“I don’t think so, Popeye! You stay the f**k away from me! We’re done!” He was pretty sure his heart stopped for a second. “What do you mean, we’re done?”

“We’re done, over, finished!”

His wolf growled angrily. “Like hell we are. We’ll talk about this when I get back. I’ll be there soon.” She’d already hung up on him.

He was going to spank her ass so damn hard.

That plan was unfortunately foiled by the fact that she wasn’t in their room. Going by how faint her scent was, it was obvious that she hadn’t been in there since earlier. It was easy enough for Dante to guess where she was hiding. He stalked through the tunnels until he came to her old room and turned the knob. The door didn’t budge, and he almost smacked his face on it. Motherfucker. She’d locked him out. “Open up, Jaime.”

“Fuck off.”

He might have snapped at that if he hadn’t heard the tears in her voice. “Ah, baby, let me in. I know how that must have looked to you, but I couldn’t care less about her. Come on, open up.”

“Just go.”

“Not a chance.”

“I’m pretty sure I already told you we’re done.”

Both he and his wolf growled at that. “We’ll never be done, Jaime. Now let me in so we can work this out.”

“Just leave me alone and go back to that bitch!”

“I don’t want her, I want you. Now open the goddamn door.”

“Look at it this way: you won’t have to divide your time anymore. You can go live, eat, sleep, and shit in your office and there’ll be no girlfriend to call you.” He heard the seriousness in her voice and found himself beginning to panic. She wasn’t just saying this in anger or because she was upset. She genuinely wanted to end this.

Fuck that. In the weeks that they had been together, she had gone from being important to him to being essential to him. He no longer just wanted Jaime, he needed her. He hadn’t even realized just how much he needed her until right then. He didn’t even care if needing her made him weak. “I told you a few weeks ago, nothing and no one—not even you, baby—will keep me out of your life. Open up. We need to work this out.”

“Not in a million years, Beta Boy! Now leave me the f**k alone! ” He might have persisted if she hadn’t burst into tears that very second. It sent a sharp pain zigzagging through his chest. He’d made her cry. He’d hurt his female that badly. “Okay. If that’s what you really want, I’ll leave you alone.”

As the sound of Dante’s footsteps faded away, Jaime began to cry even harder into her pillow. At this point, her jaw was aching and her throat was hurting, but she couldn’t stop. Even though she could barely breathe through the tears and her eyes were beginning to sting, she simply couldn’t stop.

A part of her hadn’t wanted him to go, had wanted to let him in her room and in her body, and just let being second best be good enough. For a while it really had been enough, but the more she grew to care about him, the harder it was to be satisfied with just that. She didn’t want him to give up his role as Beta or to neglect his duties. She just wanted him to want her the way she wanted him.

Wanted to come first in his heart. The sad fact was that she didn’t even come close.

What happened the night before had brought home just how far down she was on his list of priorities. No matter how busy he was, it wouldn’t have been too hard to take one minute out of his day to answer her calls. But she’d accepted his apology, had given him the benefit of the doubt. Then she’d spent most of her day excited about tonight, about getting to have some time with him to have fun. All she’d had to look forward to was Dante wearing a vacant expression while she went totally unheard.

But when his ex-half-mate came over, he was all smiles for her. She easily got his attention and then managed to keep it so well that he hadn’t even noticed when Jaime walked away. Laurie had noticed, and she’d seemed extremely smug about it. Any other time Jaime might have answered her wolf’s urge to skin the bitch alive, but Jaime had known the tears were coming and damn if she’d have cried in front of everyone like that.

It was the first time in her life that she’d experienced a “flight” instinct. How ironic was it that the one person who was supposed to make her feel safe and secure was the one person who had made her want to run away?

That thought just about broke her. Not even attempting to fight the tears, she cried herself to sleep.

Jaime squirmed slightly as a big, hard body covered over her back and molded itself around her.

The cocktail of pine needles, cinnamon spice, and sandalwood that filled her nostrils made her smile. She knew that scent, would know it anywhere. Of course she would. This wolf was hers.

She hummed as he pressed a feather-light kiss to her nape. The feel of his hot breath on her skin made a shiver run down her spine, and she jerked slightly.

“Shh, baby. Relax for me.” When she did, he kissed the side of her neck lightly, rewardingly. “Good girl. My good girl.” Gently, he planted more feather-light kisses on as much of her neck as he could reach. Occasionally he nipped the skin or licked at the bite marks there, making her moan.

Feeling his hard c**k pressing against her ass—oh yes, please, she’d like some of that—she pushed back against it, suddenly wishing they weren’t wearing any clothes. He groaned into her neck and began rocking against her, which caused her clit to rub against the bed each time. A white-hot surge of pleasure ran down her spine, and her breathing quickened. She’d been wet since almost the second she scented him, and now she was aching for him. When she felt his mouth at her cheek, she turned her face to his.

He flicked his tongue out to tease hers. “Hungry, baby?” She nodded. “Tell me you forgive me.”

Jaime frowned. Forgive him? Forgive him for what?

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear before nibbling on the lobe. “I hate that I made you cry.”

Cry? He hadn’t made her cry, why would he—

Jaime’s eyes flipped open, and all at once reality hit her. Ohhhhhh, the bastard. She struggled and twisted under him, growling and cursing. He lowered his body down even more on hers, trapping her there, and used his hands to pin hers to the bed. Had she been lying on her back, she would have been able to bite the f**ker. Recalling every combat move she knew, she repeatedly attempted to turn the tables and gain the upper hand. As her trainer, he knew every damn move she was going to try, and he was prepared for every single one.