Lone Werewolf Duology (bxb)

55. Grinding Shards into Dust

Volya didn't know how much time he'd wasted on clutching the iPad and staring at nothing. He only knew that it would have been much, much more if Liam didn't squeeze his gorgeous six-feet-and-some frame between the server stacks.

"I was wondering where you've gone off to," Liam said. "What's up?"

Were Liam's voice packaged as balm, it would soothe all hurts. Why else would the fans stream his songs in the millions?

"Just... just checking my messages," Volya lied. He sat his iPad on the desk with a soft click instead of slamming it down. It was an act of a stoic.

He was probably absent forever, certainly long enough for Liam to worry. But he couldn't help it. Toshka's girlfriend-boyfriend pictures the most boring timeline known to humanity, and he studied each picture for minutes. The couple appeared nauseatingly happy, no matter how much he scrolled forward and back.

"Is everything alright?" Liam asked.

"Sure. I'm fine."

Liam gave Volya a dubious glance. "You don't look fine."

"I said I was fine." When the bond formed, it threw Volya into an electrical storm. Its breaking turned Volya's spine into a snapped high-voltage line. Sparks of misery flying from its frayed ends showered his world. He wanted to howl and hadn't. It would have given out his location to the others and betrayed his weakness.

"Are you going to run away again?"

He would, if Liam wasn't in the way, cutting off his access to the door. He needed out... air... and to howl. "Your... your sister asked me once what I think of girls my age. You can tell her that I hate them," Volya said venomously. "Just hate them!"

"What?!"

The walls were closing on him. His head pounded. Yelling wasn't as good as howling, but it was better than anything else right now. "All they do is chase after boys! Even when they know that someone has a boyfriend already! Even if they're married... I mean, just look at Marina!"

"Marina is not our age. And why would the Damir-and-Marina drama suddenly bother you?"

"For your information, it always did! I hate cheaters."

Liam frowned, slanted his eyes at the iPad. The screen was still on. Liam picked it up and studied the pictures for a moment. "Oh. I see."

"Gimme that." He grabbed the iPad from Liam's hands. "And stop gloating that Toshka is out of the picture."

Yes, that's right! He really meant Liam, not the angelic Ira. Liam, who was flirting with him from minute one, no matter how often he'd told him that—

Oh, who was he kidding? Liam had asked him time and again if he were sure. And he, he... oh, God. If he wanted to see an architect of this disaster, he needed only to look in the mirror.

"I've screwed up, okay? If only I hadn't thrown myself at you!" The iPad slipped out of his hands and tumbled onto the desk. He impaled his freed fingers into his hair, ready to pull it out in clumps. "What have I done? What have I done?!"

"The question should be what have you done wrong? And I can't see anything you've done wrong."

Volya gaped. Wasn't it frigging obvious? "I couldn't stay faithful for a month! God! I couldn't stay faithful for one week, let alone a month!"

His darting gaze ran into Liam's. It was so heavy that Volya stopped ranting. He went to the eye washing station and threw as much water into his face as he could hold in his cupped palms. It trickled down his cheeks—a better alternative to tears that welled up while he was yelling.