Darien’s hands curled into fists, his eyes clouded over with anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. None of you do. You didn’t lose your mate that day. You don’t have to live knowing that if you’d just been there, you could have done something, could have saved them.”

Rome shook his head, clenched his jaw. “How do you know that? How do you know you could have saved her? The doctor said that it was a severe complication with the baby, that even if she’d been in an emergency they would have been hard pressed to save her. He said she died in minutes from a clot or something. She wasn’t your mate, Darien,” he said the last gently.

Darien exploded to his feet and marched up to Rome. Rome narrowed his eyes and stood.

“I love you, Darien. We all love you. But somewhere in your heart you know that she wasn’t it. Maybe you wanted it to be, and it’s obvious you loved her and the baby, but there’s a time when it’s right to let go. It’s been years. She was leaving you to go back to Greg.”

Darien shoved Rome in the chest, sent him stumbling back. “How would you know that? How the fuck do you know that?”

Rome cocked a brow. “I talked to Greg. I saw him in town a while ago. He was guilt-ridden about everything. About leaving her to begin with. He said he was just scared. The man loved her, really. I think she saw that and that’s why she was going back to him, because he really loved her.”

Darien’s fist flew before he could even think to stop it. He caught Rome’s jaw and sent him down to the ground. Rome stood in a rush and plowed his own into Darien’s stomach. Suddenly Vane was roaring, stepping between them and pushing them both apart.

“Enough!”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve had enough. I’m out of here,” Darien said.

“Stop,” Vane ordered. Darien stiffened and slowly turned around to face him.

“What?” The lykaen inside him garbled his words.

Vane got in his face, unflinching at the sight of Darien’s anger. “If you don’t smarten up, then you’re going to lose something great. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You care. And she cares about you.”

“That’s where you’ve got it wrong, Vane. The only thing I care about with Cassie is making sure she stays safe from the man who’s trying to hurt her. That’s all.”

“Looks to me like you’re the one who’s trying to hurt her,” Jacks said.

Darien flinched and backed away. They didn’t get it; they didn’t fucking understand. He didn’t care about Cassie. His heart panged, and he looked away from them all. He couldn’t care for her, there was no more love left in him. He‘d buried it years ago.

“You’re wrong, Darien. I just hope you see it in time.” Vane shook his head and left the room.

Darien didn’t meet the other’s eyes; he turned and stormed out the front door. He came to a stop fast his heart skipped a beat trying to catch up.

“What are you doing here?” Cassie looked up at him with raw pain glittering in her eyes. He swore he could feel his own eyes mimicking hers.

She wobbled on her feet, leaning to the side. He reached out to catch her, but she swiped his arm away and took an unsteady step back.

“You are so mean.” She looked like she was bravely trying to hold back tears. The sight of it was killing him slowly and surely like poison.

“What are you doing here?” A sickening feeling was filling his gut heavy as a bowling ball.

She hiccupped. “I came to tell you that I love you, but obviously I’m just a stupid, hiccup , girl.” A tear slid down one cheek and she rocked unsteadily on her feet.

“Are you drunk, Cassie?” She glared at him and pointed a finger at him.

“This isn’t about that. Yes, I totally drank enough to get a boatload of sailors drunk, but that’s besides the p-point. You are mean. ” She lifted her chin bravely as more tears started rolling down her cheeks. The sight was tearing open his gut. He reached for her, but she stumbled back so fast she nearly fell.

“Dammit, Cassie, let me take you home. You shouldn’t be out here like this. Those girls never should have let you drink.”

She threw out her arms. “I came here to tell you that I love you and I get to here is that you still love her. I would be so good to you, Darien.” Her arms fell loosely to her side. When she spoke her voice held all the misery in the world, “I’ve never been in love before. It sucks. Big time.” She wobbled, trying to turn around but stumbling around instead.

Darien’s heart wouldn’t stop panicking in his chest. He went after her, tried to pull her to a stop. “Let me take you home.”

“I have no home!”

He flinched because she was right and because he was an ass. “I’m sorry, Cassie. I am.”

“Sorry about what?” she said rounding on him. He backed away from her and her pointing finger followed. “Sorry for making love to me. Because that’s what you did. You didn’t screw me; you were sweet, tender, caring. You...you are a tease! ”

He jolted back. “You’re just drunk, Cassie. Let me take you to my place and put you to bed.”

“Aaaargh! I am not a child. I am not just drunk. Do not patriotize me. No, I mean patronize. Yeah, that one. Don’t do that because I’m not going to be here forever.”

He stilled. “What do you mean, Cassie?” She looked away from him with a sad, rueful smile that built the pain in his chest near to a breaking point.

“Nothing. I’m going to go now. I just came because I finally had the courage to say something I’ve been wanting to for awhile now.” She wiped her tears with her sleeve and stood a little straighter as she looked him hard in the eye. “I love you, Darien Kategan. I think we met that day by something far greater than chance. Obviously we’ve had our run, and it wasn’t meant to be forever. Thank you for the memories and ado.” She bowed, had to brace her hands on her knees to keep from toppling forward then slowly teetered around and walked away.

The woman had no idea what she was talking about. She was drunk, and when she sobered up she’d apologize that she’d embarrassed herself so badly.

“Where are you going?” Silence met him, except for the scratch of her shoes on the road. “Answer me, Cassie.”

She lifted a small shoulder and let it fall. He growled, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her into his chest. Her eyes flared with need and heat. If her eyes could pack a punch, he’d be on the ground right now. He cupped her cheek in a hand and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. It was so soft, just like everything about her.

He was a rotten, miserable bastard, but he couldn’t stop himself from leaning down and kissing her. Her lips clung to his softly, bittersweet. Her hands clutched his arms like she was afraid to let go. Darien pressed her closer, kissed her harder, trying to express something that he didn’t know how to say.

She pulled away first and something in him wanted to stop her, bring her close again and just hold her. When she looked at him, her eyes were shut off. He had no idea what she was feeling, but no matter how badly he wanted to know, he couldn’t make himself ask.

He walked her back to Sarina’s. The girls flung open the door when they arrived. All of them wore wide grins and glossy eyes, except for Sarina who held a big glass of milk in her hand.

“You’re back! Yay!”

“How did it go? Did you tell you totally love him?” Alison gushed loudly. Sarina shushed her with an elbow to the stomach.

“He’s right there, Ali!”

“Oh, right.”

Cassie turned so suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. He saw a tear fall down her cheek. He did the only thing he could think to and wrapped his arms around her. She sniffled against him, making him feel even more like an ass. She didn’t’ deserve someone like him, someone with enough baggage to fill an airport. She deserved someone clean and simple.