Rogue Mate, The Moltiare Collection: Bk1 (Sample)(Available on Amazon/SW)

Chapter 5 (Jessica)

When I woke up again, the space where Ethan had been sitting was now empty. I felt the familiar pang of betrayal stab at my heart and my eyes began to water. I felt so stupid. All I had ever known was love that was lost or abandoned, stopping short of Vlamir’s hands on demonstrations, why had I believed my wolf when she said that he would be different. I wondered how far he had made it away from me, but the more I thought, the more it hurt to breath, so I just stopped thinking about him altogether.

I rolled myself over and stared at the ceiling as the blanket fell beneath my chin. A bright light filtered through a small space between the dark green curtains, making me squint as I looked around. I instantly felt tiny.

The California king sized bed felt like it was swallowing me, and the room around it looked like it could have fit four or five more while still having the space to walk around. The desk near the window was neat and organized, holding only a couple of textbooks and a few more stacks of paper, and through the space in the curtains I could see the small ledge that looked as if he had sat there many times, reading one of the books that were on the large bookshelf next to it.

A groan slipped past my lips as I forced myself to sit up. Every muscle in my body still ached, and the movement of my feet brought back the stinging pain of my ankle, but neither hurt nearly as much as they did when Ethan had found me. The pain was enough that if I had allowed myself, I would have happily laid in the bed all day, not bothering with any of my other needs, but my bladder was screaming as if it had been days since I had used a bathroom and my stomach began to tighten with the familiar pains of hunger.

I took the blanket in my hands and moved it aside, noting that it matched the color of the curtains, as did the pillow cases. The bed frame was made of a dark mahogany wood that matched the large dresser and made up the base of the desk. The curves in the designs reminded me of something I had seen in a book, making me close my eyes and view the place as it was depicted in the old photos that had lined the pages. I remembered wanting to go there once, but I quickly gave up that dream. Dreams like that were impossibly futile, at least for me.

Across the room, on a smaller table that stood between two other doors in the room, was a small pile of folded clothes and what looked to be a piece of notebook paper was lying on top. I stared at it as I pulled my legs over the side of the bed, noting that the blue jacket beneath the pile was my own and that the purple shirt beneath it couldn’t have been Ethan’s. I hobbled over carefully, taking any measure that I could to stay off of my bad ankle as I reached for the paper.

The clothing began to tip over as I lifted the note away, like I had off set some sort of balance that had kept it there. A curse left my lips as I braced myself on the wall with one hand, while catching the clothes with the other, but in the effort, I felt the paper slip from my fingers and float to the floor. So I gave up and pulled the chair next to the bookshelf over until I could set myself in it without a struggle.

“Not my day.” I muttered to myself after reaching down to get the paper and hitting my head on the corner of the table on the way up. Really, it just wasn’t my week.

The handwriting on the paper was in a tight cursive, the type that you might see in a doctor’s signature, and the moment I began reading, I felt a small weight lift from my chest.

Ethan will be down stairs when you wake up. Take some time to get used to your surroundings, take a hot bath if you’re still aching, and once you get downstairs ask Ethan for a small pack of ice and an ankle wrap. You’re welcome to use this house as your safe heaven, and know that three of us are going to do our best to make sure it stays that way. –Marie

My wolf began taunting me in the back of my mind, words such as ‘I told you so’ bouncing back and forth against my walls, but I still had yet to believe it. I wanted so desperately to, I realized, but I wouldn’t let myself. I wouldn’t sit here and let myself fall so easily if he couldn’t back up his words.