“And you had no idea he was going to be there?”

“I don’t know. I got it wrong.”

Faye wandered into the kitchen, cutting herself a slice of cake, and I followed her reluctantly. Of course, I knew Max would be at the funeral. In fact, that was the sole reason why I’d decided to go. Lauren wasn’t one of my friends, and we didn’t know each other that well apart from the odd conversation we’d had due to Max being our mutual friend.

Fifteen years had gone by since we’d last seen or spoken to each other, and despite everything, seeing him made me realize I still felt the same. I still wanted him. My feelings hadn’t changed. Only my world was different now. Faye was testament to that.

“Well, as long as he’s here, you’ve got to stay away from him,” she said without looking at me.

“We used to be…”

“Lewis!” She crossed the kitchen and stood in front of me, taking my hands into hers. “Do you remember the vow you made to your father?”

Of course I did. How could I forget? How could the memory of my ferocious father cornering me into loving her for the rest of my life ever escape my mind?

She leant forwards and kissed me. I felt nothing but deflation.

Before Max had returned to Grayson Falls, my path had been set out for me already. I had to marry Faye, and we were going to bring up our kids in the small town we weren’t able to escape from and relive the cycle that my parents had. As much as I didn’t want it, I wasn’t going to complain. My brothers had married the women chosen for them, so it made sense for me to follow in their footsteps, but that was all before Lauren had died and before I heard her funeral was going to be held in town. It was before I knew that the one man who had and could make me question my own kind was due to return.

Faye pulled away from me, smiling, completely oblivious, and I felt a pang of disappointment in myself for not loving or wanting her the way I should have.

“The rules still apply,” she whispered, looking into my eyes. “He can’t know.”

I didn’t respond because somehow, she knew. She knew that I was dying inside to tell Max everything. I wanted to explain the secret that I’d been itching to tell him ten years ago. The reason why my parents had reacted so badly to our late evening meetings in their garden house. The reason why my fate was tied with Faye’s. The reason why I’d never be able to be with him the way he probably wanted. For as long as I’d ever known, my family and other notable families had been Wolves. We’d roamed Grayson Falls, keeping the town as our own, and being with an Omega wasn’t an option. I couldn’t take over as the town leader and be with anyone other than an Alpha.

Faye saw the look on my face and sighed.

“I’m going to stay at my house tonight.” She picked up her handbag in a huff.

“Wait,” I said, holding onto her arm. “Don’t go. Just stay for tonight, and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

In a strange way, I wanted her to stay. If she did, then I wouldn’t be able to leave and see Max. He would just go back to the city, and I wouldn’t have to see him ever again. My life would go back to normal, and I’d marry Faye and take my father’s position when the time was right. But no, she shook her head, slightly disappointed.

“I can tell you still have feelings for him,” she whispered. “I can’t be here, under this roof with you, when you’re thinking about him.”

She spat the last word out with so much venom that I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I’d never seen her so angry, so controlling. She knew our impending marriage was merely to continue the Wolf bloodline and nothing more, but her jealous reaction had me thinking otherwise.

I watched her walk towards the door grabbing things from the side as she went.

“You know…” She stopped and turned back to me, pointing her finger in my direction. “If anyone… your father… found out about this, you’d be disowned. You’re lucky I don’t stoop that low.”

She slammed the front door behind her, and I stood watching the space she’d been standing in, her loose threat still ringing in my ears. She was right. If my father and the rest of my kind found out that I was still interested in pursuing things with the Omega whose friendship they disapproved of, they’d want nothing to do with me, and everything in my life that I’d worked so hard for would be over.

Then I thought of Max, and I thought about the summer that I told myself I couldn’t live without him, and I thought back to running down the road behind his car as his family drove away from their house for the last time never to return. I thought about how that had made me feel. How hurt, angry and upset I was for months afterwards that I didn’t do more to try and stop him and that I didn’t beg him to stay.

Now, miraculously, I’d been given a second chance. He was a risk worth taking, and I’d do it over and over again if I had to, because if he wanted it as much as I did, he’d be at the garden house. He’d be there waiting for me like old times.