Clarabel's POV

I let out a short, sharp laugh. It hurt my ribs, but I didn't care. "He won't come. He’s too busy playing house with a liar who abandoned him years ago. And even if he did return for me... he wouldn't find the woman he knew."

"Is that right?" Malakai tilted my chin up with one finger. His touch was electric, the mate-bond surging between us, but I refused to let it show in my expression. "You don't miss him? You don't weep for the mate who rejected you before his entire court?"

"I don't weep for cowards," I snapped, slapping his hand away.

The silence that followed...