I’m the worst person on Earth…

I felt like I’d taken an ice creep scooper and carved my heart out of my chest and thrown it into the ocean. Oh, and probably destroyed Terry’s while I was at it.

Walking away from him had been the hardest thing I’d ever done, but it had to happen. My father—my family. They did not deal well with defiance, especially from me. I knew what the consequences would be if I had stayed, and I couldn’t let that happen.

On top of that, Terry was part of the pack that killed my brother Jasper…

I’d heard about it second hand of course, as I’d been confined to my apartment for the whole ordeal. But from what I was told, Jasper thought he owned Preston’s mate and hadn’t taken no for an answer. That sounded like Jasper. He was always an asshole. I didn’t really miss him, but my father was just looking for an excuse to bring the hammer down on those responsible, and if he learned I’d run off and joined their pack, I just couldn’t imagine what he would do.

My father was a real estate giant in Austin. He was powerful, an alpha among alphas, who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted. He’d negotiated a peace between Preston and his pack, but that wouldn’t last long if something else happened, and I didn’t want to be the one responsible for breaking that peace.

“You did the right thing,” Brad told me from the front seat. His words were like nails on a chalkboard, causing me to physically recoil from him.

“Shut up,” I hissed.

“What did you say to me?” He snapped. Under normal circumstances, I would have just gone quiet. But this wasn’t normal circumstances. The power of my bond with Terry was still flowing through me like an endless spring of strength.

“I said shut up!” I roared, slamming my fist against my knee.

If only I was an alpha! I thought, wishing I could take his smug face and slam it into the window beside him.

“Easy there, buddy,” Greg cautioned, looking back at me from the driver’s seat. I scowled back at him.

“Yeah, you can go right to hell too!”

The slap against my cheek was so hard it caused my ears to ring. It stunned me, and I stared in shock at Brad’s angry face. He’d turned around and hit me so quickly I hadn’t even noticed before his hand met my face.

“Now you watch that shit,” he said slowly, his voice tense with anger. “You owe everything to this family. Dad has plans for you—for all of us, and we won’t have you running around being some fucking floozy, throwing yourselves into the arms of the first alpha that shows you some fucking attention!”

“He’s my fated mate!” I bellowed. My words were met with another slap—harder this time.

“Ow, stop that!”

“You stop!” Brad snapped. “It’s bad enough you ran off without telling us. We had to track your ass way out into the boonies, and almost lost your scent on the fucking highway. You know what dad would have done to me if I’d lost you?”

“I don’t care,” I muttered.

“Yeah, of course you don’t,” he scoffed, sitting back. “Which is why you have brothers to watch out for your dumb ass.”

We continued on in silence as the truck carried me back to Austin—back to my old life.

I couldn’t help but wonder what Terry was thinking right at that moment. I could only pray that he could understand why I had done what I did. But that was wishful thinking and I knew that.

Chances were, Terry was completely losing it. If he was feeling an ounce of what I was feeling, he’d be fighting to keep it together. But as hard as it was, I knew this was better than the alternative.

Brad had only brought three guys with him this time, but if I’d stayed, what would happen then? He’d escalate, bring my father into it. And then there was no telling how many men would have showed up at the farm.

Terry’s pack was small. They didn’t have the money or the power to hire out for muscle, and my father’s men would easily overwhelm them. Terry was big and tough, but there was only so much one man could do against impossible odds. And if there was one thing I’d learned by watching him back there, it was that Terry would not hesitate to put his life on the line for mine. And I could not let that happen.

Please forgive me, I thought as Greg pulled the truck onto the Austin exit. The lights of the city were like individual needles, stabbing at my body as we took the familiar route back to my apartment. It was the longest I’d been out of there on my own in years. I felt like a prisoner who’d escaped from prison, only to be recaptured before he could return home to his family.

Greg pulled the truck up to the gated parking lot and swiped his card. The gate chirped and swung open, letting us in. I tried not to have a panic attack as he packed and Brad came around to my door to let me out.

“All right,” he said with a sigh. “Now I can go upstairs with you, or you can go on your own and I won’t call up dad and let him know about your major fuck up.”

I glared back at him, wishing I was big enough to fight him. But there was nothing I could do.

“All right?” He asked, lowering his eyes. I nodded.

“Yes.”

“Good boy,” he replied, patting me patronizingly on the cheek. “Put a little ice on that. You’ll be fine.”

We were standing in front of the stairwell door. And I knew what was waiting for me if I went in that way.

“I’m gonna go around front,” I muttered, stepping away from the group.

“Nah, we ain’t got time for this shit,” Brad interrupted, waving his keycard over the lock. It clicked and he pulled the door open for me. “Get in there, go right upstairs and don’t make me fucking come looking for you again—or I’ll get dad involved.”

He shoved me forward and slammed the door behind me. I stood there a moment, right on the edge of breaking down. But I felt like I was teetering right on the edge, and if I broke down now, I’d never make it upstairs.

So, putting one foot in front of the other, I began to make my way up.

After the first flight, it hit me—Terry’s scent.

I braced myself against the handrail and closed my eyes.

Breathe through your mouth, I thought, as a tornado of emotions began to form inside of me.

I pushed on, taking the next flight, passing the place where we’d first…made love.

Tears began to drip from my eyes. Finally, I reached the door to my floor and shoved it open. The muscles of my legs were quivering as I let myself into my apartment. As soon as the door closed behind me, I collapsed onto the floor, weeping like I’d never wept before.

“I’m so sorry, Terry,” I cried, slamming my fist into the floor hard enough to draw blood. “I’m so sorry…”