Nightw

room. I could see the wheels turning in his head, his mind s

lpha pride, his male ego, could not accept the simple truth: that I was leaving him because I no lo

done. It twisted the facts until th

w it as clearly as if he'd spoke

e. It ha

erfume. He'd dismissed it all as meaningless, because I was his Luna, a

A convenient excuse. A dramatic, manipulative ploy. My real motive, the one his ego could accept, was j

A woman's hyste

lf-satisfied smirk touched his lips. He was back in

amiliar, condescending calm. He sounded lik

t him, my expre

s tone laced with a patronizing certainty. He loo

, I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me. It was a weariness that went bo

ired to eve

he thought I was desperate to hear. "But it's not what you think. If you don't like it,

us, offering me an elegant way

all made sense. They relaxed, their expressions shifting from alarm to the mild amusement of men watching a do

holding-the hope that he might, for one second,

get it. They didn

us planning, my sacred vow to his dying mother-all of it, in his

tle laugh esc

nerve Ryker more than any shout would ha

"I'm laughing at myself," I said, my voice empty. "F

own eyes clear and

stake, Ryker. Thi

is a n