Page 51 of Bears Not Included

As for my father, I will continue calling him until he answers, and I won’t lose traction with that vow. I’d already called him three times this morning before Veronica came in. If I thought he would try to help, I’m beginning to see that the Ursid men’s influence is stronger than my father’s love for his daughter.

Who am I kidding?

He sold me out to marry a man who kills women for sport. But I can’t forget that the men I’m married to are more insidious, more quietly vicious, and more sophisticated in their ruthlessness. I haven’t even met Kirill Yenin yet, but I know the Ursid men are far, far, far more dangerous.

Veronica and Celine, whom I promised I would have lunch with one of the days next week, have made it very clear that they would find me within hours, if not minutes, no matter where I went. They own the world. And there will never be a situation where they let me go willingly.

But I can’t give up.

“Darling girl, you must get those thoughts out of your mind and just enjoy this life of utter luxury that is right there on your lap. You are the most protected woman in the universe, with limitless funds at your disposal and three husbands who will kill for you—”

“But why?” I ask earnestly. “They made their point to Kirill Yenin by intercepting his marriage to me.” How naive was I to think that my father was marrying me off to just another lawyer who was going to be a partner in his firm so he would keep the business in the family? How stupid do I look?

“If that was their act of revenge, it’s over now,” I say, getting riled up again. There’s nothing more to it. They could just let me go.”

“I don’t think this is about getting one in on Kirill Yenin.”

“Then what is it about? I don’t understand. What do they want from me? They’re not even forcing me into their...” I stall, trying to find words and fail.

“I think I know what you’re saying. Why aren’t you in their bed every night? I can answer that for you. You might be married, but there’s still an Ursid tradition that Deacon, Callen, and Mason intend to follow before you are considered fully an Ursid bride. It’s a very important Ursid tradition.”

“What tradition?”

“As ancestors of the Ursid men, their… for want of a better word… their members are considered sacred, as is their sperm. Where they place themselves and into whom they empty themselves is of crucial importance to their lives. I’ve said too much,” Veronica says, waving her hand about. “It’s up to them to decide when it happens, but it’s a ritual. An age-old Ursid ritual. And I won’t say any more about it until they decide it’s time.”

A ritual? How much more bizarre can my situation become?

But my frustration reaches new levels as more things go unanswered. True to her word, Veronica says nothing more on the subject, and I can't, for the life of me, begin to even imagine what this ritual holds.

After she leaves, I pass away my morning by staying in the room assigned to me while I call Faith and try my father again. Kyla sends me a message to say everything is almost ready. I ignore the part where they could actually be tracking everything on this phone despite telling me they won’t. I’m already risking everything anyway.

Breakfast is brought up to me, so I don’t have to venture out of these four walls. I don’t want to bump into any of them any more than I need to.

After taking a shower and changing into a fresh, clean waitress outfit, I’m forced to accept the trembling in my limbs and the butterflies in my stomach that are making me go crazy.

I try not to be fixated on the fact that while I’m married to them, duped into the marriage rather, I’m not truly an Ursid bride, according to Veronica, since there hasn’t been a ritual yet. Does this mean they have plans to return me? Is that why they haven’t come inside me yet? Maybe there’s hope for me after all. But I’m not leaving it to chance.

I refuse to accept that there is no way out of this for me right now. And I have to escape. Asap. What happened with Callen in his bedroom, can’t be repeated with Mason and Deacon.

There’s only so much my body can take, and now my mind might be compromised, too.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Livia

My stomach does a complete rollercoaster cycle when I step out into the crisp winter air in my waitress outfit.

Just as Callen had been waiting for me the day before, it’s Mason who is waiting for me now. Of course, it’s a sports car. I wouldn’t have thought anything less.

“Hey, pretty girl,” Mason says as he opens the door for me. Dressed in their signature bespoke suits, Mason’s cologne drifts over, and my skin breaks out with goosebumps.

I hate it.

“Don’t call me that,” I say as a way of greeting. I also hate his smile. A lot.

He chuckles instead and, unperturbed, slips his body into the driver’s seat beside me.

It’s so ridiculous that I have to be chauffeur-driven to work. What am I saying? They’re doing this because I’m their prisoner, and they don’t trust anyone to not let me run away. That doesn’t make it sound as if they’re very confident in their abilities to find me anywhere in the world if I were able to escape, does it?

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