Connor's P.O.V.

She didn't even slam the door shut. I think that makes it worse. If she was angry, at least I'd know she was feeling, something, anything. Instead, the soft click felt like a bullet to the chest.

I knew that she wouldn't leave me for him, yet I let my jealousy get the best of me.

I didn't want her to leave, but how could I have made her stay? Apologizing won't fix it. Actions speak louder than words. Sophie doesn't believe much in words.

I sit down on the edge of the bed and grip my hair, hard. "What am I going to do?"

Mate is disappointed. Maybe we can impress her. My wolf suggests, but it's a half hearted suggestion. He knows Sophie isn't one to just bend. She's stubborn, and very opinionated. If she is disappointed in me, it'd take a lot more than some good acts to impress her.

Someone knocks harshly on the door. "Connor, open the door." I groan and stand up.

I know who it s from his voice, but that doesn't make me any happier to see him. "What is it Hunter? I'm kind of in the middle of something." I stare blankly at him and he laughs, looking me up and down.

"I can tell. How long has it been?" I scrunch up my brows.

"Since what?" My arms cross over my chest and he mimics me.

"Since Sophie left. You look like a mess." He steps inside the room and I shut it behind him. "What happened?"

I plop back down on the bed, lowering my head into my hands. "I told her what I thought of Philip."

Hunter nods. "And what do you think of Philip?"

My head slowly lifts from my hands until I'm staring him in the eyes. "He likes Sophie, and she doesn't notice his flirtatious smiles, or when he winks at her." I growl quietly and bury my hands back in my hair. "I get so angry whenever they're in the same room, I can't let her away from me. Look at me now, I don't even know where she is."

Hunter sighs and sits beside me. "What brought along this argument? Obviously this didn't just happen out of no where." He runs a hand through his hair casually. "What caused it?"

I lift myself from the bed and walk over to the dresser. I had thrown the invitation here, but she took it with her. "One of Philip's servants brought an invitation to some extravagant party. We had a discussion. She argued why we should go, and I argued why we shouldn't go. I started to feel insecure, scared. It made me angry to think he would try to take away my Sophie, but I made a stupid mistake." Hunter remains silent and I carry on. "Instead of getting angry and just blowing it off with a run, I got angry and yelled at her. She actually left to get away from me."

His hand gently rests on my shoulder and I tense up. I know that I deserve to be hit, beat up, slapped. Maybe if she had slapped me, I'd feel better about all of this, but she left so quietly. It hurt.

"Connor, you two are mates. You may have messed up, but she still loves you. You just have to, number one, get over your jealousy and, number two, show her that you trust her, even if you're jealous." I nod slowly and he claps my back. "Alright! Let's get to it then."

"Get to what? She's not here." I gesture to the room and throw myself back down on the bed.

Hunter drags me off of the bed and places me on my feet with a disapproving look. "But she is going to be at that party, and we have to find you a suit."

I groan, but let him pull me out of the room. I guess this is better than thinking about how I've failed as a mate; all alone and surrounded by her scent.

Sophie's P.O.V.

Dealing with dresses is much harder than I expected. Helping Lily and Trish pick theirs was easy. Trish picked a long red sleeveless dress with a deep v neck. Lily, on the other hand, went more conservative. She chose a peach long halter neck dress with a flowing bottom.

Me, well I'm still stuck, unsure what I want to wear. I want to wear something comfortable, but it has to be something that will make me look powerful. Power means something to these people, and I have to be confident.

After a couple of hours, I begin to lose confidence that we'll find a dress like that, but, luckily, I have two best friends.

"Soph! I think I found something!" Lily squeals from somewhere. I walk towards where her excited voice came from to see her near a bunch of black dresses. In her hands seems to be a simple black dress. "It's simple, but the long slit is a bold move. It's you in a dress: simple, but bold." Lily shoves it at me and her and Trish push me into the nearest bathroom to change.

When I step back out, they're both smiling. "I like it." I say, placing my hands on my hips. "It makes me feel really good, powerful even." That's an understatement. The fabric is comfortable. It breathes well and is extremely easy to move in. The lace down the sides that peaks at my skin makes me feel hot, and the long slit makes me feel like a goddess. Add in the fact that it fits my curves perfectly, and you've got one powerful dress.

