LUCIEN'S POV

I stood there like a damn fool, staring at the door as if willing it to open would make it happen. My forehead pressed against the cool wood, the grain biting into my skin, but I barely felt it. All I could feel was the ache in my chest, sharp and unrelenting, like someone had carved out a piece of me and left it bleeding. Adele was on the other side—my mate, the woman who was supposed to be my everything—and she wouldn’t let me in. And hell, I couldn’t blame her.

“I’m sorry,” I’d said through the door, my voice cracking like some pathetic kid.

Sorry. What...