Page 29 of Delta Mission
Channing clenched his teeth so hard the muscles along his jaw bulged.
“He ripped my heart out, Channing, and crushed it in his fist. I was so sick to my stomach I vomited. I felt dirty. And fucking terrified. I was terrified of losing you.”
As I wiped tears from my eyes, the hollowness in my chest grew bigger and heavier.
And Channing didn’t even move.
CHAPTER 9
Wolf
Makenna burstinto tears and my heart clenched so tight it hurt. I believed her story, but it was a fucking hard pill to swallow.
A sob burst from her throat. “Say something.”
Her voice broke and her expression contorted with so much sorrow it crushed my resolve.
I stood and dusted my hands on my pants.
She raised her chin, and as tears spilled down her cheeks, I strode to her. My chest was a vice crushing me as I opened my arms.
She collapsed into me. “I’m so sorry.”
Her shoulders heaved as she sobbed.
I curled my hand over her hair and a knot as big as a grenade lodged in my throat.
She pulled back and met my gaze. “I’m sorry. Please, Channing, can you ever forgive me?”
Tears wet her long lashes.
“I’m sorry too.” I thumbed a tear from her cheek. “I should have listened to you. But I was so hurt.”
“I know. And I’d do anything to make it right. To make us right. A million times I wanted to call, but—”
“But what?”
Her eyes were liquid pools in the firelight. “I knew you didn’t want to hear from me. The hurt on your face when you kicked me out of your uncle’s wake . . . you were broken, and I did that to you. Can you accept that what I did was a mistake? That I honestly thought I was with you?”
Talon and I had fooled many people during our lives with our identical appearance. Never once did I think our pranks would hurt anyone, let alone be catastrophic.
“Well, can you?” Her chin dimpled. Tears spilled over her lower lashes.
Her brutal sadness shattered me, melting away the final threads of my anger. “Yes, I understand how and why it happened.”
She sniffed. “But can you forgive me?”
I cupped her cheek, and she leaned into my palm. “Yes, I forgive you.”
She burst into tears and fell into my arms. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Her body trembled and as I clutched her to me, I wanted so desperately to take away her pain.
Wiping tears from her cheeks, she pulled back, and our eyes locked. A delicious heat filled the space between us.
She licked her lips, and my cock twitched.
I missed her. I missed her so fucking much. I was such a fool for not hearing her side of the story.
