Alison Bennson walked through the disaster in her living room with slow, heavy steps. The cushions from her microsuede couch lay in strips among the cottony pieces of filling on the floor. Her fists tightened and she fought a wave of hot tears that threatened to spill down her flushed cheeks. It took her eight months to save up the money to buy that couch and now it was nothing.

The mess in her apartment made it look like she owned more than she did. Shards from her plates and glasses were the only things left of them. The sight of her expensive collection lying in sharp shambles almost brought her to tears. Her mother had bought her that for her birthday two years ago.

With heavy step, she walked down the hall to her bedroom. The door was halfway open. The black shadows beyond the door waited like a nightmare wanting to suck her in. She closed her eyes, sucked in an uneven breath, then flicked on the light.

What little courage she had crumbled like a stack of bricks. The glass cabinet with her most precious tokens, snow globes from her mom, gifts from friends over the years, and souvenirs from the trips she took were destroyed. Her hand trembled as she reached into the cabinet and picked up a picture of her with her best friend Sarina. The frame was cracked, the glass shattered into a web. At least the picture underneath was still intact.

The first tear slid down her face and it felt cold against her heated cheeks. She surveyed the rest of her room, trying to keep a wall around her to protect her. She froze as her eyes tracked over the bed. At first, she just thought the bedsheets had been messed up, but now she realized the pattern was specific not random. Besides, she’d made her bed that morning.

Her red down comforter was pulled back as if someone was about to go to sleep. She squinted at the strange color on her bed sheet. She stopped short of her bed, her heart slamming to a stop in her chest at the sight of the white matter on her sheets.

"Conlin." Her hoarse whisper was like a shout in the quiet room. Her heart resumed beating with hard, driving slams in her chest. She dropped to her knees and cried.

It took her longer than she would have liked to regain her composure. She walked on wooden legs to the phone and called Sarina. Only she would understand, would even care. Her family had stopped speaking to her after the incident with Conlin.

Sarina answered on the second ring. "Hello?" Sarina’s perky voice didn't make her smile as it usually did.

"Sarina, I'm in trouble." She hated the tremble in her voice, but couldn't help it. "H-he was here. He was in my house."

"What do you mean? Who was in your house? Tell me what happened." Gone was the soft excited voice, replaced instead with alarm.

"Conlin was here. Please, I need your help. I'm scared." Tears slid down her face in wet streaks.

"Vane and I are coming right now. Just hold on we’ll be right there, honey." Alison didn’t say goodbye, just hung up like a robot going through the motions.

When Sarina and her truemate Vane came through the door, Alison had managed to straighten up most of her living room. She swept shards of glass, wood, and torn cushions into a corner and righted the knocked over side table and coffee table.

Sarina rushed to her, giving her a hard hug. "Tell me everything. Oh my God, I can't believe he came into your house."

"I'm going to check out the rest of the house." Sarina nodded at her husband and made Alison sit with her on two of the unbroken kitchen chairs.

Alison couldn't meet her friend's gaze. "It was like this when I came home. He must have done it while I was at work. He was in my home. And that's not the worst of it." Her voice was hard with anger.

Vane came into the room, gave his mate a speaking glance, and nodded at her to come with him. "I'll be right back, okay honey? Just stay right here."

"What is it?"

Vane waited until they were in Alison's bedroom to speak. "That," he said pointing at the bedspread. Sarina couldn't hide the disgusted gasp that left her.

"That son of a bitch. Is that...did he jerk off on her bed?"

"Looks like it. Help her to pack a few of her belongings. I think it's best if she comes and stays with us for a while."

“Oh thank you, Vane." Her mate caught her in a bear hug and kissed her gently.

"Hurry up now."

Alison packed enough clothes to last her a few days and left everything else. Any items that meant something to her were ruined. At the last minute, she snatched the picture of her and Sarina out of the cabinet.

The car ride to Vane and Sarina's was mostly silent. She thanked Vane for carrying her bag into the house. Sarina and Vane's wedding was the last time she'd been in there. The cabin felt different now, warmer. Sarina must have used her creative touch to brighten up the room since there were now colorful rugs, budding plants, and pictures on the walls.

"How about some tea or coffee?" Sarina wrung her hands together, biting her lips.

"Tea, please." Sarina looked relieved to be doing something as she left for the kitchen.

"Have a seat. I'm going to make a few phone calls," Vane announced and went into the study, closing the door partway.

Alone again.

Alison took a few deep breaths and tried to comprehend what happened today. She didn't want to think about it, she wanted to shrink back into a dark corner and never look up again. But then that would mean the bastard won, and her hatred for him far outweighed her cowardice. She heard the teakettle whistle and Vane hang up the phone, and suddenly didn't want to see either of them.

She ran to the bathroom, collapsing against the wall trying to catch her breaths. The walls were closing in on her. There wasn’t enough air in the room, she gasped then doubled over as a hard pain jerked in her stomach.

She collapsed before the toilet and gagged roughly, her stomach coiling, rolling. She gagged repeatedly, but nothing ever came up, just empty chunks of jagged air.

Oh God, he's going to kill me, she thought. She wanted to burst into tears, but held back the urge. She wouldn't breakdown in front of her friend. Didn’t want her to know just how scared she was of him. Just a little longer and then she could curl up and cry. A brisk knock at the door, had her blinking back tears.

"Just a second." She flushed the empty toilet out of habit and washed her hands, splashing some of the cold water on her heated face. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

For the second time that day, she felt like the air was ripped from her lungs, except this was for an entirely different reason. A reason that made her heart flutter in her chest and her mouth go dry.

"Rome."

His grin was masculine and absolutely sinful. He leaned nonchalantly against the doorjamb as if this was always his usual hangout spot.

"Ms. Alison Bennson, it's a pleasure to see you again." His eyes were bright, the color a mixture of blue and gray. They perused over her body in open admiration. "I'm sorry that we had to meet again under these serious circumstances, I would have much preferred something more intimate." The way he said the last word was as if he was picturing doing something intimate with her in that moment.

"Rome, it's nice to see you too. Excuse me." Ducking her head to hide her blush red-gazed eyes, she dashed back to the living room. He followed her, his low laughter trailing after her.