Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

" I 'm going to miss this."

The words had been spoken on a soft sigh after her last thigh-shaking orgasm. Her pussy lips were still warm against his mouth, her taste still on his tongue. In fact, she was still dripping with that sweet nectar. He'd once made her come so hard that she leaked all down her legs, into the top sheet, the bottom sheet, and the mattress itself. Caleb had taken a dollop of her essence and put it in his coffee, to her absolute embarrassment. It was better than sugar.

For the first time, her taste soured on his tongue. Her words went through his mind again. They reverberated through his skull like an alarm. Miss this? Why would she miss this?

They had been meeting like this for years—since they were teenagers. Sneaking into the woods, letting their wolves run wild beneath the moonlight, chasing each other like they were the only two beings in the world. He could still remember the first time he kissed her. They’d been under the old ironwood tree at the edge of pack land. The branches were swaying gently overhead. The moon had cast its soft glow over them. He had kissed her with all the nervous intensity of someone who knew, even then, that she was his.

Later, when the night had faded and Rochelle had retreated back into her usual guarded distance, Caleb had returned to that tree. With the sharp edge of a hunting knife, he had carved their initials into the bark, a mark that time could never erase.

Despite those moments—those fleeting, powerful moments—Rochelle had kept her distance. Outside of the full moon, she maintained a careful separation from him. Caleb had let her. He had been so certain that she would eventually come to accept the bond, to understand what he had known for so long: that they were meant to be together. That this wasn’t just some passionate thing between them but something deeper, written in their bones.

When she had gone off to college, he’d still found her under the pull of the full moon. Their wolves always knew where to meet, always found each other no matter the distance. When the woods became too far away, they found this hotel, tucked in the valley, where the world could fall away, and it was just them.

They had been doing this for years. So why would she say she would miss it?

A knot of unease tightened in Caleb’s chest as Rochelle shifted beside him, pulling away slightly, her back against the wall. His sharp senses picked up the slight hitch in her breath, the way her hands fidgeted at her sides. Something was off.

“Rochelle,” he began, his voice low and careful. “What do you mean, you're going to miss this?”

Her eyes darted to the floor, and for a long moment, she didn’t speak. That only made the knot in Caleb’s chest tighten further. His wolf stirred beneath the surface, sensing the growing tension. The quiet hum of the room felt like it was building into something more, something heavy.

She lifted her gaze to meet his. Her chin was high and proud. “I… I got a promotion.”

Caleb blinked, the words sinking in slowly. He knew that. He'd felt a wave of pride when the news spread through the pack. Even now, a warmth spread through his chest. Rochelle had always been determined, driven. She worked harder than anyone he knew, and of course, she deserved this.

She wasn’t looking at him anymore. That single detail made everything inside him go cold. His wolf went still, listening, waiting.

“It’s out of town.”

Out of town. Away. Somewhere else.

He stared at her, his chest tightening, the rising tide of emotions suddenly too close, too sharp. His voice came out rougher than he intended, edged with the confusion that was quickly transforming into something darker. “Where?”

“Another territory,” she admitted, her hands twisting together nervously, as if she knew what this was doing to him. “It’s a great opportunity, Caleb.”

Caleb’s mind whirled, the words becoming white noise as his blood began to pound in his ears. Out of town. Another territory. She wasn’t just going on a trip; she was leaving.

He had always been so calm about her rejecting the bond, hadn’t he? Letting her come and go, certain that one day, she would choose to stay. But this… this wasn’t rejection. This was distance. This was leaving him behind. The very thought of it ignited a fire in his chest, burning hotter with each passing second.

And then, like a dam breaking, the calm facade he had held for so long shattered.

“No.” His voice was sharp, final. His hands curled into fists at his sides, his body tensing as the storm he had kept at bay for so long finally broke. “No, Rochelle. You can’t just leave.”

Her eyes widened at the sudden shift in his tone, her lips parting in surprise. "Can't leave?"

"You can’t pretend like this… like we… don’t matter."

“Caleb—”

“Don’t.” He stepped forward, the weight of his emotions crashing over him, his eyes darkening as the wolf stirred. “Don’t stand there and tell me you’re just going to leave. We’ve been doing this for years, Rochelle. You think you can just walk away? From this?”

His voice echoed in the small room, the heat between them intensifying. Rochelle’s gaze faltered, but she didn’t back down. “I… I’m not saying I want to walk away from…"

She couldn't even say it. She couldn't even say us .

"I just… This is important to me.”

“Important?” Caleb’s voice was a growl now, his wolf clawing at the surface, the anger burning through him. “More important than the bond? More important than what we have? You’ve been denying this for years. But it’s still there. It’s always been there. You can’t just leave.”

Rochelle’s breath hitched, and for the first time, there was fear in her eyes. Not fear of him, but fear of the truth he was forcing her to confront.

“We’re bonded,” he said, his voice low and dangerous now. “No matter how much you try to run, no matter how much you pretend it doesn’t exist, it’s there. And it’s not going anywhere.”

The silence that followed his words was deafening, thick with the weight of what had been said, what couldn’t be unsaid. Rochelle stared at him, her chest rising and falling rapidly, as if she were fighting to catch her breath.

Caleb’s hands trembled with the force of his emotions, the anger still boiling beneath the surface but mixed with something raw and desperate. He wasn’t just angry. He was terrified. Terrified of losing her. Terrified that she would leave, and this time, there would be no coming back.