Lily squeals. "It's perfect! Connor is going to go insane." She winks at me and I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, he probably already is." I say, turning to look in a mirror.

Trish steps in beside me. "You look beautiful."

Lily comes to my other side and smiles gently. "And every bit the Tigress."

When we are finished, we call Elaine and she leads us out. "I'm glad you all had a good time, and I also hope that you all have a wonderful time at the Galla. It's normally very fun. These senators use it as a way to loosen up." She giggles. "Many times I've had to help Master Philip back to his lodging."

I smile at her and nod my head. "Well thank you. We'll try our best to have some fun."

Elaine takes one last look at the dresses in our arms, and gives us a smile before heading off in a different direction.

"I'm so excited! I've never been to a Galla, or even a ball before." Lilly looks off into the distance, probably seeing something only her creative mind can create.

Trish nods. "Actually, I'm pretty excited too. It's been a while since we've all just had some fun together."

I can't disagree. I feel this bubble of excitement in my stomach. It's like being nauseous, but the good kind of nauseous. "Well, I'm beat. I haven't slept much, and I've stayed up way too long without sleep."

"You can stay with me." Trish says with a shrug. "It's kind of lonely being by myself anyways. I'd enjoy the company." Her smile is soft and genuine and I smile back.

I take her offer, and we walk with Lilly back to her room. Trish and I say our goodbyes, then continue on to her room.

Neither of us says a thing until the lights are off, and we're both in bed. "Do you think Connor's alright?" I ask in a whisper.

For a moment, I think Trish fell asleep, but no. "Connor will be fine. Maybe a little distance is what the two of you need. Just, try to talk to him tomorrow if you're still worried."

I let out a soft sigh and stare at the ceiling. I'm worried, yes, but I know that I'm not ready to talk to him. I love him so much, and I can't believe he would think that I'd ever find interest in some other man. I know there was a bit of tension between him and Hunter, but he got over that pretty quickly. Why not Philip?

I let out yet another sigh. There's no use stressing over something I don't understand. I'm too tired. Hopefully, tomorrow morning will bring me a better day.

《•○●□●○•》

Sadly, I barely got a wink of sleep. Even though Connor had pretty much thrown care to the wind and pissed me off, it was still impossible to sleep without him beside me.

I know one thing though. If I buckle and run back to him, all he's going to learn is that he doesn't have to work to get me back. That's why I'm laying in Trish's bed, staring at the ceiling. I say a silent prayer and hope that it either falls on me, or that I get some sleep.

"Sophie?" Trish groans beside me and rolls over. "Are you awake?"

I let out a sigh in defeat. "Yeah. I'm up. How did you sleep?"

Trish stretches and makes a few noises before speaking. "I slept alright." She yawns out. "You?"

Instead of wasting time I get up off of her bed. "I've slept better, but no matter. Might as well get this day started."

Trish gives me a sympathetic look and stands. "Uncomfortable without Connor?"

I groan and nod. "It's like I can only sleep when he's around, even though I'm mad at him. Sometimes having a mate bond sucks."

Trish shrugs. "It isn't that way with just mates. Any one that's ever been in love knows how hard it can be to sleep without them near you, even if they've gotten on your nerves recently."

I stare at her in shock for a second, but then nod. Just because she hasn't met her mate doesn't mean that she's never felt love. "I guess you're right. I just hate thinking that he's had the same luck as me with sleep. Connor is no fun without sleep, and without me, he's a loose cannon." I bite my lip nervously and close my eyes.

A soft hand falls on my shoulder. "He'll be alright. You can't be responsible for him. He's a grown man, and if he can't take care of himself, then he needs to learn how to, on his own.

I know she's right, and I guess the same applies to me. I need to learn how to function without him always.

It may sound great, but I already know that it's going to suck.

Great.

A/N

I had a bit of trouble writing this one. I don't mean plot-wise, but motivation-wise. It's not even you guys, it's just me and my own lack of motivation. It took me far too long to write this when I know it could've been done days ago.

Anyways, I'm sorry for it taking so long.

I was going to write the Galla in this chapter, but I felt it needed a transition. It shows Connor and Sophie without being influenced by the other (even though they're being effected by the other not being around.)

Here's to hoping you guys like it.

Vote, share, comment, message me, I love all of you, and if you guys weren't reading, I'd probably never write, so thank you, so much for reading.

Until next time,

RD