Page 16 of Unruly Hearts

The door closes behind him with terrible finality and I slide down the cabinet to sit among the scattered chips and markers, each one a broken promise.

What have I done? How could I have been so stupid? But better this pain now than watching another man I love be twisted by cards and chips.

Agis

Istagger away from Serenity's cabin into the darkness. The mate bond pulls at me like an angry beast, making each step harder than the last. Pain rips through me, worse than any I've felt before. And I've felt plenty—bear traps, fists, the shame of losing my ancestor's blade to a card shark.

The bond screams at me to return, to explain, to beg. My tusks ache. The whiskey bottle I’d grabbed on my way out, dangles forgotten in my hand, and my bare chest is cold in the night air. But nothing compares to the cold emptiness where Serenity's warmth should be.

What could I even tell her? The truth is ugly. I'm just a gambler who lost too much money. A coward hiding from people I owe. Even in my thoughts it sounds weak.

My fingers twitch, and I know what's coming. The familiar hunger rises—for cards in my hands, for reading faces across the table, for losing myself in the game. One good hand could fix everything. Just one perfect game…

I hurl the whiskey bottle against a tree. It shatters like my promises, like my hopes. That thinking is what drove me here—betting heirlooms, owing money to dangerous men, and then disappointing everyone who had ever trusted me.

But maybe there's another path. Maybe I can turn this curse around, make it work for me instead.

One last game, but this time for something real.

Something pure.

A twig snaps behind me and I whirl, fists raised, welcoming the chance for violence. But it's Talon who melts from the shadows, his expression knowing.

"Brother," he says quietly, taking in my wild eyes and the mate-pain etched on my face. "The bond?"

I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat.

"Serenity?"

Another nod. Her name is a knife in my gut.

He sighs, heavy with understanding. "You're out here instead of with her because...?"

Talon sits next to me on a fallen tree. It creaks under our weight.

"She found my gambling papers," I tell him, rubbing my face. "I owe money. Big money."

"How much?" Talon asks. He's too calm about this. I eye him suspiciously.

"Enough to save the center." I snort at how stupid it all is. Here I am with nothing but debts, when the money I owe could help her.

"You could win it back."

I stare at my brother, searching his face for judgment, but I find none. "You think I should play?"

"You should use your skills to help your mate." His eyes, so like our father's, hold mine. "I know why you gamble, brother.It's not the money — it's the challenge, the strategy. You're actually brilliant at it when you're not being stupid."

"Thanks. I think."

"So be brilliant. But this time, do it for her. For something larger than yourself."

An idea forms in my head. I pull out my lucky casino chip and turn it over. "I'd need money to start."

"I have savings." His hand grips my shoulder, warm and sure. "I trust you."

Words I haven't heard in years. "You'd let me?"

He nods without hesitation.

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