Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“How could you do that?” I cried. “I’m the last female with the blood of the First Wolf and he’s the last male. We belong together—the same way you and Marcus belong together. I’ve seen the two of you look at each other—you’re so in love you can’t even think of anything or anyone else. Why did you make it impossible for Jake and I to have that kind of relationship? Why did you ruin it for us before it could even get started?”
My mom was crying openly now and I was sobbing again too.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered through her tears. “I never dreamed you’d want anything to do with him. And then when Marcus told me what he did to you on that awful video someone sent him—”
“That wasn’t Jake’s fault!” I cried. “He’s never been anything but good and kind and protective of me! I love him and now he’s going to die.”
My mother swiped at her eyes and shook her head.
“Honey, please—he broke—”
“If you say he broke the ‘Unbreakable Laws’ I’m never going to speak to you again,” I told her.
“But he hurt you,” she protested.
“Not on purpose,” I told her, swiping at my tears. “And he healed me afterwards. You don’t know how bad he felt—he hated himself. And now I’m never going to see him again. Instead, I’m going to become the property of some stranger, like we’re living in the Dark Ages or something.”
“Marcus has assured me he’ll make sure a good man gets you,” my mom said anxiously.
I gave her a disgusted look.
“Listen to yourself, Mom. I know you love Marcus, but are you really going to sit by and do nothing while he kills his own son and has your only daughter sent away to belong to a stranger the rest of her life? Are you really going to stand by and watch all that happen and do nothing?”
My mom had been sitting on the side of the bed but now she stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“It’s Were Law, Anastasia,” she said, a resigned look coming over her face. “I’m sorry—I can’t do anything about it and neither can you. We have the blood of the First Wolf—we must uphold the Law.”
“Screw the First Wolf and the Were Law,” I whispered. “If that’s how you feel, then I never want to see you again.” I started crying once more. “In fact, I know I won’t see you again. Marcus says whoever gets me is going to keep me locked up, barefoot and pregnant where ‘decent’ people can’t see me. So I guess this is goodbye.”
A stricken look came over my mother’s lovely face.
“Oh, Ani…” she said and leaned over as though she would hug me.
“No.” I shook my head and pulled away from her. “No, you don’t get to hug me. You denied me my Fated Mate, even though you found yours. And now you’re refusing to help either Jake or me. As far as I’m concerned, you never get to hug me again.”
Then I turned my back on her and waited until I heard the door shut quietly behind her. I could hear her sobbing softly in the hallway, which made me cry harder too. I really was on my own if even my mother wouldn’t help me.
What was I going to do?
THIRTY-EIGHT
The trip to the pack grounds was a long one—over an hour—and half of it was over rutted dirt roads that led into a dense forest. I watched the shadows of trees pass, my head bumping against the back of the seat cushion as the truck I was in lumbered onward.
The guards driving the truck were a couple of regular Weres who also doubled as security at our house. I knew they wouldn’t help me—they looked at Marcus like he was God himself—anytime my stepfather said “jump” their only question was, “how high?”
I had never felt so miserable and low in my life. I wondered if Jake was already dead or if they were waiting until the moon rose to execute him. Would he really die at the same time I was being given away to my new Alpha—whoever that might be? Would I be raped as he was bleeding out from a bullet to his head or his heart?
I tried not to think that way, but the morbid thoughts kept creeping into my mind anyway. And to make matters even worse—if they could be worse—my Heat Cycle had come back. To add to my sorrow and anger and misery, my body was insisting that it had to get bred. It was a terrible combination, as I’m sure you can understand.
Finally, we reached the pack grounds, which appeared to be a large clearing in the middle of the forest. There were already lots of other cars and trucks parked there in rutted, dusty rows that looked like they had been worn into the road over many years.