It was Elias. Only Elias.
And once that thought appeared, another one followed right behind it. A question I really didn't want to ask myself while standing alone in a dark street three blocks from home.
If Elias had held onto me the way that man held onto his Mate... If he had refused to let go no matter what happened... Would any of this have gone differently?
That question was harder to carry than I expected, hard enough that I almost wished I hadn't asked it. Because admitting I might still love a man who abandoned me felt worse than admitting I'd been framed for murder I didn't commit. At least the people who framed me were never people I chose, and hating them had never required me to hate myself in the process.
Still, I tried to push the thought away. I looked at the situation t
