?


    "He''s in the shower...you know.." She shrugs with a knowing smile. He was cleaning off having just had sex with her...


    My heart that had already plummeted at the sight of her feels as if it is stuck in a never ending free-fall into the depths of the earth. Into darkness.


    "Sorry..." I mutter out as I close the door, my back pressing up against it as I learn to breathe again. My chest is thumping, as my heart tries to burst out of my rib cage...I think the pain alone could kill me.


    He has found another...brought one of the hotel girls home with him.


    I can''t be seen here, I need to leave. I can''t believe he would do this.


    He really did just see me as a one night stand, to hell with the repercussions.


    He said it himself...the forbidden fruit.


    I race down the stairs, my hand tightly gripping on to the railing as I make it to the bottom step...my


    heart quickening as I hear the alpha office door opening.


    I can''t be seen.


    I make it outside to the car when a hand touches my shoulder, pulling me back.


    "Cleo?" He stares back at me, his green eyes squinting in confusion as he looks behind me...expecting others.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "I can''t be here...please, don''t tell a soul I was here." I plead out to him. But it isn''t him, it is his spitting image, his brother Jaxon.


    Not one tattoo drawn upon his skin, no scent of coconut invades my senses...this wasn''t Jace.


    He hasn''t done after me, he doesn''t even know I was here.


    Jaxon''s brows furrow as he takes a closer step towards me but I take a step back, suddenly feeling like an endangered animal about to be caged in. I needed to get out of here.


    I''m back in my car within seconds, revsersing out...Jaxon even jogging after me as I floor the gas pedal, needing to put space between me and the Dark Phantom pack.


    Between me and his brother.


    He has another, already.


    Tears stream down my face for the entire drive home.


    The wet season hiding my tears as I step out of the car, letting the rain fall upon my face.


    It was night time now, the lights of home providing a soft glow to the driveway outside.


    I didn''t stop, I''m not even sure how I made it home....I must have entered auto-pilot.


    I can''t go inside, not yet.


    One word of truth and the entire rtionship between our families will be destroyed. I will have ruined decades of friendship, just for one night of passion.


    I should have gone with the human barman.


    I know what to do, I''m not this person. I can''t be that person.


    That longs for someone for the rest of their lives, that has the evidence of a love affair...of a one night fling that ties me for all my remaining days.


    I can''t bring shame upon this family.


    I close my eyes, letting my mind find her through the pack link. Once I locate her, I press on the link...creating a private one to onemunication with the alpha family doctor.


    "Cleo?" She responds instantly, even as the day has ended and the night was taking hold.


    "I need your help."


    "Where are you?" A panicked voice returns, Sophia our doctor always attentive to our needs.


    "It''s urgent." I keep my voice monotone, not giving away any emotion.


    "Come see me now, I''m still at the hospital...what''s the matter?" I could hear her concern as she responds through the mind-link. "I''m pregnant..."


    "What?"


    "And...I need not be."