had she just done? It had been the right thing, hadn’t it? She couldn’t just take off and become a shapeshifter, running around naked in the woods, killing wild animals. That wasn’t her. How could it be?

But the sinking feeling didn’t lie. She knew deep down that she’d made a mistake. She should have said it differently, found a way to still be together without committing completely. But she couldn’t change it now.

Makayla turned away and walked slowly back to her office. She went through the rest of the day in a daze, examining the next month’s proofs as if she didn’t really know what the hell she was looking at. Elliot commented on her lack of interest, but she had no explanation to give him.

As Makayla was finishing up her work for the evening and the sun set behind her in the window, it cast a red and gold glow over her office. Her cell phone rang and she looked at the caller ID. Mark. She answered the phone, her voice sounding tired.

“Makayla, I got your message. I knew you would come around,” he said in an animated voice.

“Sure,” was all she said, almost at a whisper.

“Why don’t I meet you at your place in a few hours?”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” She hung up the phone and went about finishing her work as if in some kind of alternate reality. Nothing made any sense anymore. Part of her knew she was deeply in love with Ronan, but her life and her career in Portland meant too much to her to let go. Even aside from that, she was terrified of what it meant to be mated to a shifter.

She drove her car home and took the elevator up to her condo in a high rise in downtown Portland. The view from the thirtieth floor was breathtaking as the lights of the city skyline lit up. How could anyone give up this kind of life? She had it all. Everything she’d ever worked for, everything she’d ever dreamed of, except him.

There was a buzz on her intercom and she pressed the button to let Mark up. A moment later, he knocked on her door. She opened the door to find him holding a bottle of champagne with his elbow leaning high on the door frame.

He was handsome in a fitted black suit and a red tie. He pursed his lips and brushed past her and into the room. He swirled around and gave her a thousand megawatt smile, holding his arms wide.

“Let’s open this, shall we?” he said.

Makayla walked to the kitchen to get two champagne flutes and brought them back to her ebony dining room table where Mark was slowly inching the cork from the bottle. She set the glasses down just as he popped the cork, not spilling an ounce. Mark poured their glasses and handed one to Makayla.

“A toast to old friends,” he said as he clinked her glass. Makayla sipped the champagne with a blank feeling in her chest. She was numb and didn’t care what happened tonight. Mark could do whatever he wanted to her, and she probably wouldn’t feel a thing. At least it might help her get over Ronan.

Mark drank his champagne quickly and set the flute on the table. He smacked his lips and moved toward Makayla, taking her in his arms. His hands crept down her sides and squeezed her ass over her tight skirt. She could feel him hard against her stomach.

She pressed her eyes shut, willing herself not to remember the feeling of Ronan’s body against hers just a few hours before. There was no going back now. Mark would make her forget. She set down her glass as his hands moved over her body, touching her in all the ways he knew would arouse her.

Makayla tried to let go. Mark was a good lover in his own way. He knew her body well and could find her hiding places with ease. He unbuttoned her shirt and slid his hand inside her bra, gripping her nipple between his fingers. His lips met hers and he pressed his tongue inside her mouth.

She gasped, letting herself be taken. His other hand unzipped her skirt and it slid down her hips and pooled at her feet on the ground. Mark pulled off her shirt and she stood in her garter belt and black lace bra and pantie set, her black stockings and Louboutin pumps making her curvy body sexier than ever.

Mark stood back and took her in. “Fuck, Makayla your body rocks my cock.”

She smirked at him and hit his chest in admonishment for being crass. She stepped out of the skirt and led him down the hallway to her bedroom, her heels clicking on the hardwood floors. She turned on a dim lamp and sat on the bed. Mark crossed the room and sat beside her.

His lips went to her neck and his hand slid over her stomach and inside her panties. Heat rose from her core and moisture spilled as his fingers sought her swollen bud. His fingertip sank between her folds and caressed her arousal. She let out a deep-throated moan just before she stood up, pulling away from Mark.

“I can’t do this,” she said breathlessly.

“Makayla. I’m sorry about Tiffany. I can’t apologize enough.”

“This isn’t about her. It’s about someone else.” In that moment, she realized she couldn’t do this with anyone but Ronan for as long as she lived. He was the one. The one and only. If he marked her or not, she belonged to him already. The realization flooded through her body and mind with such clarity, she felt like she’d been sleep walking for most of her life.

“If you really feel that way,” he said, standing.

“No hard feelings, Mark. I’m sorry. I just realized, just now, that I’m in love with someone else.”

Mark stepped toward her and kissed her head and patted her back. “That mountain man really got to you, didn’t he?”

“He did.”

“Good luck, Mak. Can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I want you to be happy.” He gave her peck on the cheek, picked up his coat, and left.

Makayla stood in her bedroom in her lingerie for several minutes before she burst into action. She threw things into a bag, put her clothes back on, grabbed her coat, and was out the door in a matter of minutes.