My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 459

Kane

Five weeks. Thirty-some days of nothing but the empty silence of Jace's absence. I had been counting every goddamn second, when suddenly I stopped hearing Brooke.

He was still there across my desk, mouth moving, but I only saw his lips. I hadn't heard a single word he'd said in some time.

The morning light glinted off the old brass doorknob, cast a pale shadow across the polished wood floor. It was a meaningless pattern, but I watched it anyway. I watched it until I heard that word.

"Alpha."

Like he'd said it more than once already. I looked up, met Brooke's gaze. His heavy brows were furrowed, lips pressed into a thin line. He leaned forward, meaty forearms resting on the edge of my desk.

Jace's car pulled out of the drive. The crunch of gravel beneath tires, the low rumble of an engine, a fleeting scent of exhaust and motor oil. I stood on the front porch, arms crossed, hands gripping my elbows.

He'd said I had to let him go, and I'd agreed, but I'd forgotten what part of me the words would claw out when he actually left.

When he finally disappeared from sight, I felt it. I'd never felt so lost, so alone, so forsaken in my life.

My last thread of hope had just driven away, leaving me with nothing but the weight of responsibility for an entire pack, and no damn idea how I was going to save us all.

And now he was gone, utterly silent, and I was trapped in this room, in this chair, listening to the same damn timber tallies.

I forced myself to focus on Brooke, to give some hint that I was paying attention. But my mind was already racing ahead, conjuring a thousand scenarios, none of them good.

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